Otto’s Restaurant & Bar

This is the best restaurant we have stumbled onto yet in Madison. Simply put, it’s a hidden gem that we never would have found had my dad not moved in next door. Last Saturday, we pulled up at about 9 p.m. The place closes at 9:30, so it would have been fair of them to rush us or even turn us away. We walked into the bar and the bartender very kindly noticed that my dad was using a walker and told us about ramps on the side of the restaurant. It was a very cold night out but one of the employees actually went around to the other side and waited for us outside, in short sleeves, to offer assistance to my dad and hold the door. Once seated, we were just blown away by the cozy, quaint décor. This is an old house dating back to the 1800s which has been either beautifully restored or maintained. Either way, a restaurant in a house can be overly precious but that was not the case with Otto’s. The whole experience was so warm and welcoming. Our server did not seem rushed and there was a large party next to us which had obviously been there for hours. This is truly like dining at someone’s lovely home. The service was impeccable and the food absolutely exceeded our expectations. Everything was delicious and the attention to detail was evident everywhere. The bread was freshly baked for the table! At 9:30 at night! The cocktail and wine lists were thoughtful and not at all overpriced. The tomato and mushroom bisques were so good that we wanted to lick our bowls. For dinner, we all had some variation of seafood (grape leaf– wrapped salmon, scallops and a seafood trio, all accompanied by either rice or potatoes and beautifully presented and seasoned). Entrees may seem pricey at first glance but are not, for everything you get with it (and I am including the friendly, professional, knowledgeable service when I say that). Dessert was another welcome surprise, with housemade gelato that was as good (or even better) than I’ve tasted in Rome. The consistency was so creamy and the raspberry so flavorful that I wanted more the next day! Unfortunately, Otto’s is closed on Sundays and Mondays. That said, I would make another trip here unhesitatingly. The experience was perfect and memorable in every way and my dad is so happy to have this so close to him in his new home.

Have only been here once for drink’s and appetizers but everything was delicious and the bartender was super nice and helpful with food and drink recommendations.
They have a happy hour, I forget the drink specials but they had a menu with select appetizers heavily discounted. We tried the calamari and crab cakes (crab cakes were not a happy hour special). The crab cakes had a Middle Eastern taste to them and were a nice change from your regular old crab cake.
They do close relatively early. Sometimes we like to say out later and they close at 930 on weekends, that seems a little early to me. I think it’s because they are on the Westside and the probably don’t get much late night business. It also seems like they cater to an older crowd but nonetheless food and service we good enough to come back some time.

Easily the best lamb chops I’ve ever had.
We went for my girlfriends birthday. The place was very quiet, and for a large portion of our meal we had the entire main dining area to ourselves, which was wonderful and intimate. Our waitress was fantastic– around enough to make sure we were well taken care of, but mindful to give us time together.
Wine selection great– reasonably priced and our Pinot Noir was delicious. Bread, salads, calamari appetizer all excellent. And those lamb chops– cannot say enough good things. Perfectly cooked inside, perfectly charred outside, with an incredible mint pesto sauce. They allowed us to pick whatever dessert we wanted for her birthday, on the house, and the crème brûlée was great.
Overall, a wonderful, intimate, romantic setting with food that is everything we could have asked for.

Amazing lamb chops. Great service and dessert was amazing. Great location. Easy to
Find being from out of town.

My boyfriend has been making me birthday reseravations at Otto’s for the past 2 years, the service is the best, we had a exceptional waiter who recommended us the perfect wines to compliment our dinner and was really great at making it a high quality dining experience. I feel like it is one of the few places in the Madison area that you will not be out of place if you feel like being super dressy and the restaraunt itself is beautiful. The only complaint I would have to make is that the menu doesn’t seem to change so we decided to try somewhere new this year. If the menu changed I would no doubt return.

I don’t get the hype. Yes it’s an old house, yes it’s been here a long time but…
Service is mediocre
Menu is nothing fancy
Food is sub par
I’ve tried it twice and will not be back.

Even though we were sadly disappointed that we could not sit outside on the patio, the food was excellent! The scallops were perfection, and my co-​worker loved the Chilean Sea Bass as well. Really wish we could gave experienced the patio atmosphere… there was live music and we wished we could have experienced it.

Otto’s has become a favorite of ours. We enjoy sitting outside on a lovely summer night, and the bar is a warm and welcoming place in the cooler weather. The food is reliably good, and the wine selections are interesting. We are giving a it a 4 star because even if the food is quite good, the appetizer menu has not changed in years. It would be nice once in a while to have surprises from the menu. The service on our last visit also was not as good as usual. We could not make eye contact with our server for quite a while. We still like it very much and we will be back.

Wow! I had always wanted to try Otto’s and it did not disappoint. I went here on a date night with my sugar and we both loved every morsel. Salmon, scallops, and crab cakes oh my!

