Hoffman House Catering — Local services in Janesville

We like these folks and over the years have had many personal and organizational dinners there. Recently we decided to check back in for a high-quality, relaxed dinner, and hopefully, your experience will be different. On a Saturday night at about 7 pm, the restaurant was half empty and we were immediately seated. We received our menus immediately and were quickly asked to order. My wife chose a $45 seafood plate, and I chose a $28 grilled salmon. The server seemed to be in a terrible hurry, and I told him we wanted a leisurely dinner, and usually took two trips to the salad bar. The server eagerly enthused about how he would watch us and get our orders turned in quickly. I sensed a rush for some reason, and mentioned that I like my salmon piping/sizzling hot, crispy on the outside, and definitely cooked all the way through. I asked him to please take his time and make sure the kitchen took whatever time needed to thoroughly cook the seafood. He rushed off and we took our first trip to the salad bar (the first trip is usually "the sample trip"). We hadn't finished out first small salad-bar sample-plates when the server came rushing back with our entrees! Since very few minutes had gone by, I asked him to stand by while I cut the salmon at the thickest part, and by golly, it was cold and raw in the middle... the outside was merely lukewarm. I patiently reminded him of my earlier request, and asked that he get the kitchen to cook the salmon further. He rushed off to do so. My wife's fish platter was also undercooked, but she decided to eat the thin sections and re-cook the rest at home. A few minutes later the server was back, and my salmon was cooked through, but still neither hot nor crispy. I politely inquired as to why the big rush (table-turns have no marginal value when there are empty tables) and he was simply speechless. I told him he would still get his good tip if he would please talk to his manager and suggest the kitchen and servers re-think their pace. I wrote the whole story as best I could on their green comment-card, and handed it to the server before I saw there was a suggestion-box near the exit. I checked the time and realized that we were in-and-out in 50 minutes and with tip had spent nearly $100, or $2 per minute. I want to suggest that you do try out this restaurant because it has a long and good history and a warm place in our hearts -- maybe this incident is one-time-only. Just remember that you may need to put your foot down if it looks like there is a tendency to rush the...

I initially was surprised and skeptical of the Restaurant being inside a Holiday Inn. Once inside, you will see a sign directing you to the actual Restaurant where you are immediately greeted by staff to be seated. I recommend you make reservations as it fills quickly. It's quite a large venue. My reservation was made directly before dinner for 2. Our waitress was excellent. I can't praise her enough. Timing is everything when you go out to eat as we are all too aware of the server who either disappears, rushes you, or the Server who's constantly interrupting your meal. Not @ Hoffman House. The Salad Bar is unbelievably large, self serve, all you can eat. Clean and fresh and very cold. Booths or Tables are available. Menus are clean w/a large array of choice. Extensive Wine Menu. Our Prime Rib was cooked to order and delicious. Prices I feel were fair but as always it varies from person to person. For two people? Salad to Desert and bottle of a mid price Wine including a well deserved tip? $110.00. Bathrooms were extremely clean w/wheelchair access. Coats can be hung prior to entering the eating area. I feel you can bring your family here or have a 2 person delicious meal. Due to size ? A convention can easily be held. Company parties, Wedding Receptions ect.. Enjoy. There is only 1 complaint I do have which has nothing to do with service or food. It's a bit dim and I feel some updating is needed to the booths. Tho comfortable they are old and this was noted instantly. Our booth was worn. I can only speak regarding the booths and lighting. You can certainly see what your eating, it's not dark in there but dim. Other than That? I recommend Hoffman House for...

First I would like to say that we are huge fans of Ishnala supper club and were very excited to try another restaurant under the ownership umbrella. We definitely had a mixed experience and overall were underwhelmed in our experience. The Good: -The employees were friendly, professional and on point with service and food/drink knowledge. -The Salad bar and Soup bar were amazing and honestly the highlight of the meal. -Great fried bread on honey butter

The Bad: All three Entree's we had were average at best with the clear winner being the Prime rib and Prawns. The Chicken Cord/ Blue was just ok and not really anything memorable about the 30 $ chicken. The rack of Lamb was just ok, not as tender as I have previously had at Ishnala. The sauce the Lamb was in was so salty that it made it difficult to tolerate and had no flavor profile beyond the initial hit of salt. All the sides we tried were pretty bad; the twice baked potatoes tasted dry and flavorless. Honestly they tasted like the were baked on Friday, reheated on Saturday and then reheated again on Sunday (the day we ate there). The scalloped potatoes had ok flavor but seemed overcooked as they had the consistence of mush.

Overall, with their prices comparable to Ishnala and quality of food much lower than their sister restaurant, I can't say we will be back their again. We left the restaurant largely disappointed and already looking forward to the seasonal opening of Ishnala as we have come to expect better from this owner group. In the end we don't mind paying higher prices but expect a quality...