Mint Mark — Restaurant in Madison

This is one of the places where you get that welcoming feel of the family-owned place. What is really surprising tho, is that Mint Mark is small plates restaurant that changes their menu entirely in a matter of just a few days! I was just visiting Madison and picked it randomly, but if I lived in the area, oh man.. That will make me come so often! The place is not particularly roomy, but not too small either. As long as you step by before everyone else, you'll get a table. They also seat quite a few at the bar and by the kitchen, and since latter was a bit unusual for us too, we've chosen the kitchen view. That was a brave decision, and the guys at the same time are brave enough to show the entire process from A to Z, and tells they've nothing to hide. By the end of the night, I knew what are they going to cook by just seeing which one of the cabinets they open lol. Respectively, everything we ordered, was cooked right in front of us too, and that's awesome! I think appetizers rotate on the menu too, but you may get lucky and see there cauliflower or focaccia. If you do, go for either one, without a doubt! First one is roasted, then deep fried, served under mouthwatering sauce and topped with crispy Grana Padano on top; all of it makes cauliflower so flavorful, you've never even thought it would be! Focaccia, in its turn, was like super fresh piece then slightly roasted right before serving, that made it a bit warmer and crispier. Of course you should try it with sides, and my fav here was pickled radicchio (I asked for some extra by the way, and they gave it no questions asked). And to round it up with a food, I can say that my girlfriend decided to try escargot for the first time here, and she did like it! Beer/wine/drinks selection is wide enough for a small plates restaurant, not huge like in a tap house, but you can get what you want. Craft cocktails are great tho, after we were done with a food we made a few rounds and tried most of them! Pricewise is about what you'd expect, slightly higher than average, but absolutely worth it from price/quality perspective. This is the place I will definitely go to next timw I'm in Madison, because I'm sure they will surprise myself with something delicious again. I can easily recommend them to friends of mine, because I know they won't be disappointed. One of the easiest 5's...

Super excited to try the new location, my wife had visited the previous and Mint Mark was new to me. We arrived at 5:45p and were surprised the parking structure had ample parking available. I immediately loved the decor and vibe that the restaurant sets.

MM was quite busy, but we put ourselves in for an indoor table for 2 and were told it would be about 15-30 minutes. We didn't go for an outdoor table right away because of the sun and it being a bit hot out, and we didn't want to sit at the bar. We could have waited outside, but opted to stand near the bar - benches or chairs in the entrance would have been nice as there's some extra space available.

After 50 minutes and seeing couples get seated before us who arrived after, albeit outside, I approached the hostess who asked for my name which she never asked for. She said there was a table available outside which we took so we could finally sit down. It took another 5 minutes or so before we were brought to our table. It was a short wait until we were greeted by our server, Rhett, who was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We had to wait about 20 minutes for our two drinks which was not surprising given we could see the bar area 3 rows of people deep for only 4 bartenders. By this point, we were feeling forgotten, which started with the hostess.

It didn't take too much time to get our first food after drinks, at which point the pace picked up. My wife's second wine, which was the same as the first, came out a different color and that's how we found out the bar served the wrong wine right away.

Food and drinks were OUTSTANDING.

Credit goes to Rhett for really turning our experience around. Without him, this would have been an unfortunate 3 star experience without any motivation to come back anytime soon.

Maybe this is just the quirks and growing pains of being in a new location for just a few weeks, but it definitely started off on...

I am gluten free and I don’t recommend this restaurant for gluten free folks. However, the non-meat dishes were spectacular.

We had the carrots, the heirloom tomatoes, the cauliflower, and the rainbow trout. For dessert, we had the earl grey crème brûlée.

This restaurant was suggested to us multiple times as we love going to higher end restaurants for a new dining experience. It can be very hit or miss if a restaurant has the ability to work with my gluten allergy - this was a miss. I saw a lot of opportunity for gluten free substitutions to be made but the restaurant did not make them. This usually means that the food is prepared before serving with the gluten ingredients. Not a bad thing, just industry standard and not usually what we go for when dining at higher quality restaurants.

The rainbow trout was smaller than expected but made very well! There was just too much soup and it made the sauce disappear before getting to enjoy it. The beans were undercooked. We were underwhelmed by this dish.

I hate carrots but my partner loves them - but when I tell you I LOVED the carrot dish, I mean it! If you are iffy on ANY produce, you should try it anyways. I was taken away with how delicious the produce was and the interesting combinations of flavor and textures.

The drinks were just okay. I expected more for the interesting and fresh food combinations. We were spoiled with Public Parking drinks before this restaurant. The drinks did not have complexity and layers the way I prefer drinks.

The price of the food was great! I was so surprised to get the bill and only pay 100. Our waiter was also wonderful and helped make the dining experience great.

We did reserve online and I noted that we had an allergy - I wish there had been communication from the restaurant beforehand if less than half the menu was actually edible and only one of the main courses was...