The Statehouse

Bar: The brandy Alexander was ultra tasty, but once I got my drink, I was totally ignored. The bartender who made my drink was presumably on break so I don’t blame him, but the other guy just kept walking past for an hour without bothering to ask if I wanted more water or anything. Would like to try the restaurant but the bar has only half the required elements of a decent haunt.

Update 2÷22÷16
I have to say I am very impressed. The next morning after posting the review below. I received a call and email from the general manager of the State House. He apologized for our experience promised to follow up with his staff. I really appreciated his concern and I have changed my mind. I will go back to give the State House another try.
2÷21÷16
We went there today with family we don’t see often. The atmosphere is beautiful with a great view. The food off the menu and the brunch was good but not remarkable.
The reason for the low review was our waitress. She spilled our water, mixed drinks, and coffee. Not just once or twice but every time she attempted to pour a drink or serve it. She never offered to help clean up what she had spilled or even offer a napkin.
She criticized a choice of drink order. She mixed up the orders when serving, had to be reminded of small requests like a knife 3 times and Then after we had paid the bill and were saying goodbye she came to scold us for taking staying too long.
To be honest, I expected at better level of service from the Edgewater. I won’t be back.

Since we were staying at Edgewater, we ate dinner and breakfast here for our last night.
Kitchen closes at 10 pm, but their bar is open with bar food only so this review is only for that.
Bar food is decent. Calamari was good but the salad I ordered was just okay. We had Brussels sprouts and soup for snack before the gym and that was good. Although I must say service is just a little slow considered that the place was not that busy.
For the breakfast, the quiche was super tasty and came with salad. We also ordered some Belgian waffles and they were good better than what I have had before. There are small and crunchy outside and soft inside which was good.
When we come back for a business trip again, will definitely stay in Edgewater and try this place for dinner.

I was really looking forward to trying out the cocktails at the Statehouse. Unfortunately I was not as wowed as I had hoped. The cocktail menu has some standards, and the apple old fashioned was tasty. However, adding in tax, parking, and tip; $ 30+ for two cocktails is a bit much for an average bar experience. It seems to be the most expensive parking rate I have seen in the city at $ 3.00/hour.

The food was great and the service was perfect. Restaurant Manger Liz is very friendly and professional. Couldn’t ask for a better experience!

We visited both the terrace and the bar inside during the week. Not very crowded. Atlhough…85% of the terrace was taken by a big, loud group, consuming 120% of the attention of the waiters. We really felt neglected. Had to call out several times to make an order. Saw at least five different people. Food was delivered without any word, the bill was almost thrown on our table, so you can imagine we gave a very lousy tip. Sorry. If you don’t even bother to make eye contact, you should look for an job in an other industry.
How different was the service inside! A real nice guy from NY. Entertaining, quick. And although he mixed up my order it didn’t feel as a problem.

Not worth the price! Excellent décor and atmosphere, wishing for the menu to catch up. We ordered calamari and oysters which were decent but nothing special and definitely overpriced. The vodka martinis had a weird after taste so that was disappointing. Between us we had four entrees: half chicken, filet, scallops and walleye. Nothing was flavored well, we all were adding salt to it. Lackluster and disappointing since we were so enamored by the new look of the place. If you’re going to spend $ 50 a person go to Rare, Graze, Cento, Estrellon, etc. Madison has so many good restaurants, unless Statehouse picks it up I don’t know what would draw us back.

The Statehouse is a beautiful venue overlooking Lake Mendota. Excellent shrimp cocktail with extremely hot cocktail sauce. The lobster roll was very fresh but relatively tasteless. The crème brûlée dessert was very good. The servers were pleasant but not polished. We would probably come back and try them once more.

I’ve hesitated writing my review hoping I could write a more positive one… The hotel and the Statehouse are beautiful with excellent views. The food is hit or miss. That being said, we have had some excellent meals there. The service is very disappointing and hasn’t improved with time. From the bartenders to the servers no one seems to own their position or seem comfortable.
A few of our experiences… We were at the Statehouse for our anniversary and my parents had called to send over a couple glasses of champagne to us. The host told them that they couldn’t seem to find us. We were one of two tables seated in the restaurant that night. They could have found us if they had tried. Also, my husbands steak was horrible, shouldn’t have been served.
We were in the bar another night with 5 bartenders behind the bar discussing who should go home since it was a slow night. As the only two in the bar we sat listening with empty drinks.
A couple friends and I stopped in for drinks and appetizers after the homecoming game. Yes, it was busy and yes, they knew they would have a huge crowd due to the after party they were hosting. But, they all seemed flustered and irritated. It took at least 20 minutes for someone to acknowledge us. We asked about the wine and she said she didn’t know because it was her first week. I knew for a fact it wasn’t her first week. I hope the assumption isn’t that everyone is a one time customer due to the fact that it’s a hotel and people come and go. But, that’s how we felt. I could go on…
It’s such a beautiful hotel and restaurant but the service does not live up the standards that you should expect to experience in a place like this. I really do hope they can figure it out and turn things around. Not sure how many more chances we will give.

