''This is a tale of extremely poor service and average food. A warning to all, go for the view and clam chowder. I should have read the reviews before making reservations.
Sunday night 6:45pm reservations on the patio.When we arrived our table wasn't ready. Not sure why as they weren't busy. After long wait while another couple without reservations -- who had arrived after us -- was seated, we were escorted to our table. A great view looking over the water. Menus were dropped on the table when we were seated. It was more than 10 minutes before a server came for our drink order and 15 more minutes before we received our beverages. Smartly we ordered dinner at the same time we did the drinks.
With the drinks we received a small basket of bread with compound butter. Very good. A long while later two cups of soup were hurriedly set on our table with out a word from our server. She ran off so fast I didn't have time to ask for salt and pepper.
We had ordered crab cakes as an appetizer and wondered why the soup came out first. The soup was flavorful but barely hot. Lots of clams and heavy cream. Yum! It took awhile for the crab cakes to arrive. How long you ask? The people seated next to us, after we we seated, already had their entrees. The crab cakes were not worth the wait. They were generously sized and the two cakes could easily serve 4. There wasn't any crab taste and no large chunks of crab.
Our entrees were not brought out by our server.
Note: up to this point we've seen our waitress twice with one interaction to take our order. No solicitation for a second drink order, or check in, or even bussing the table to remove extra dishes.
When the entrees were served by the bus boy we asked him for another drink. A few seconds later our waitress finally showed up to check in. Great timing.
The bass special with peach salsa was good and came with green beans and garlic mashed potatoes. The coconut shrimp were very large, crispy and not greasy. Very good. The rice pilaf was very flavorful but lukewarm instead of hot.
We will return to sit on the patio for a drink and chowder as Madison has few restaurants on the water. That is, if the lack of good service doesn't close them down.