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| - Went to the Boathouse last evening for the first time. It was a beautiful day here and we thought it would be fun to eat out on the dock. The first problem was getting out there. My husband & I were with his parents and a friend (all in their 80's). There is no elevator directly from the parking area down to the waterfront. One of the ladies has a difficult time with stairs so we had to go into the main hotel to the elevator, down 3 levels, then walk through a very long, winding dark tunnel, go down a few more levels and finally arrived at the restaurant.
Our plan to sit on the dock by the lake was immediately scraped when we went out there and it was over 80 degrees and there was absolutely no shade and they didn't even have umbrellas for the tables. We went inside to the upper level. Despite being open for over a year, there was still plywood on the walls and open junction boxes that didn't have the fixtures attached. The floor, walls and ceilings are all resilient surfaces so it was very noisy and hard to hear even though there were only a few other people in there.
Now for the menu, the selections were extremely limited. For an appetizer, can you imagine a can of sardines with a sleeve of Ritz crackers? The other selections were equally underwhelming - a few appetizers, a couple of salads, soups and sandwiches. The drink menu was very limited as well. Only 3 mixed cocktails, beer and mediocre wine. The best thing I can say is that the servers were very nice, but that's not going to get us rushing back. After a less than satisfying meal, they charged $15 for parking! This is Madison, not New York.
If I could give it O stars I would. I think those giving it 4 or 5 stars must work for the company.
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