2. Restaurant Magnus

We had a small wedding reception here in June 2007. From the moment we booked the private dining hall in February until our wedding day, everyone had been kind and accommodating. As a physician, I have attended numerous dinners sponsored by drug companies at 5 star restaurants. More often than not, the food was inferior during a group function. This was certainly not the case for our wedding. All the guests(including the children) commented on how well their food was prepared, especially the Kobe beef. The staff were friendly, attentive, and seamless. With the quality of the food and service, we were very pleasantly surprised when the bill arrived. I don't live in Madison, but have dined at many top restuarants in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Philadelphia and find Magnus to be worth every penny for the quality of food and service that is provided.

Since it opened Restaurant Magnus has consistently been one of my favorite places to eat. The food is excellent and I have never had anything, but superlative service from the wait staff. They've always gone out of their way to accomodate any special requests we have had. They also have a great bar that makes Madison's best caipirinhas (Brazilian rum & lime drink.) There is a tapas menu with a wonderful selection of items including my favorite, Ximxim (a habenero pepper and coconut milk stew with cashews, shrimp, chorizo verde, blackened chicken and beef.) Throughout the week they have live jazz music as well. It is not an expensive dinner out, but the entire experience is worth having over and over.

First off, I'd like to point out that I am currently studying the culinary arts, so I hope that when you read this you give me a little more credit than the average joe. Restaurant Magnus is an exceptional restaurant, and I was simply horrified when I read the only previous review for this restaurant. Clearly, "Ron" has no idea of what he speaks. Anyone who has any appreciation for meat understands that a well-done steak is completely and utterly a faux paus, and ordering a steak so cooked is an insult to any chef in any restaurant. [...]The chef was merely trying to do this "Ron" a favor. [...] Also, I am a personal friend of the head chef at Magnus and I am constantly in awe of his ability to create and present foodly works of art. Magnus is an exquisite and unique restaurant that deserves every ounce of its glowing, and growing, reputation as a fine dining experience. I hope that anyone who reads this decides to negate what "Ron" has written [...].

When my wife and I went to Magnus for our anniversary dinner, we were expecting a little more for our $120.00 meal than what we actually got. I can sum up Magnus in a few words: Nice ambiance, rip-off, bait and switch and contempt. The positive thing I can say about Magnus is the interior and ambiance of the restaurant is beautiful, although it’s a little cramped. However, when we ordered our dinners, that was the last of our enjoyment. I ordered my steak well done. When it can to our table, it was rare. I sent it back only to find that it was now medium. Finally, after a third time, it was done to the way I originally asked for it. Since it was our anniversary I ordered a bottle of wine. After we finished our glasses of wine I noticed that the year on the bottle was a 2003 not a 2000 which was how it was listed under French Wine in the wine menu (If you know about wine, you’ll know why this can be a big deal). I called the waitress over to discuss the matter and she didn’t know what to do so she sent the owner of Magnus to discuss the matter. When the owner approached our table, it was plainly obvious that we weren’t on the top of her priority list. We seemed more of a bother than a customer with an issue that needed to be resolved. After discussing the matter of the bait and switch, she told us (with a certain amount of contempt) she would give us a discount on the bottle we had not purchased and told us that “this happens.” When we got our bill we did notice a FEW dollars off the price, but we also noticed that there were drinks on our menu that we didn’t order, about twenty dollars worth. Remember this was after we talked to the owner. We once again called the waitress over to discuss our legitimate complaint. She couldn’t explain how the wrong charges were on there and did finally take them off. My suggestion to anyone who goes to Magnus: what you order may not be what you get, check everything very carefully and scan your bill so you don’t get ripped off. Let us know how it is….we’ll NEVER go there again.