Kavanaugh's Esquire Club - Madison

I moved from Madison 10 years ago. I used to go to The Esquire frequently when I lived here. It was a classy supper club. Always great service, great food...

Kavanaugh's was a good Friday night meal. The service was friendly, the walleye was fresh and the food was plentiful. My daughter's NY Strip was well over...

I was excited to check out Kavanaugh's. I made a reservation, we arrived early, checked in and made our way to the bar. They made a nice brandy old...

My husband and I go here when we're in the mood for a decent fish fry that doesn't have a wait time. The food is ok, but not amazing, for example, the coleslaw is bland, but the fish is good. You can't really mess up fried fish, am I right? The waitress we had this last time was so over worked and was being yelled at by the manager leaving her flustered that she tried twice to give our food to the table behind us, then forgot that tables drinks completely. Yikes! We also didn't get water until we were about to leave. We were asked if we wanted white or rye bread, and we wanted both so she brought out both, so there were some redeeming qualities. We tipped her like normal because we're not monsters. Please treat your employees better. I would also like to mention that the chairs have been the same for years, maybe a decade, so they are sunken and not very comfortable.

Atmosphere was pleasant. We Sat in a room with large windows. Temperature was comfortable. Tables were a little too close, we felt like we were sitting with the table next to us. Felt a little awkward. Chairs are comfortable but have the material flaking off and are in need of replacement. Bread was warm, cheese dip and crackers were delicious. Garden salad was just eh with ice berg lettuce, mushrooms and tomatos. Soup, beef vegetable was wonderful and the perfect temperature. I ordered a full rack of ribs with hash browns with cheese and onions. Ribs fell off the bone and are covered in a tangy BBQ sauce. A little too much sauce for my liking. Personal choice. Hash browns were nasty. They were mushy on the inside, and had a single slice of cheese barely melted and 3 mini pieces of onion on top. What a disappointment. I was so excited for those hash browns. My husband had a steak which he ordered medium received rare and didn't have flavor. He also ordered mushrooms and baked potato, both which were good. He also enjoyed the beef vegetable soup. We were there at 5. There was no wait and we were seated immediately. It took some time for waitress to come and then lagging time in between courses. We waited over 10 minutes after we completed our meals for our waitress to return. I feel she might have had tables elsewhere and got caught up with them. She was pleasant although very quiet. Sadly overall my husband and I were disappointed. Maybe it was just an off night?!