We’ve been going to the Statehouse for drinks and dinner much more than I’d like to admit. The location is amazing, the price is right, and it’s free of the loud undergrads. We really like that you can hold a conversation across a table of 6 – 10 people without having to fight with loud music and guests. It did have a very rough start (see my previous reviews) but has steadily improved since then. The food and drinks are on point and the staff is extremely friendly. They are constantly bringing out new menu items which is exciting and some of the new talent they’ve acquired in the kitchen and bar area has really paid off.
Also, a huge plus that we just found out about is that they do validate parking. It makes the Statehouse an easy decision when we’re taking a car downtown instead of Über.

We enjoyed a very nice dinner with good attentive service and very fine food. It was our first visit to the dining room after being at a couple of functions since the opening of the new hotel.
The appetizers were highlighted by some very large prawns in the shrimp cocktail that were firm and succulent. The oysters of the day were a bit on the small side, but were also good.
My wife had the fish of the day a pan seared Rockfish that was outstanding. It came steaming hot and was prepared just right. I had a ribeye steak sandwich that was tender and had great flavor.
We enjoyed the view of the lake and the feel of the room. We will be back again.

We were a little nervous about selecting The Statehouse based on earlier reviews. However, we decided to chance it, and we were not disappointed.
We started with drinks on the terrace overlooking Lake Mendota. The view is spectacular. Bar service is a tad slow because they only had one server, and where the bar is located inside is a bit of a hike.
Dinner inside was quite good. No problem with service; our server was quite attentive. For appetizers we had several. The shrimp cocktail was my personal favorite: huge shrimp, fresh and perfectly chilled. Other favorites included the crab soup and Portuguese soup. However, I thought the calamari was undercooked. Salads are good, very fresh. I think the iceberg wedge was my favorite. It could easily be shared.
The entrees were all great: filet mignon and strip steak were perfectly cooked as well as the walleye and hake.
All in all, it was a very nice evening. The place is beautiful, and I would definitely return.

Came back for a second time a few weeks ago. All aspects of the food were excellent. Music volume was louder which helped give a more active feel to the place given that it was about ¹⁄₃ full again. Our server was very, very green. Seemed pretty clueless so they are still struggling to develop a quality service team. One other issue was that their menu states that they serve fresh squeezed fruit and vegetable juice. They had none on hand and evidently were dropping it from their menu.
Note to management. For a restaurant at the level you are trying to achieve, fresh squeezed juices are a must. They do it at other restaurants all over town, I am pretty sure you can pull it off too. Otherwise, I love the place (impeccable space, impeccable views) and I am hoping you can get it hitting on all cylinders.

The Edgewater is in a great location and had decent drinks.
That being said the service was terrible and incredibly slow. It took over a half hour for simple drinks to arrive at your table. The food was also bad, it was tiny in portion and overcooked. I would not reccomend eating here.

I really hope The Statehouse improves their game because the renovation of the Edgewater hotel is beautiful, but I don’t understand how they decided to make their food service such an afterthought. I’ve heard nothing but very bad reviews and so we decided to check it out for ourselves one afternoon.
The service was pretty slow considering there were just a couple tables ordering drinks and appetizers, which is what I had also heard, though everyone was very friendly.
When we finally were able to order, the drinks took about 15 minutes (although they did take one off of the bill) because they «could not find» one of the ingredients… for one of their «signature» cocktails… in the entire hotel?
We ordered cheese curds aaaannnd honestly they were pretty terrible considering the fantastic places nearby (and just being in Wisconsin). I’m nearly certain they were frozen (and if they weren’t that may be more disappointing).
I was hoping that the new Edgewater would be a fun place to make a new hangout, order drinks and get dinner, and use the facilities… but so far I’m not super impressed.

I love the power of Unilocal… Helping the un-​seen be seen.
Its so wonderful.
I came back the next day and the manager had actually read my Unilocal review and came and apologized and then comped my breakfast.
Its nice to see that I was heard and the situation was made better so quickly.
Also lo and behold they DO have jelly for my toast :)

Made a reservation for Restaurant Week before reading any reviews. Then after reading the reviews, we had very low expectations, which were definitely warranted.
The restaurant is inside a newly renovated hotel. Walking in towards the restaurant feels more like a brightly light hall of fame tour.
The restaurant itself has a nice view and general atmosphere, but terrible service and mediocre, bland food.
Apparently, it was a chore for our server to do anything other than take the order and deliver the bill. Nothing was explained on the menu, our table was never checked on through the meal, and we were never offered anything other than table water.
The meal was overpriced for Restaurant Week. But I would have been infuriated if I had to pay full price for lukewarm food with no seasoning. I cannot recommended a single thing we tried.
For being a Friday night, the restaurant was not busy — apparently word is getting around about this less than stellar experience.

