I am currently in Madison, WI for work and this was the closest steakhouse within walking distance of our hotel. We read the reviews on this place and were kind of iffy on trying it due to the mixed reviews.
My sister and I, however, wanted to try something we didn't have in Virginia because we could have naturally gone to the PF Changs which was about a 2-3 block walk or we could have gone to Cheeseburger in Paradise on the opposite side but we said, "No, no. We want to try something we haven't tried before."
We were very disappointed despite the smiles on our faces when our extremely efficient and nice waitress came by to ask how things were going. I love getting bread at a restaurant and the bread that we were given tasted like it was frozen then baked. A very...how you say, stretchy? Consistency? The olive oil concoction made one piece bearable.
We ordered calamari for our appetizer...sigh. Big mistake. There were only a few good pieces and the others felt like rubber bands in our mouths. The marinara and cream sauce was good but I think I'm going to leave calamari to the coastal cities.
We were able to get a house salad with our choice of dressing. I'm a stickler for good restaurant ranch so I was anticipating the salad very much so. We got the salad and poured the ranch on top and took a huge bite...and...tasted...nothing...??? There was almost NO FLAVOR in the ranch! HAHAHA. It was the weirdest thing! It was like, I don't even know how to describe it. If you concentrated hard enough you could probably get the slightest taste of some herbs but other than that, nothing.
Then we ordered our petit Filet Mignon with sides. This and the service was probably the only thing that prevented me from giving this place one star. The filet mignon was cooked to my preference and the sides were good. (How could you mess up steamed broccoli and garlic mashed potatoes?) I will admit however, I've tasted much better filet mignon but it was still very good.
The decor itself was fantastic and the service impeccable. The waitress always checked up on us and always made sure to ask how things were going (even though we lied somewhat).
A+ for service and decor.
D - - for food. :( Sad day.