Madison

Bad food, bad service. But the space is hip. So come drop $ 100 for shitty dinner. Your friends will think you’re cool.

Great cocktails and atmosphere, okay food. The food is nothing to write home about. Definitely don’t get the pork chop — way too thick to cook properly through. The tuna crêpe appetizer was a cool idea but also pretty bland.
I would come back for drinks because the vibe is and service is great.

Love the ambiance. I have only sat at the bar with some friends but the back is a nice open patio area with many tables. This place is rather quaint so best for smaller groups. Dean and Ryan are very nice bartenders. They provide great service and delicious drinks. The restaurant feels very clean. Try the stone stairs tequila cocktail! The tuna appetizer is a must!

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Outside one would never think that this is a hipster modern sophisticated place to have a drink. Love the ambiance of this place. You can tell by the pictures that this place is amazing from the inside. I came on a rainy Friday for dinner and we were sat immediately. Ordered the skirt steak and pappardelle both of which were excellent. Highly rec the pasta if you like red sauce and carnitas. The stringiness of the carnitas paired well with the long pasta and so each bite was exquisite. The cocktails were also strong and original. I ordered the cholla which was creamy and spicy. Can’t remember the other ones but we had at least 3 and all were delicious.

I was pretty underwhelmed with my recent dinner at Madison. On the positive side, it’s a stunning piece of architecture, with a soaring rounded ceiling and cool wires that make it look suspended. The open air sides are a welcome touch. However the noise level was pretty overwhelming, making it hard to hear someone sitting 2 seats away from me.
Unfortunately the food I had was super bland. I ordered the flank steak appetizer and the half chicken as a main course. The flank steak was OK but nothing memorable, while the half chicken was surprisingly bland… I thought the creamy broth it was dressed in promised something succulent and savory, but it tasted like… watery broth? My dining partner did like the beet salad a lot, and other friends of mine have raved about the place, so perhaps I just picked the two wrong dishes. That said, our bill came out to $ 100 for 2 people, and there are many other restaurants in the neighborhood who will deliver a much better meal for that price point.

Came here on a Friday night. We sat in the bar area.
5 stars for ambiance. Restaurant is beautiful. Great location. Nice décor, indoor/​outdoor feel was perfect.
4 stars for drinks… No complaints.
But. The food. Was 3 stars in my opinion. Ordered the pork chop at the waiters suggestion. What I got was a giant breaded piece of very dry meat. There was a little balsamic glaze on it. But certainly not enough. And the fact the waiter raved about it… Made it even more disappointing.
My friend ordered the pappardelle. It was pretty good. Not amazing, but good.
Probably the best thing I had was a bite of my other friend’s mac n cheese.
Overall, I would go there for the drinks. Maybe get the Mac n cheese. But definitely skip the pork chop.

Oo! What a beautiful restaurant!
You enter & see the long bar to the right & then you are greeted by the open air restaurant. It is a small, intimate restaurant with tasteful decorations. The food was delightful but the service was poor! Our server was sweet but time management was not her forte. We had to constantly remind her of our food & I did not get my cocktail until the check.
Brie, served with apricot habanero honey, ciabatta — For how much Brie they gave, they should be giving a plate full of ciabatta instead of the 5 small pieces that they do give. We had to ask several times for more bread… Besides that, the dish was phenomenal! The Brie was smooth & creamy. The apricot spread was a sweet addition.
Skirt Steak, served with guacamole, chopped quinoa salad, citrus yogurt sauce — The steak is marinated to perfection. The sides were a great accompaniment. I hope that they make this appetizer into an entrée because it was very delicious.
Sparrow — Sweet but tiny cocktail. I literally finished it in 2 sips. What is worst is that they charge a ridiculous amount for their cocktails, $ 9!

