The Statehouse — Restaurant in Madison

Visited the Statehouse for the first time this evening. Normally I wouldn't give a restaurant with a 4.2 star rating a chance, but there are only a few restaurants you can boat up to on Mendota so we wanted to give it a try. When we arrived, the hostess said it would be 15 min wait for an outdoor table, an hour later we were finally seated. We were fine with waiting but we wish the estimated time was more accurate. It took another 10 min after being seated for the waiter to come by. We ordered everything all at once since we had waited so long and had plenty of time to look at the menu. We got the elote corn dip as a starter, which was confusing... because there was literally no corn in it at all and it only vaguely tasted like corn. It wasn't awful but not what we expected. I got the clam appetizer as well, which was disappointing. The clams weren't great, they came in a dish filled with... broth? It wasn't very flavorful. Honestly the peppers and micro-greens were tastier than the clams. I got the steak sandwich for my main course. The waiter didn't ask how I wanted it cooked and it came out very well done and tough. The flavor was... also confusing. It's supposed to come with salsa but it tasted more like pesto and salt. Cheese curds were rubbery and unnecessary. Someone who wasn't the waiter came over and asked how things were and I said okay and he asked why and I explained the sandwich was really well done. He offered to take it back and have a new one cooked less well done sent out and I was hesitant because I didn't think that would actually make the sandwich much better but I did take him up on the offer. When my new sandwich came out it was pretty much cooked exactly the same, maybe slightly less well done. Meat was a weird texture, kind of like what you'd expect from a pot roast. The sandwich fell apart in my hands after a couple bites and I honestly just gave up, the flavor was inedible. I'm not a picky person so I really did try to eat it but it was impossible. Even the side salad was weird and inedible, it was coated in like mayo with some sweetness mixed in. They ended up taking the dish back and removing it from the bill which was a relief. My partner's burger was okay, if it had been like $10-12 there would be no complaints but it wasn't, it was very overpriced. He also got a neat J Henry bourbon, and that was $19. I was absolutely shocked by that, that is 1/3 the cost of the bottle. All he drinks is neat bourbons and we've never encountered one so costly anywhere in Madison, even at some of the more expensive restaurants in the city. For $19 you could get a higher quality and better tasting whiskey at Cask and Ale. His truffles fries were okay, a bit greasy, but $4 to upgrade the fries seemed like a bit much. His left over fries basically became my dinner unfortunately. I did relay some of this feedback to the waiter and the other person who checked in on us and it was well received and they were receptive to taking the feedback to the manager. Honestly I got the vibe that they weren't surprised by any of the feedback. The cost for this experience was over $100 after the tip and a lot of time, we could have gone to a lot of other restaurants in the city and left full and satisfied for the same price. Unfortunately we won't be coming back even though we really wanted to like it. If you're boating and looking for food on the water, go to the Union's BBQ stand, it's amazing. 2 stars given for the view on the...

UPDATE: Management asked us to give them a second chance to show us how our evening should have gone. We agreed. We went at lunch time this time. Wow! What a difference! Excellent service, delicious food and sweet anniversary dessert. We think management handled this well. We will go back again, too.

FIRST REVIEW: Our evening began with excitement as we were celebrating 2 couples’ wedding anniversaries, but it ended with nothing but disappointment with Statehouse.

The martinis were very weak and cloudy. The server told us that the Special included choosing a side dish, but that all the other menu items had only a “garnish” size portion of accompaniments. He said, aside from the Special, if we wanted a side dish, we should order one because all the meals but the Special would require an ala carte order of a side dish. I clarified it just to be sure saying “So if we get the Special then we get to pick a side dish, but the other menu items would have ala carte side dishes.” He said, “Yes.” So, all four of our party ordered the Special so a side dish choice would be included.

As we were socializing during the ordering, we didn’t notice that the server failed to ask us what side dish we wanted with the Special. When the 4 orders of the Special arrived, we remembered that it was supposed to have a side dish and asked why he hadn’t told us our choices. He then suddenly changed what he had said earlier, even though I had clarified it with him. He said that the Special did not have a side dish choice. We disagreed with him and reminded him of what he had said. He refused to admit he had misrepresented it. As he was unwilling to do anything to correct his error, we just settled for what we were given.

The frustration with the miscommunication and feeling that the dining experience was sadly more a 1 star experience then the 5 star experience we had looked forward to put a cloud over our moods. The conversation immediately changed to “We should have gone somewhere else,” “What a disappointment” and “So sorry this is happening on your special night.”

Finally, when the meal ended, we weren’t asked if we would like a dessert or coffee. Plus, most restaurants will do something or offer something in a celebratory gesture when there is an anniversary or birthday, but not the Statehouse.

If you want a 5 star dining experience, skip the Statehouse and go to...

Posting a review here since my calls and emails to the Edgewater/Statehouse have been unanswered for months. Some background: my parents were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary by dining at the Statehouse on Sept. 22. I called and spoke with a manager about my paying for my parents’ dinner as a surprise for them, which was not followed through on. Additionally, I had to cancel my credit card that I gave the Statehouse to pay for the meal because there was an unauthorized charge on my card following this incident. I cannot be certain the unauthorized charge was a result of the Statehouse’s carelessness with my financial information (having my credit card number written down on on a piece of paper that is accessible to others), but it is the only security issue I am aware of with someone else having access to my credit card information. Below is my email to them on Sept. 25, after multiple phone calls unanswered and a request for a manager to call me to discuss the issue.

“Following up on this. I’m highly disappointed in the customer service from the statehouse. I called and spoke with someone Sunday afternoon and gave my credit card number and they confirmed my parents’ bill would be paid for by me, as a surprise to them as they celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary at the statehouse. They (my parents) told me their server didn’t say anything about it at their dinner, and my parents paid their $250 bill in cash on their own. I called and spoke to a host on Sunday evening (after my parents paid for their own dinner) after learning of the mistake, and she confirmed that she saw the note with my credit card number on the manager’s desk and that it must’ve fallen through the cracks since it was busy that night. I’m disappointed in the failure to follow through on a plan to pay for my parent’s bill, and also very concerned about the fact that my credit card number was sitting on a desk that was not secured and available for other people to have access to. This is a financial security issue. The hostess said Sunday evening that her manager was unable to talk with me and I asked her to have the manager call me back to discuss the issues. It’s been 3 days now and I have not heard from anyone.”

After the Statehouse’s oversight, I ended up taking my parents to celebrate their anniversary at Harvey House, where we received top notch service,...