Hyvee Market Cafe

Workers today were very nice on a Sunday morning. Food is good and well priced. People complain too much on here

I’ve been to this restaurant for breakfast and lunch. The restaurant had some opportunities when it first opened, but it has really turned around. The manager they have now really is on top of it. You can tell the team was committed to fixing it. The food is unbelievable. The new menu makes much more sense. The service is incredible. The servers are much more attentive. The management is everywhere. Its like dining at a classy restaurant. They really do care and want you to leave happy. Definitely worth your $.

We decided to try for the first time the Hy-​Vee Market Grille on Whitney Way (11:00am on Sunday) to get a quick Reuben sandwich and burger… 35 minutes and no food later … we flagged down the waitress who said she thought that the Reuben was almost ready (implying that the burger was not… or that it was already done and getting cold while they were out killing another cow to make the corned beef?). A little less than 5 minutes after that, a guy (the manager?) said he was sorry and would «take care of it».
At that point since there was still no food we gave up, I offered to pay for the diet coke I had also ordered (very poor mix on their fountain drinks, tasting much watered down)…, but the guy said that there was no charge and so we left… and went to a fast food place instead.

Front end staff and managers NOT friendly. We stopped by for a few items! No smiles even after smiling at them! I’ll probably be going to Copps from now on

After my first dining option didn’t pan out, I dropped by the Hyvee Market Café to grab a meal to go while running lunch time errands on the west side of town. In the aftermath of my Market Café dining disaster, I wished I had never stopped at all.
Before I get into the gory details of my meal, I’ll share some positive observations:
* While I primarily think of Hy-​Vee as a grocery store, the Westgate location houses a fully functional sit down restaurant, complete with full bar service. Patrons also had the option of serving themselves from the massive Grand Buffet or ordering off the menu. While the interior décor is rather generic, the was clean and well maintained with a bevy of flat screens to keep the customer entertained.
* All the staff members I interacted with were super friendly.
Based on the enthusiastic recommendation of the host, I had the misfortune of ordering the Cajun Shrimp. To this day, I can not fathom how this train wreck of a meal left the kitchen. It looked terrible and tasted worse. Here is a multitude of sin that made this dish the most disgusting thing I ate so far this year (check out my pictures — I am not making this up):
* The over-​cooked shrimp was rubbery
* The dish swam in a puddle of grease
* The combination of white and wild rice, was extremely mushy from being overcooked and soaking in the aforementioned puddle of grease
* The overuse of the Cajun spice mix added a graininess to all the ingredients and made the dish almost too spicy to consume
* The grease-​soaked lemon slices imparted a bitter flavor note
Scarred from this traumatic experience, I will never return, there are so many other better options in Madison.
UPDATE #1: About an hour after I posted my review, I was contacted by Hy-​Vee customer service, who indicated they were investigating the matter. Several hours after that, I received a phone call from the store manager apologizing for the quality of the dish. Based on the their prompt follow-​up, I’m backing off my «never again» stance. Color me impressed by their since response. I’ll update my review based on my future interactions.