An utter disaster.
Valet only parking no valet parkers
No choice of seating in a near empty restaurant
Darkened room midday
Had to request wine list
One order of a walleye plate morphed into the delivery of a fish sandwich which wasn’t even on the menu
The salt shaker top was loose so it all poured on my meal
French fries cold and soggy
Never offered desert
Took 4 people to validate parking
The place is a mess

I was veeeery excited to try out this restaurant since I had been watching/​hearing about the Edgewater’s exciting renovations for such a long time, so when a member of my dinner group suggested it, I was delighted. We dined here on 10÷11÷14.
We valeted our car. I wasn’t even out of the vehicle before I was greeted by a couple of obnoxious drunk guys spouting off at the mouth. Badgers won that day-​gotsta celebrate I guess.
While one of us checked in our party of 12, the rest of us thought we would get a drink at the bar while we waited. It was a very makeshift bar-​the kind you would find at a very makeshift wedding reception with only a handful of different liquors set out on a table with some wine, no tappers, etc. Thankfully they were ready to seat us before we even got to order… so we proceeded to the table.
The restaurant was comfortable. High ceilings, warm, soft lighting from the well scaled chandeliers hanging above. Obviously the view of the lake was fantastic as the Autumn sun was setting. Too bad the open kitchen’s bright task light kept trying to creep in and ruin my ambiance.
So back to my pre-​dinner cocktail… I love a good old fashioned and quite frankly, was scared to order one after seeing that ghetto bar, but it’s what I really had a taste for, so I thought I would exercise due diligence and ask some specific Qs, such as, if they muddle their drinks, etc. After about 30 long minutes, our drinks arrived. Well, the muddling turned out fine, but there were only about four ice cubes in the entire glass. One of my dining companions, Rich B. (see his recent review on ¹⁰⁄₁₂) was kind enough to order me a glass of ice to make it right. Thanks, Rich B!
I ordered the beef heart tartare. Edible, but still some of the worst I’ve ever had and I pretty much order tartare whenever I see it on a menu. Chef was a bit heavy-​handed on the mustard.
I ordered the Filet for my main course-​medium rare. They served it to me somewhere between Medium to medium well. I sent it back and enjoyed the company of my friends while they prepared another for me. Soon afterward, as my friends were finishing up their meals, the Manager brought me my second steak. I cut into it to find that it was so rare it was purple. Mgr said she was hurrying my steak so that I could eat dinner, but I never really ate anything because I obviously sent that one back too. Haste makes waste. They did ask me if there was ANYTHING on the menu they could get me to right this wrong, but at this point, my friends had finished eating and I had run out of patience, so it’s a good thing that bottle of Sauvignon Blanc I ordered went well with my bread and butter dinner.
My husband had the Seared Diver Scallops with Risotto. He wished there were more than three scallops, but the dish was tasty. Many of our friends ordered the fish and it was horribly overcooked in every case.
As a peace offering to one of us in the group when they forgot to bring out their side dish, they offered a different potato type side dish of baby potatoes encrusted (=coated and rolling around in) salt. /​/​see picture/​/​This was perhaps the highlight of the evening and gave us all a good chuckle. It was something you would expect your four year old to whip up and surprise you with on Mother’s Day. What on Earth was going on back there in that kitchen!!!
No. Just no.

My husband and I were very excited to check out the restaurant at the newly remodeled Edgewater Hotel, The Statehouse. We made a reservation on Open Table and were surprised when we arrived and found out the restaurant is really only open to hotel guests at this time, so it was pretty empty inside.
Moving on… The service was good, though not the best we’ve had in Madison. The arugula salad was good, as was the octopus appetizer. For main courses, we got the crab cake soufflé and the Kansas City Strip. Both were good, though again, not the best we’ve had in Madison. The creamed corn side was great though! It had some caramel popcorn on top too which was delicious!
The wine list is on the small side but they do have some nice options. We didn’t see a cocktail menu so I’m not sure if they have that ready yet or not.
The ambiance needs some work but has great potential. The lighting was a bit bright and the overhead music was very soft. We don’t want to have to yell to hear each other but also don’t want to hear all the kitchen noise.
We will definitely be returning to the Statehouse in the next few months after they get all the kinks worked out. The new Edgewater Hotel is very nice and there will be a nice variety of dining and drink options available once everything is open.