Beautiful ambience. Gorgeous. Modern design. Cool vibes. Came here after 12:00mn kitchen was already closed sad but definitely coming back to try the foodies. Had Chardonnay Ricki shaw Sonoma was pretty good. Service was impeccable excellent CS. Highly recommended cute restaurant for dinner, snacks & late cocktails. A little bit loud but everybody’s having fun. Friendly people here. Great wines selection n local beers. Foodies looks good n delish! Can’t wait to come back here soon! Bar opens at 4pm. What are you waiting folks? Lol! ;)

We went to Madison on a Friday evening. We made reservations for 6pm, but probably didn’t need them that early. We were super excited to try this trendy new restaurant in University Heights. It’s got a great venue. The build out is amazing and creates a very cool atmosphere. The servers were friendly and attentive. The cocktails were over the top good.
Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed by the menu. The options were limited and the food was good, but not great. We had the Pork Chop, Pork Tenderloins and Gnocchi w/​Shrimp.
Overall, Madison is a place we’ll come back to, but mostly for the bar and atmosphere.

I was really excited to try this place and although the venue and architecture is beautiful, everything else was a tad bit underwhelming.
The service is nice, but a bit slow. The hostess was really kind and let us know the update of our table consistently, but time from being there, getting sat to our table, our server coming, us getting our drinks and food, overall, the service could have been better. It was a Thursday night and not very packed in the venue. I’ve worked in various restaurants and understand that things happen though.
As for drinks, this place really knows how to make good cocktails just as everyone else described. They are $ 9 each and we got the Jungle Bird, the Umbrella, and the Vieux from Above. Out of the three, my favorite was definitely the Vieux from Above, which is a whiskey based cocktail and tasted really strong, but the taste was delicious. It was one of the most highly recommended cocktails by our server and I was not disappointed!
For food, we ordered the Mac + Cheese ($ 11.50) and the Steak Salad ($ 13). I was really hoping that the food would be so much better, but when it came out and when we tried it, I was pretty underwhelmed. These plates were supposed to be shareable, but the portion is pretty small. The steak salad is not actually a salad, but it’s a couple of sliced steak pieces paired with sour cream, quinoa salad, and guacamole on the side (which are also very small portions). The steak itself was good though. The Mac + Cheese was just okay and nothing out of the ordinary or special. Overall, I would say this place is pretty pricey for what you’re getting in terms of food.
The architecture and décor here is what really makes the place. The high walls in the semi-​outside seating area are beautiful and the smaller inside bar seating area is nicely structured as well. Regardless of the beauty of the architecture to initially draw you in though, I’d hope the food would match.

The boyfriend made a reservation here for Valentine’s day so we had their prix fixe meal. It’s a new restaurant in the University Heights area that is kind of the definition of hipster. We had a reservation at 5:30PM and arrived a bit early. The back seating wasn’t open yet and so we had a seat at the bar and ordered some cocktails. I had the jungle bird and my boyfriend had the topolino. Both were delicious, refreshing and definitely dangerous!
The seating area is kind of like a redone alleyway. It’s open space but there’s space heaters and its quite cozy. Be careful if you’re sitting on the benches/​area by the wall! They store things under those seats so it could be a bit wobbly or unstable if you shift around. The boyfriend almost fell forward when he first sat down.
I ordered the spicy mac n cheese and the gnocchi for my meal. I know, carbs and cheese… followed by more carbs and cheese. Both of the things I ordered were well portioned (aka pretty huge for me) and delicious. But, due to how rich they both were I definitely had leftovers for lunch the next day. The boyfriend had the heirloom tomatoes on pita chips and the stuffed chicken. He told me the chicken was good, but really rich because of the cheese in it. I didn’t mind, if you can’t tell I cannot resist cheese. He said it was basically like a Costco chicken bake without the dough part on the outside.
We asked for one dessert to be boxed and split the other. It was pretty good, a bit too sweet for my liking if I ate it with the outer frosting. I kind of just ate the inside bits of the cream cake and red velvet center, haha!
Definitely would come back to try more cocktails. Most likely will be more trusting of my stomach than my eyes (and subconscious weakness for cheese) and order less haha! Great and attentive service as well.

