The Wise - Madison

I tried to understand the negative reviews, but I noticed that many of them are from users with only one review—this place—which raises some questions. I can’t help but wonder if these reviewers might be ex-lovers, former employees, or even competitors. The pattern and language across the reviews feel quite similar. Given that it's a college town, there's also a chance they could have come from entitled students. Regardless, I really enjoyed my meal and plan to return the next time I'm in town.

We ordered the veggie Benedict, the smokehouse club, and the duck confit hash. The veggie Benedict was not what I had expected. While the eggs were cooked perfectly, the spinach and mushrooms were overly oily. When placed on the English muffin, it resembled more of a garlic bread that would pair well with pasta, rather than a fresh dish. I don't think I'll order it again. My friend found the duck confit hash to be underwhelming as well. The portion size did not match the size of the plate, and there wasn't much substance to the dish. It tasted okay but failed to highlight the duck confit. On a positive note, the smokehouse club received favorable reviews from other patrons.

It took 30 minutes to get our drinks because there was no bartender, and our waitress didn’t even know how to make them. The restaurant was empty, yet the atmosphere was filled with elevator jazz that felt more suitable for a law and order show than a New Orleans brunch. I’m not sure if anyone here has ever been to the Big Easy, judging by the music and the food. As I sit here wondering if I’ll even eat again today, I'm struggling with overcooked, rubbery shrimp that reminded me of something from Walmart. The highlight of my meal was soaking up the flavorless sauce with my French baguette—just kidding, it was a piece of toast! The best dish I had was the cheese curds, which were only slightly burnt and tasted decent when dunked in a sour cream dipping sauce they called ranch. How do you mess that up? This is Wisconsin, after all! My girlfriend ordered the eggs Benedict, but it seemed the chef forgot to toast the frozen English muffin; truly a Michelin-star-worthy choice. The poached eggs were completely overcooked with no runny yolk in sight, and it was topped with a tiny dollop of hollandaise sauce. Spectacular! Leaving was the best part of the experience, and we had a good laugh about it. My suggestion? Fire your staff, hire real chefs, and seriously up your game. Even McDonald's has a better breakfast than this place! Do better.

We had breakfast here for the past 4 days and I must say it was really good everyday. Though make sure you have some time on your hands as it can be slow at times. Latte and cappuccino were good and the guacamole sandwich which can be customized is really good. Fresh fruits as always and the chef and servers are really friendly and very good. Overall a wonderful experience. Also on a side note: stay at HotelRED and get breakfast at the wise!! Sweet combo!!

This was my second visit here and though I don 't recall specifics of my first visit I recall enough to say that between that time and this visit, I won 't make it back here again if it 's my choice. This evening I met a friend for dinner and a drink. On arrival we were one of three tables and there was one person sitting at the bar. There was one server and what appeared to be a trainee for the entire front of the house, including the bar. When our drinks arrived, the server spilled a bit and wiped her fingers on my friend 's purse. My drink was served in a visibly dirty glass and remade without complaint when I requested it. Our dinner menus were removed about 5-10 minutes into seating ourselves and we were provided with a limited menu instead, due to it being Monday. I ordered potstickers and Madison street corn. The potstickers were unremarkable and served lukewarm. The street corn, described as being served with a cheese sauce, bacon, and green onions, came without green onions and served with a sauce that rendered the dish sour tasting. There was a red flecked spice of some sort on the corn, along with a thin creamy white (cheese? sauce and bacon; I couldn 't determine what made it taste sour. It did not taste good. The food took well over an hour to arrive and our drinks were comped as a result which was unprompted and appreciated. Two other tables did arrive as the night progressed. I noticed other tables ' dishes were brought out sporadically as well. I believe poor staffing played a big role in the evening 's problems, but the food didn 't even come close to making up for it.