Meet Me at Madison's — Restaurant in Montclair

I really, really wanted to love this place, but won’t be going back, primarily due to the extremely poor service. I understand it was busy, but the number of errors was just egregious. We were a party of two adults and one child there during brunch hours today and though we were greeted very warmly and seated within ten minutes despite not having a reservation (we called ahead to see if they’d even be able to accommodate us, it being Easter Sunday), things pretty much went south from there service-wise. We ordered the steak sandwich, a matcha latte, the arepa Reina Pepiada, a strawberry juice, a croissant, and pancakes which we specifically asked for PLAIN—nothing on them, with chocolate chips ON THE SIDE (picky kid). Nothing complicated! First the drinks came out, latte was fine. Strawberry juice was good, BUT I immediately tasted the rosemary, which I did not ask for (the menu has a strawberry juice and a strawberry juice with rosemary). Not wanting to make a fuss (and having liked it well enough) I just drank it. However, had it been my partner, who HATES rosemary... Next, my partner was brought a Cuban sandwhich. She had been considering it…so I was doubting whether she’d ordered it by accident, but she was sure she said steak and decided to ask the waiter. She said “it’s ok, I’m going to eat this anyway, but I think I ordered the steak” and this man looked right at her with a straight face (after having said “Cuban sandwich” when he first put it down) and said “yes that’s the steak sandwhich.” It was very clearly NOT, I could see the ham and pulled pork and cheese…I don’t know if we were just shocked or what, but we were just trying to have a nice afternoon and decided not to get into an argument with a person who literally lied to our faces. To me this was the worst part of the whole experience. The customer literally tells you not to worry, that they aren’t going to send it back, and you still lie and tell them that what’s on their plate is something it’s not? I wish this was an isolated incident but I saw at least one other review where someone had this same experience. Whoever this server(s) is, stop doing that! It’s extremely disrespectful to the client and is the main reason we won’t be returning or recommending it. Taste-wise the Cuban sandwhich was ok. I thought my arepa was actually really good, however it was more like a Gordita than an arepa. The banana peppers and sauce it came with were really tasty. It could have used a side though. Finally, the pancakes come out and, you guessed it, the chocolate chips are IN the pancakes. Luckily our child had some of them, but that doesn’t take away the fact that our explicit instructions were ignored. If you don’t do adjustments, just say so. Don’t lie and say you can accommodate and then just not do it. Croissant never came, thankfully was not on the bill. All in all, the service was very inattentive. We were checked in on so rarely that we had to wait 10-15 min to be a able to ask for some sugar (not on our table, it was on others) and I ended up getting more napkins from the counter myself. It’s really a shame because I saw a lot of good things on the menu but who wants to pay the price of eating out these days only to be half-ignored, order gotten all wrong and then on top of it be blatantly lied to and gaslit? If the service issues were fixed this place could be really great, awesome location, the atmosphere was nice, very clean, bright and airy, also very clean bathroom. The atmosphere and potential in the food are the reasons this is not a 2...

This is a beautiful establishment that should check off all of my boxes. Is it beautiful? Yes , the decor is light, airy, and welcoming. Is the service top tier? Yes, the servers were exceptional and we were seated quickly. But the food? The food misses the mark for me. And I want to preface this by saying that had they gotten the order “right” I would’ve given a better review. To my dilemma, I ordered a Monte Cristo sandwich. The menu describes it as turkey or ham (your choice), Swiss cheese, mustard, a brioche bun and jam. Not my first choice for a sandwich but not the worst. But I’m open to new ideas. We receive the sandwich and I’m initially perplexed and think they got the order wrong. I’m told that is my order. The menu fails to mention that the brioche bun is actually French toast. The kitchen took the brioche bun, dipped it, and made French toast and this is now the basis for my sandwich. The bread is seeping wet and now mixing with all the other flavors that are happening on this plate. Additionally the cheese is a gargantuan piece of mozzarella that is quite literally a whole mozzarella roll split in half and placed inside a sandwich (which again, was not mentioned in the descriptor). I was taken aback by how different the description of it was in the menu versus what I got. Needless to say, I tried it because maybe it was good in flavor? And the sad response is no. It was not good. And I could not even eat half of the sandwich. I say all this to say that if the menu described exactly what this sandwich was, then the fault would be mine for choosing such a beast of a sandwich. I’m sure there are people out there that will love it but it is not for me. And I do think that they are trying to blend too many flavors and have so many ideas and cultures they want to combine that it is overwhelming to the senses and to the kitchen. Will I return? Yes. I want to give it a fairer shot and update my review hopefully. And I hope that this was a one-off. But if you order the Monte Cristo, just know what you’re going in for. Croissant was...

My friend and I had a terrible experience here. We had a reservation for 1:15 pm, and despite that had to wait for over 30 minutes for our table, while parties of the same size came in after us and were seated before us. Then, they brought us to a table essentially in the restaurants kitchen - the only one of its kind and that was clearly and plainly a single outdoor table dragged inside the restaurant. It was uncomfortable and did not match quite literally every other table in the restaurant. No one else had been seated there previously, and when we we asked to sit at a table that was actually inside the restaurant at an open table they said no. Ultimately we ended up being seated over 45 minutes after our reservation. Then, we ordered three dishes. Two of them came out within reasonable time, and then at the same time as the food initially came out one waiter informed me that my dish, eggs Benedict, was suddenly unavailable. Then another waiter came by and informed us that they did in fact have the dish, but it would take an extra 10 minutes to finish, despite me watching multiple tables, including the one right next to me, receive the same eggs Benedict. Finally an extra 20 minutes or so after my friends food came, I finally received my food, which despite the delay was really mediocre.

Ultimately, we didn’t get seated until 45 minutes after our reservations after they tried to seat us in a table that was barely in the restaurant, and then magically my food was unavailable despite multiple tables having the same order and receiving their food. I can’t say why my friend and I received such poor treatment when no one else in the restaurant did, but it did feel very strange to notice that we as the few people of color in the restaurant received such extraordinarily poor treatment when no one else did. We will...