Had the fixed price menu for Valentines dinner at $ 40 per. Selections were limited but tasty. I had the spicy Mac n cheese and stuffed chicken. The hubs had chicken Bön bons and pork tenderloin.
The dishes were standard, very flavorful, but a bit skimpy on the portion size. The red velvet cake dessert was very tasty and moist.
The real fun here was at the bar! I had a From Sea to Sea and 2 Clover Clubs (I know…). Hubs had a lemon drop martini and glass of French red wine. The drinks were incredibly light and flavorful… the wine was med bodied and bright.
If we lived nearby we would come back again and again! Hope this establishment makes it. I think they will.

Great food, service and overall atmosphere. Definitely continues what Lei Lounge had going on and refining it.
Started with the beet cured Salmon appetizer… I loved the citrus yogurt spread, with the greens, salmon just topped it off. I probably could have eaten it for a main meal!
Had the gnocchi with shrimp for the main a good balance on favors. Tried my friends pork chop, was ok, but it didn’t do it for me, a bit dry.
Overall, I’ll be coming back soon! And trying their cocktails!

The food deserves about 3 stars. The excellent cocktails bump the rating back up.
The burger was mediocre at best. The waffles fries were limp and soggy. The bun was soaked with too much grease. The sorbet and macaron sandwich earned disinterested shrugs.
The view from above (both the drink and the actual view) saved the day. I really like the décor, especially the palm tree peeking out from the sliver of night sky.

The Madison is off the a good start and I expect it’s going to get even better. I stopped in at the onset of opening a little after 4 pm, but unfortunately the full dinner menu was not to be available till 5:30 pm. So I decided to take advantage of what was available, the small plates and shares and salads.
I ordered the Baby Beet Salad for $ 12 and I added skirt steak for $ 6. I asked then to prepare the steak to a medium rare. The beet salad came with, in addition to the sauteed baby beets which included the stems, the salad came with a few sprigs of asparagus, tender spinach, a few lentils, and some burrata cheese all dressed with a balsamic drizzle.
The baby beets were delicious but a little difficult to handle given they were very long. Once I realized, I cut them up in manageable sizes. The asparagus was very tender however the salad only had one sprig, so more would be nice. The spinach was fresh and plentiful and the balsamic dressing was fantastic. I really enjoyed the barrata cheese and the scattering of tender lentils, but as the asparagus, the salad simply needed a little more of the lentils. The amount and flavor of creamy light burrata cheese was just right and accompanied the salad expertly.
I have to commend them on the skirt steak’s preparation because it was on point. Not only was the steak exceptionally seasoned, but it was the precisely medium rare. The skirt steak was mouthwateringly tender and juicy. The rustic nature of the salad went very well with the steak. A well executed steak.
I ate at the bar, given the rest of the restaurant was not opened yet, but service was top notch there. The bar keep was friendly and informative.

My experience here was honestly not that great. We came in on a Sunday night and it was not busy at all. I thought it was weird how there was not a host at the door, you have to walk to the middle of the restaurant to be greeted for a seat. Our server was very slow with everything. It took a while for menus, water, food, the bill, etc. We spent a lot of time just waiting for her.
I had the gnocchi which included a flavorful truffle cream sauce, corn, and jumbo shrimp. It was pretty good, however they only give you 3 pieces of shrimp. For $ 18, you would have expected a lot more. I probably would’ve gotten more shrimp from an entrée at Olive Garden. I also tried my friends Pappardelle. It was decent, nothing amazing.
We ordered dessert and tried their strawberry macaroon with mango sorbet and the Chocolate mousse truffle. I am a huge fan of desserts and sweets and they both tasted pretty decent.
Honestly, I probably would not come back for the food especially with such slow service on a non-​busy night. The décor was really nice inside, a good place to come once and check out. Other than that, everything was average.

