Blind Shot Social Club — Restaurant in Madison

We were in town and looking for a good place to eat and excited to try this joint, with a 4.4 star rating. We’ve always had good food in Madison and even though we wanted to get home after a long day, we thought it would be worth the delay.

Unfortunately, this time, it wasn’t worth it. I feel like it’s time and money wasted. I’ll get to details, but I’m mainly basing this review on the quality of the food I received.

Before getting to the food, our service was great. Our server was a bit slow considering there were only 3 tables (including us) occupied. Or it’s more of a relaxed atmosphere, so she was just giving us a lot of time to look over the menu. But aside from that, she was friendly, helpful, and kind.

Atmosphere is on the dark side. There are two screens to play games (golf, etc) on two corners of the building. I think there are plenty of options, but we were mainly in for food, and didn’t really get much info on the games. I did ask whether they were run on a reservation basis, and the hostess (who was also our server) said yes. She didn’t mention any pricing, so I’m not sure what the details on that is.

Margarita special $5 This was great. Not overly sweet, and just the right amount of booze. It came in a whiskey cup rather than a margarita one.

3sheep chaos pattern on draft Price for draft beer is not cheap, and the beer was great. The glass it came in was super clean, but also warm. I think it just came out of the dishwasher… So clean, but beer glasses should be cold on principle.

Wings The description says these are baked, and then fried before tossed in their sauce. The sauce is yummy. The wings are a fairly large size. But I think they forgot to fry it. The skin on the wings weren’t at all crispy, but kinda mushy. The meat was well cooked, but also on the dry side. The celery sticks and carrot rings on the side were super fresh and crispy.

Blind burger with side salad I ordered it done medium. It came out very well done. For a wagyu, it lacked fat content, and cooked for too long, so it was very dry. We had just hiked 4 hours at Devil’s Lake and quite hungry, but I couldn’t finish it. Seasoning was great though. And the side salad was also very fresh.

Brussels sprouts Something I haven’t done in the last 15 years… I had to ask them to redo it. It came out with underdone Brussels. Interestingly, after I asked them to heat it up more for me, it came out perfect, with the right amount of searing on all the cut sides.

Overall, it feels like the kitchen was having a bad day and bad timing - wings needed to get in the fryer for longer, burger should’ve been out of the pan sooner, Brussels should’ve stayed in longer.

For the prices I paid, I expect better food. Especially since the kitchen knows how to fix their stuff! It was like they put 70% into all the dishes until I spoke up.

Would I go back? Nope. Not convinced that the 4.4 rating is...

I was very disappointed with my dining experience here. Our waiter was amazing and personable but the owner was a horror. I saw her treat her employees with absolute disrespect right in front of the customer. She was not personal, rude and shouldn't be the face of the restaurant. When I saw her rip a bowl of fries out of the waiters hand because she thought that it wasn't meant for our table, even though we waited for an hour for our food. Then was snippy and rude to the waiter after that. I was horrified by her behavior. That is no way to run or manage a business or treat people in general. This is truly said because I really did enjoy going to this place because the food is good and the place is fun. However now knowing that a person like that owns and runs the place I couldn't support it. I hope she gets some help or therapy to deal with her horrible behavior so this doesn't happen again. I did speak with the waiter that it happened to and told him that I am so sorry he had to go through that and that no one should be treated with such disrespect. Show more appreciation and kindness in the world. To the lady owner here please get help with your social discomfort and the way you treat your employees. Not OK!

Added per the comment of the owner:

Please do not down play your behavior! That is NOT ok. Also, who said it was ok to us, the customers who were stuck in your confusion. Also, after how many hands have touched the fired digusted my friends and I. Also, from the time we sat it was an hour. Now you're refuting all that was recorded and seen during our experience. That's called gaslighting Michelle. Yes, it was busy that not but hold yourself accountable as the owner and figure out a better way to manage than place the mixed up. Also you spent NO time with us. You slapped the fired down, to the wrong person I add, then said sorry and walked away. You didn't even realized that it was the wrong person. Therefore, as an owner who is taking pride in their business maybe should take pride to their customers and their employees. I understand what I means to be short handed but invest yourself in the help you have verses being extremely rude. I'm sorry I will not recommend that place to anyone due to you being the owner. Hopefully you can make some changes in yourself so you don't lose more customers or people. Wishing...

I visited Blind Shot Social Club for the second time, and unfortunately, this visit was disappointing.

Before arriving, I spoke with Michelle on the phone—she was wonderful and very helpful. Unfortunately, that level of service didn’t carry through once we were on-site.

When we arrived, it was clear that several simulators were out of order. Thankfully, our reservation allowed us to sit at one of the working suites. Service was slow but we did eventually get what we needed, and the food itself was good.

There was a band playing in the restaurant, which could have been enjoyable, but their gear and crew were spread across the cozy living room area. They were also recording throughout the night, which blocked the main walkway to the restrooms and made it awkward and inconvenient for guests trying to get by.

One of the main reasons I was drawn to this venue is its reputation as one of the largest NA (non-alcoholic) social clubs. Unfortunately, the NA beer selection has dwindled—my husband couldn’t order a second drink because many options had just been restocked and were still warm.

The biggest disappointment came when we were told mid-meal that our simulator “reservation” didn’t exist. Even though I had confirmed we had the simulator until 9 p.m., staff asked us to move because the other simulators were broken. At that point, we paid and left.

This place has a lot of potential, but it’s showing signs of being run down. The simulators that do work aren’t calibrated properly, the NA offerings are lacking, and staff could benefit from more training in customer service and presentation.

I wanted to love this spot, but unless things change, I’m not...