What can I say? After returning to Madison after a ten year absence… even more since I had been to Ottos, my sister and her husband wanted to go there for their 23 wedding anniversary. Ok. Reservations were made. We stopped by the bar for a cocktail pre dinner. Good vibe. Great drinks. Up we go to the main dinning room. Because it is in a house there are different levels. The first table was one of the worse ones in the space. I politely asked for a different one. No problem. There are steaks, pasta and some seafood choices. The place is billed as a Mediterranean, but I don’t see that distinction… oh they have penne pasta and basil vinegaret. Anyway I have what was suppose to be Scottish salmon wrapped in grape leaves with some balsamic vinegar reduction. The salmon was hammered and the sauce grainy and an off putting color. I scrapped it off. If that was Scottish salmon welll… Steaks were cooked to temperature and the scallops were a wee bit over but tastey. Service excellent, attentive without being intrusive. Bread and soup or salad are included.
All in all it was a nice but average experience.

Coming from LA, my standards are extremely high and this seems to be one of Madison’s best kept secrets… with a great happy hour that seems to go utterly unadvertised. WTH, why didn’t you guys tell me about this place sooner?
We had a few appetizers in the bar and ended up staying for dinner. Probably the best seafood in Madison. The grilled salmon wrapped in grape leaves was the group favorite, but everyone loved the steak, too. Also, the muscles appetizer was phenomenal. Mediterranean platter was great, but a lot more food than we had expected… might have ordered too much. Not that that stopped us from getting a strawberry Napoleon, which rivaled any dessert in town.
One of the people who went with us has a few very severe food allergies and the chef was extremely accommodating. He even came out to our table to speak with her personally about what she could and could not eat, explaining that he had a lot of experience cooking for people with particular restrictions and that he makes everything fresh so there’s no hidden gluten or other ingredients that might be a problem.
The wine selection was great and they have multiple high-​end varieties by the glass.
The bar can get a little crowded, but it seemed to clear out pretty quickly after 7-​ish.
I am so happy to have found something like this on the West Side so I don’t need to truck all the way down to Willie St or The Square every time I want a great meal.

We miss the prior proprietor who ran a wonderful restaurant with outstanding food, great ambience, and reasonable prices. The quality of the food is the same, the ambience remains, but the prices have jumped 20 per cent. Still a great choice for good dining.

We thought our food and service was out standing! (There is room for improvement on the house salad) but, everything else was excellent!

A fellow trainee found Ottos using open table and invited the rest of us to join for dinner. I loved the structure — an older house with a bar at the bottom and tables on the upper levels. The menus had typical Wisconsin cuisine (steaks, potatoes, cheese). I opted for the New Zealand Lamb Chops which were delicious! Overall I had a nice dining experience and they waitress and bartender were very nice.

I give Otto’s bar a 4-​Star rating. I’m less thrilled with the formal dining area. The bar area has vibe and you can order the full dinner menu in the bar. The cocktails are skillfully crafted… They have lovely blue cheese stuffed olives for the martinis. This makes me happy.
When I’m hanging out in the bar, I generally order some appetizers and or a desert. The bacon wrapped shrimp is my favorite appetizer. You can get these little gems solo or as part of the Mediterranean platter, which also includes humus and bruschetta.
The best desert is the Napoleon — wonderful lightly sweetened phyllo dough provides the structure and a silky custard provides the sexiness.

Went for a Valenine’s Day dinner with a group of girlfriends. Started with the Crispy Almond-​Crusted Calamari that comes with the Caper aioli & horseradish marinara. It was delish. Apparently, I was having some sort of seafood deprivation issue because I got the Seafood Trio as an entrée. It came wih roasted fennels, artichokes and red potatoes/​asparagus. It was very good. Scallops were not the best, but still very good. Oliver’s is probably the best scallop dish I have tried in Madison so far. The shrimp and salmon were very good and all perfectly cooked. The fennels and artichokes were great in flavors and textures. It was a great experience overall. Definitely seemed more suitable for couples & seemed intimate. It was a very sweet touch that they gave all the women a red rose to celebrate the day of Cupid. Loved it. Would go back again when we can sit outside!

SOOO good! Went for my birthday dinner and everything was perfect. The ambience is lovely. It’s in a converted 3-​story house. The bar is on the bottom floor, the kitchen and small dining area on the second, and another dining floor on the third. It was way too cold for the patio, but it looked nice.
The food was phenomenal — we had the Moroccan crab cake appetizer, New Zealand lamb chops and salmon fillet special, and strawberry Napoleon. The crab cakes were small but lots of crab rather than filler. Came with aioli and savory jam. The lamb chops were remarkably well-​cooked, with a lovely basil mint sauce and roasted red potatoes and crisp green beans. The salmon fillet was also beautifully cooked, with an olive tapenade, tomato risotto, and the same crispy green beans. The Napoleon looked strange at first glance but tasted great, especially the strawberries. Prices are very reasonable, particularly for such high quality food.
The service was equal to the food. That’s pretty unusual for any restaurant, so I need to give this place particularly high praise. Our waiter was prompt, knowledgeable, and had charming voice cadence. I asked for a decaf coffee with sugar and it appeared within seconds. Really some of the best service we have experienced in Madison.
Would go back anytime, special occasion or not! Can’t wait to try out the patio next summer.

Five stars across the board. Awesome food, service, and environment. The taste of the food was perfect and loved eating in an older style house. Will recommend to everyone.

Took my foodie parents here. We all were sooo impressed. Great drinks from the bar, and delicious fresh food.

Where the west was won.
Also, a patio worth pondering.
Prices are steep but service is solid.
And the ambiance is interesting. Older crowds. Grandparents. But enjoyable for this gkjsnclforktnsndijrbethirty something.