Madeline's Dining & Events — Restaurant in Elk Creek Township

Upon arrival at the restaurant we were promptly seated (under a drafty window).The atmosphere was elegant and pleasing to the eye. Shortly after arrival, the waitress came over. We were using a Fine Dining card, and per usual, we inquired about ordering restrictions with the card. In an almost aggressive tone, we were told it couldn't be used with specials, entrées only, which was to be expected as its the norm while using the card. It was the manner in which she said it, that was anything but friendly. She did not introduce herself, but did ask what we wanted to drink. After about 10 minutes, she arrived with our drinks and took our orders. I ordered the 10 ounce ribeye, medium rare, topped with mushrooms, onions & shrimp, mashed potatoes and gravy, and coleslaw. My companion would have the steak gorgonzola with mushrooms. It was about a 20 minute wait for the food, which is acceptable. When the food arrived I was disappointed in the mashed potatoes, which were brown almost gray in color, with not much gravy on top. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare and tasted delicious, despite being a bit tough due to a lot of gristle. The shrimp was extra yummy, the onions perfect, and at first I thought the mushrooms had been forgotten, but they weren't..they were 'mushroom pieces' mixed in with the onions, not what I had anticipated. Disappointing. My companion was pleased with the taste of the steak gorgonzola. The steak and linguine noodles were scrumptious, but again the mushrooms were slivers of mushroom pieces, almost non existent, and something seemed to be missing. When the entrées were served, our waitress did ask if we needed anything else, and then disappeared. My companions glass was empty for at least 10 minutes, after I emptied my drink, she came out with a diet Coke and practically slammed it down on the table in front of him, and then said to me "Do you want another drink too?" Her mannerisms left a lot to be desired as to what i expect of a server, but she went and got me a drink. When she returned she said she was sorry when she peaked out the kitchen door, she didn't see that we both needed refills. My companion was perplexed that his meal didn't come with some type of bread. After checking the menu online, he confirmed it indeed, was to be served with a garlic bread stick. Upon questioning the waitress, she immediately pointed blame at the kitchen staff. He matter-of-factly pointed out that it's her job to make sure the orders are correct. At this point she gave a unconvincing apology and offered desert on her. Not the restaurant, but said she would personally pay for it. She also stated she knew this would effect her tip. Nobody mentioned anything about her tip, so this was odd. Almost like she was trying to use reverse psychology. When we turned down her desert, she then offered to get us her manager. Reverse psychology again? We weren't asking for a manager. She also, explained that there was a wedding reception and she had to make ranch dressing, which was why she wasn't very attentive. My companion did mention that I like writing reviews. She turned to me and said "Well, in that case, my name is Carrie, you can mention me by name in your review." She then took payment from my companion and left to process it. Upon returning, she again offered us desert. We declined. She then suggested a cheesecake to take home, on her. Again, we declined. Good food, with the exception of mushrooms of poor quality, and the non existent garlic breadstick. She did get a 15% tip, maybe that reverse psychology worked. Service and friendliness was well below par, and we will not...

First visit 9/7/19 with a party of 9 total, reservation made for 7pm. I was first to arrive at 640pm. Stood by hostess station (which was not manned) for 10 minutes...no one approached me...at least 4 wait staff, a bartender, and a manager acted like I was invisible. Finally I stopped someone and asked if the reservation was made they said yes and it would be a few minutes before they could seat as they had no tables available. There was a reception going on (which was already served meal). Rest of party arrived at 705. We never got our table til 730 after a wait til they found someone to move another table over and for someone over 18 to remove alcohol from table from previous occupants. Another 10+ minutes til menus and alcohol lists received. Another 10 + minutes til drink order only taken. 5 more til food order taken. Drinks came...we ordered 2 bottles of wine 1 red, 1 white. Server did not know how to use corkscrew and one of our party had to show her how. By this time it was after 8 pm and most of dinner crowd had left. Server comes out says filets not available, parties reorder strip steaks and server says they will be at price of filets $24 vs $27. Another 10 goes by server comes out and says bourbon root veggies not available either. Four orders changed. 15 min later (approx 850pm) one side of table(5) gets served. At 905 pm other half gets served. One of the steak gets sent back for not being coked to order. One steak was ordered with NO seasoning, it was over seasoned to point it needed scraped to be somewhat edible (due to dietary issues) . She could not finish it due to seasoning. At 930 we received our bills and server was told about steak , as she did not come to check on table or to see if those who were not drinking wine needed refills although someone caught another server and got more wine while waiting on food. No manager came to table about problems and no compensation for inedible steak was offered.

Food was good, but most of us had glorified bar food, burgers or sandwiches. I had a black angus burger w fries ...$14 !!

Service was SLOW, staff not informed of menu changes by kitchen, and not attentive to tables.at one point we were only patrons in that section and still we felt invisible.

Not sure if any of those at table will ever go back. I'd like to think MAYBE the reception was part of the reason for some of the problems but honestly, it was not the reason for all our experience.

Based on this first time visit...I wouldn't waste over 2 hours of my time for a20 minute meal. Thank goodness for good company around...

I’d give our experience about a 3/5. We booked this venue for our wedding ceremony and reception. The venue itself is absolutely beautiful, but ultimately I wasn’t thrilled with how things played out- and I believe this is because Madeline’s is understaffed and/or their employees that they do have are inexperienced.

During our rehearsal dinner, one of the bartenders confronted me and demanded to know if people were complaining about her drinks and why more people weren’t ordering from her. I was surprised and confused by her irritation, especially because, well… I was the bride. 🤷🏻‍♀️ She had a similar attitude toward our guests which made people uncomfortable.

The day of was disorganized and there was little communication between us and the staff working the event. Also, there were no table cloths that fit the small square tables that were pushed together for our reception. Granted, it was originally supposed to be outside, but we decided the day before to move it inside due to the weather. We ended up putting the circle tablecloths on rectangle tables the morning of and it just looked very strange. It was better than nothing, however, which apparently was the original plan. During the reception, anytime we asked for something or for help, the waitstaff would disappear shortly after and I wouldn’t see them again. Our photographer did most of the leg work to retrieve things like plates for cake cutting, relay messages about when dinner would be served, and organizing the workers after rounding them up. We had a buffet and guests had to serve themselves while the waitstaff was huddled in a corner talking and laughing. It was frustrating.

The main issue was that we rented the space until 10 PM and workers began clearing tables, including decorations, tablecloths, drinks, etc. at about 9-9:15 PM, which mostly everyone took as the indication to leave.

The positives: -Again- the venue is beautiful and kept up very well. -Jessica, who I believe is a manager, was very sweet and friendly. -Our wedding was delayed an hour and everyone was very accommodating. They also opened the bar for this hour so guests could come inside, have a drink, and cool off.

This venue has a lot of good qualities and potential. If you’re considering booking, I’d make sure you have an experienced wedding coordinator and very explicit directions for each part of...