The Fat Radish — Restaurant in Washburn

We made reservations for 7:15. Got seated at 8:00. Why make reservations if they are not treated like a reservation? We waited at the bar. Ordered a drink from their handcrafted menu. A "Wisconsin Old Fashion". The bartender handed us a mostly clear drink with an asparagus and mushroom included. My husband reminded the bartender he ordered old fashions, the bartender said, "yes. Whiskey and sour." My husband said, "what are these?" He said, "Whiskey sours." My husband again said, "I ordered old fashions." The bartender picked up our money and threw it back on the bar and said, "they are on me." I did not care for the drink, so I slid it next to the edge in front of the bartender. He never asked me if I wanted something else. Never picked up the untouched drink. A local at the bar saw what was happened and declared "he was having a day." After 30 minutes of waiting, I finally asked if I might get a different drink. I was afraid to though because he was so angry. He said, sure. (How gracious) I asked for an amaretto and sour as I thought I saw it on the shelf. He said, I don't have that. I decided to try something easy and ordered a glass of red wine. I received it and paid for it. Also left a $3 tip for the one drink we ordered and received. In hindsight I should not have tipped him.

The food was ok. The service was lacking. I would not call what we received a 4.5 star restaurant though. The soup of the day was described to me as a "tomato, fennel, bean vegan thing." Which I tried. It was delicious. Our group ordered fish tacos, trout, and a flat iron steak plate. The tacos were over salted. The salsa was extremely over salted. The steak tasted off. And was covered in a balsamic vinegar flavoring that overpowered everything. Which probably was done to mask the bad meat. There were two completely burned asparagus stalks and one chunk of carrot with my potatoes. The potatoes were done well but swimming in dijon mustard.

Finally, the dessert of a brownie sundae. How can that get messed up right? Well, it smelled delicious, looked delicious, it was warm from the oven, and covered in .... SALT! No lie.

Not sure what was happening with the salt shaker in the restaurant, but you will need lots of water to finish the meal.

I did not go into the restaurant expected to be blown away, but sad when you walk out wondering if you were going to be sick that evening.

It appears the restaurant is a local favorite so it must be good. Maybe I was being too critical. There are not many places to go out for dinner in the area, so I am thankful for having someone else cook.

As I review how this place has so many 5 stars I am noticing how many of these reviews are from "local guides". So maybe they are people who are simply trying to pump up the review ratings. Are they people who have actually eaten there?

When you take the time to read the reviews the majority have the same comments. Bad service by crabby people and poor quality food. I would have said something at the restaurant about all of this but my son was adamant that I keep my mouth shut. After reading other reviews, it appears the people who did speak their minds were not treated well, so I thank my son for keeping me in check.

My final thought is how does the restaurant handle these reviews. Do they reach out to ask for clarification or apologize? I don't see evidence on the site of their reaction....

I am a Celiac so gluten free eating is a medical diet for me. These folks seemed to get it though the service was some of the worst I have experienced. The atmosphere not much better. Food was meh. We go in and they didn't even give each person a menu so we had to pass them around. The waitress wasn't around much. I nabbed her to order. Then we waited for an hour for our food. Which though it was 1:00 pm you could only get breakfast. So that's what we ordered... Usually you think of breakfast foods is fairly quick. But they had a sign on the wall explaining​ that they were a slow food restaurant. So we sat back for an hour and waited until we saw other people that arrived way after us getting their food... Large parties of 5 or 6... We were a party of 5 and we were still without. So one of us went up and asked about and they​ just pointed to the sign and said well we are a slow food place. We said yes but we have been here an hour and other folks are getting their food who came after. So all in all that sign is up there so they have a good excuse for poor service. Then when the food arrived two of us only got half our meals. And when they brought out the other half of mine out was wrong so she took it back and said she'd for it right away... But I never saw it again. At the end she gave us a bag of goodies...a couple of muffins and banana bread... To make up for the poor service, which was probably just day old stuff they needed to get rid of... Because she never gave us a choice of what we wanted. Then she turns to me....who never even got all of my food and said sorry we don't have anything gluten free so there isn't anything for you in the bag.... I didn't really want anything but it just all seemed a little odd. Maybe even a bit rude. Nothing about this experience was good. I would not recommend it to...

This was not our first dining experience at the fat radish, but will probably be our last. We have had hit and miss experiences with both food and service, but in 2024 it seemed that the move to Washburn had included improvements on both fronts. Sadly, last night proved Otherwise. While we waited for a table at the bar, it took over 15 minutes for anyone to acknowledge us and the bartender then stop taking our order multiple times to divert to other tasks. Once she managed to take our order, it took her over 20 minutes to make three drinks one at a time very slowly. The drinks were not very tasty and the drink menu overwhelmingly relied on vodka and syrups leaving few cocktails on the menu. When we were finally seated at a table, we waited for a server for sometime. The water in our niece jar glasses tasted a bleach. The server who eventually arrived was rude and did not tell us what the special was without being asked if one existed. We then waited for over an hour for our food while our salad plate sat uncleared, and no one came to see if we needed more water or wish to order Another drink. The food itself was acceptable, but hardly worth the elevated prices. The vegetables in one dish appeared to come from a bag in their shape and texture. Every step of the meal was slow, not in a leisurely, generous and paste way, but in a sense of abandonment. The prices are high, but the quality and service hardly merit such prices. Even when we received the check, it sat uncollected for nearly half an hour before we finally went to the front to pay so that we could escape. The fat radish does not appear to care about its customers’ experience. It is a start contrast to Good Thyme, which offers outstanding food and service in a truly welcoming and vibrant atmosphere at...