The fast-casual restaurant is hidden inside the popular Muskellounge and Sporting Club, better known as The Musky, which Chad Vogel and Sean Pharr opened in July 2020 in the Lake Edge Shopping Center on Monona Drive.

The bar didn’t start out with much food beyond Fraboni’s pizza, which Vogel said has sold well.

Hank’s, named after Pharr’s English bulldog, is an unconventional restaurant with a limited menu. It opened last July and was originally designed more for takeout and to expand options for Musky customers.

On my first visit with two friends, one of them was dismayed to find nothing healthy on the small menu. She wound up with the chili ($6), which was a side. She liked it OK, but wasn’t thrilled. I’m a chili junkie, and this one had more meat than beans, which I prefer. Its finely ground beef and tiny hint of heat were also pluses.

The 4-ounce Hank burger ($10.50), a thin smash patty — aren’t they all these days? — also won me over. Smash burgers are flattened on the grill with a spatula, which gives them a nice sear and locks in the juices and flavor.

The burger had melted American cheese, pickles, caramelized onions and Hank’s secret sauce and was about as messy as a burger can be. But it went down quickly and easily with the help of about a dozen napkins. A double Hank burger for $13 would be a good idea for those who are hungrier.

Pharr said his ground beef comes from the same supplier as Culver’s, but is a different blend. He said he’s discussed using beef from Meat People, the butcher shop two doors down, but “it’s just not possible with the amount of burgers I currently need.”

The weekly special during my two visits was a fried walleye sandwich ($13) with arugula, tomato, pickled red onion and chipotle mayo on a delicious, soft Parker House roll. The sandwich had a lot going for it — my only quibble was with its price. A sign on the counter showed it at $12, but on our bill it showed up as $13.

The Growers Guild cabernet ($9) was a fantastic wine, and was served in stemless glasses, my favorite kind.

The prestige shake ($9), the most interesting of Hank’s three shakes, had vanilla ice cream and root beer instead of milk. It was thick and delicious. Pharr said he named it prestige because “it’s (the) best of both worlds. A milkshake and a root beer float.”

Hank’s fish fry ($18) is offered on Wednesdays and Fridays and has a choice of perch, walleye or haddock. A friend and I split the perch, which had a perfect flavor and a wonderful, crisp batter, which wasn’t too thick.

The waffle fries were a nice addition — puffy, crispy and well seasoned — but the coleslaw and tartar sauce were unremarkable. Splitting this meal was the only way to do it. Otherwise, it was just an overwhelming basket of fried food. I wish there’d been a baked or broiled option.

We only added more fried goodness with the cheese curds ($8). They came in a paper bag with Hank’s name and logo and were quite good: flavorful cheese, lightly breaded. The dill ranch sauce went well with them, as did an extra side of Hank’s sauce (50 cents), which has something in common with Thousand Island dressing, but is more subtle.

The Hank’s side has its own entrance on Buckeye Road, plus its own bar and bartender, from whom you can order Musky cocktails and other drinks. I wanted to try Under the Bridge ($10), but asked him if he would rather I order one of the four draft cocktails to save him the effort, since he was plenty busy.

He agreed to make the Under the Bridge, with Scotch, lemon, ancho chili, passion fruit, ginger, pineapple and an enormous mint sprig. It was fine, but not as special as I had hoped.

The Hank’s dining area, in the former Lake Edge Seafood Co. space, sits side by side with The Musky. It has the rustic feel of a bar Up North, with fishing lures painted on the green wall, a deer head mounted by the bar, and a ping-pong table up front.

The stools at the bar have backs, but not the stools at the tables, which leads me to want to sit at the bar.

On my Tuesday visit, when the Hank’s dining room was closed off, a bartender told us they had just added seating in the small, brightly lit room in the back of The Musky the day before.

We ate there and had to contend with blaring country music that made it hard to carry on a conversation.

The Hank’s dining area was open and packed during my Friday visit. Music wasn’t a problem that evening, and that’s because it was nearly drowned out by all the people talking.

Pharr and Vogel also own the upscale Mint Mark on Winnebago Street with partner Gwen Shales. That restaurant, one of Madison’s most charming, is moving into the new Standard Madison apartment building on East Washington Avenue. Vogel said they’re hoping for late May.

Time will tell if moving Mint Mark is a good idea, but it was certainly smart to expand The Musky’s food offerings beyond all-hours pizza, soft pretzels and cheese/meat/crackers served inside a tackle box, cute as that is.