Mac n Cheese — Can’t even taste the crab
Grilled Cheese — Not enough cheese
Steak salad deconstructed — don’t expect any lettuce, just a small portion of quinoa and guacamole to go with the steak slices
Half chicken — It was undercooked and returned
Overall the experience was less than average. We had made dinner reservations for 8:30pm and was not seated until 8:45pm and our orders were finally taken past 9pm. Food prices are a little high and parking is not the greatest. Interior decorations were nice, but it gets a bit chilly in the winter time and they do not have many heaters.

This is a new restaurant and cocktail lounge in University Heights.
The food was delicious with culinary twist to Italian food and the signature cocktails were tasty.
Highly recommend to try.
Eunique was our server and she was fantastic. She made great suggestions for drinks and entrees.
We also saw Matt the GM walk around and check on tables to see how everything was

This place is a must stop for drinks.
This review is based on the bar experience since we didn’t dine.
Stopped in after dinner in the area and we were instantly drawn in by the design of the place. We were greeted by the bartenders and all ordered a round of cocktails. Service was friendly and knowledgable. There wasn’t much standing room at the bar so they offered us one of the booths in the bar area that had opened up. I loved it minus the fact that no one comes to the table to take drink orders. We flagged down the bartender and he politely told us we needed order from the bar. Didn’t make any sense at all, but he ended up serving us at the booth. That weird rule reminded me of being at Starlite, which I despise. I hope that isn’t a theme and they are open to making money and serving guests.
**Still giving them 5 stars in hopes they apply that info to their service standards.**

I’m really glad the old lei lounge has resurfaced into a retro chic restaurant, Madison. I was really excited to check out the space and was not disappointed. Walking into the restaurant was kind of like stepping into the 70’s– cool space with light wooden décor with white and minimalist touches.
As we sat our waiter immediately came with menus and recommendations. They have a nice selection of cocktails and wine. I went with a nice bodied cab per our waiter recommendation. He provided the best service through the night attentive and excited to answer our questions and give us rec’s.
We ordered the brie and bread and the tuna tartare for apps. They were both delicious. The brie was slightly warmed and came with delicious apricot honey marmalade, which was very smooth. The tuna tartare was equally delicious, a combo of cucumbers, tomato, topped with shrimp tempura. The tempura was probably my favorite part of the tuna tartare! So delicious it could be mistaken for chicken :-)
I went with the chicken entrée with came with a side of salad. It was perfect and seasoned nicely. The salad was very fresh with a perfect basil dressing. The combo of the two made for a delicious bite.
All in all Madison was a great experience– great food and great service!

First time here as Madison since Lai Lounge closed. Very happy the food was flavorful and delicious, staff warm and friendly and the interior so much more refined very inviting.
Started with the tuna tartar… yum! Try this! Nice portion size and presentation very fresh. Then it was an order of the gnocchi… pillows of goodness cream sauce divine with shrimp and a truffle accent, heaven! Also ordered the steak salad (very very rare) nailed it! Yum and this is not a salad:)
Craft cocktails made from fresh ingredients with a smile. The bar area smells like lemons, limes, grapefruit peels and bourbon… mmmmmm:)
Will be back!

Madison is radison. The hip eatery presents a focused menu with sleek, seemingly simple dishes that pack a surprising burst of intensity. The steak salad, for example — sliced skirt steak complemented by small sides of guacamole and quinoa — appears basic enough but quickly transforms into an explosion of flavor after buttering the guac over the tender meat. Mac n cheese? More like mac n crack… because crab meat and red potato.
The food presentation mirrors the restaurant design: clean lines, no distractions, open space. Like before, there is both indoor and back patio seating, with a narrow bar indoors and the bulk of the table seating out back. Craft cocktails, wine and local beer round out the drink menu.
The long awaited return of the space formerly occupied by Lei Lounge does not disappoint!