Johnny's Italian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Sun Prairie

I'm sad to write this review since we normally love Johnny's, we frequented the Middleton location, loved watching their cooking segments on the morning news back in the day, and were excited to have one in Sun Prairie. Earlier this year we even had our daughter's baptism lunch here with around 16 people and although the service was slow, the lunch was great and we were not in a rush. We had dinner here recently and saw they had a Mother's Day brunch offered. This was my wife's first Mother's Day so we decided to make a reservation for us and her parents to celebrate. That turned out to be a HUGE mistake.

We knew something was wrong right away when we were walking in for our 10:15am reservation and there were people walking out saying what a shame it was and how bad their experience was. The host said right away that they were trying to get the prime rib and meat station under control so that was our second indication that something was wrong. The third was that an employee was frantically running around collecting all of the menus on the tables that had a list of the buffet offerings. We had actually taken a picture when we made the reservation of what they were offering.

When we went to get some food it was a complete disaster area. There were customers wandering around with empty plates and basically no food to be had. There was a huge line for one guy trying to make omelettes that clearly had no idea what he was doing. There was no one to serve the ham that was there, no beef was even available. Nothing was labeled anywhere.

The menu claimed to have chef carved roast beef and ham. Just ham, no one to carve it. Pastries and desserts, very small selection with a huge table full of empty space. "Salad bar" which was a bowl of lettuce with some dressing next to it. Eggs Benedict Caprese - no where to be found. Scrambled Eggs - they did have these. Mediterranean Egg Whites? Nope. Cheesy Skillet - I'm guessing this was the empty tray of hash browns at the end. Snapper Basilica - nope. Chicken Piccatta - gone. Lobster Mac and Cheese - no trace of this. Lox and Bagels - no bagels, no lox, no bread, but they did have a toaster??? Croque Monsieu al la oscar - nope. Pulled Pork Savory Pancakes - nope. Someone mentioned there was french toast at one point but I didn't see it.

The only thing on the buffet when we walked through was some sausages, scrambled eggs, and about 6 chunks of fruit.

We returned the the table with pretty much empty plates disappointed and hungry. We talked to the manager and she didn't charge us for the "meal" but she also made no attempt at remedying the situation. I guess there's not much that could have been done, it was a complete train wreck. Really a shame because we usually liked when we dined there but I'm not sure there's any way my wife will let me take her back there - her first Mother's Day was a wreck and Johnny...

I am in sales and take customers out to dinner and lunch multiple times a week. I was very excited for this restaurant to open because it was right in my sales territory and it is suppose to be a higher end steak house Very disappointed with this place. I have gone twice now it gets worse every time. The first time was for lunch last week and I would have given it 3 stars. The steak was cooked medium well when I order medium rare. The amount of side you get was like a McDonald’s small fry. But the server did over us dessert with their beautiful tray they make. And my customer loved their house salad ( me too/ it’s better than Olive Garden salad and all you can eat) I have been a server at a steak house in the past for over 4 years. And I know steak. Last night I had a customer suggest this place and a counterpart fly into town. I was so EMBARRASSED for taking them here. The only saver was our waitress was amazing and nice and the slow service from kitchen gave us more time to build a relationship. It started off well with the bottle of wine and appetizer. They house salad is amazing as well. But it took 25 minutes from the time we got salad to the steaks. I ordered the bone in ribeye. It was literally a steak you by at Aldi. Nothing like picture on website. It was probably 10-12 ounces and was over cooked again. I mean you pay over $34 for a steak it better be good quality and not Aldi brand. Two of my customers ordered the charbroiled ribeye. One ordered med rare and it came out WELL done. I mean your title says steakhouse and if you can’t cook steak close to what you order take that off your title. He sent that back and manager did come out and Apologize. So he got another one and it literally looked like a steak you’d get at ruby Tuesday, so bad he didn’t finish it and took it home for steak and eggs the next day. Cheap steak and not close to the price you pay for it. BUT IF YOU READ ANYTHING READ THIS. THE OTHER CHARBROILED STEAK CAME OUT AND IT WAS A SIRLOIN!!! How do you mix up a steak with marble and one without. My customer was so hungry he just ate it and didn’t say anything. I still tipped sever 20% because she did great and it’s not her fault when the kitchen messes up. But my takeaway for the place is they have terrible quality steak for the price you pay(Costco has better quality steak). The cooks in back must be new chiefs because consistently they over cook steak. 4 out of 6 steaks in 2 weeks there were more than 2 temps off. And finally if you are going to host a customer do not take them there. It will be a let down for customer and embarrassment. But good thing is my server was amazing, very pretty design building, and the alcoholic...

We have visited the Johnny's in Middleton, WI a couple times & have had very great experiences - great food, atmosphere & pleasant, professional staff. We were elated when the Sun Prairie, WI location opened, as it is closer to many other attractions we frequent. We visited the Sun Prairie location for the first time this past Friday night for the first time & had the worst experience imaginable. We had booked a reservation a couple nights ahead online & had made it for 7pm. Upon arrival they did not have a table or booth ready & asked us to be seated at the bar until they were ready. While taking our name for the reservation the younger host was unprofessionally scrutinized by what appeared to be the manager for not knowing how to use the tablet system correctly. We sat at the bar, where there was staff directly infant of us but were never greeted nor asked if we wanted to order a drink or look at a menu while we waited. Another customer came in & stood at the bar, where staff quickly attended to her for her pick up order. We were seated within 15 minutes at a TABLE when we had requested a BOOTH when they had given us a preference. A table, no big deal ... but the tables that surrounded us were nothing like the atmosphere we expect of Johnny's... there were kids running around, the table next to us was beyond loud & obnoxious. We were really looking forward to going out, as we don't do this very often, and here we cannot even hear each other across the table. We were greeted by out waitress (the only positive part of our evening). She was attentive & we shortly ordered out food. We were served the salad & bread & shortly later our meals came. We have never been disappointed in Johnny's cuisine but we were mortified at my boyfriend's steak (22oz). He had ordered it medium rare...this thing was beyond red/pink. We sent it back to the kitchen & within 5 minutes the manager brought his plate back out with the few pieces of steak he had already cut up as well as his original steak. Within one bite, it was clear they had MICROWAVED the damn plate. The potatoes with steaming hot, the plate itself was hot & the steak was no longer freshly cooked but dried out and had the "microwaved" taste. This was the worst dining experience I have ever been a part of.... I could continue on about how the manager disrespected her staff and how the 3 other tables around us also had incorrect order or something wrong with their meals, but I think I have made my point... We hope to return to Johnny's in Middleton, as we know we won't be disappointed, but as for the Sun Prairie location, we will NEVER step foot in there again. Absolutely...