Archive for the ‘Restaurant and Bar Reviews’ Category

Segredo

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Segredo, billed as a boutique bowling lounge, is opening this week with several preview parties, and I went to one on Tuesday. After you enter, you head down the stairs to where the three bars, lounge areas and bowling alley are located.

I was instantly flooded with memories of the movie, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” If you recall, the Foot Clan have an underground hangout that includes skateboarding, video games, poker tables, etc. for wayward teens. This was the adult version of that.

As announced, the four bowling lanes are shorter. There’s not much separation between the lanes, which I think will lead to cross-lane bowling by really bad or drunk bowlers. Also, I’m not sure it’s possible to throw a hook with that short of a lane, but I can’t wait to try.

Besides bowling, there are a few Wii stations and other bar games. Again, it’s a clubhouse-type feel, which I admit is really different for Madison, and I’m eager to see how the public reacts.

Otherwise, the bar does try to be a lounge with its variety of seating, but the layout is a bit odd (for example, one group of tables are between a hallway and a half-wall) and generally it’s too spacious. This means that the place needs a lot of people to not seem dead. Plus, the hallway that divides the bar in two seemed unnecessary.

Regarding the preview party itself: I was disappointed no alcoholic drinks were served. For the record, I didn’t expect free drinks (more like drink specials), but NO drinks with alcohol could even be purchased. Instead, the bar offered free “mocktails” (NA martinis) and “faux-jitos” (NA mojitos) and no food–very surprising.

Still, I’m looking forward to returning to Segredo on a Friday or Saturday night and actually getting to sample some drinks and food. It’s open Mon-Fri at 4 p.m. (no happy hour specials, unfortunately) and Sat-Sun at noon.

Beware happy hour prices

Monday, December 7th, 2009
I went to Tutto Pasta on State Street for happy hour recently, and I was stunned when I saw my tab. (The special is 2-for-1 rails, by the way.) For six drinks (three free), I was charged $17. A regular-priced screwdriver rail and vodka-cranberry rail are both a whopping $6 each! And a whiskey-cola was $5!

This is Madison, not Chicago. The happy hour special simply brought the prices down to normal (e.g. $3 each instead of $6) for this area. In fact, I cannot think of any other bar in the city that charges that much for rail drinks. So lesson learned: not every special is as “special” as it claims to be.

(While we’re on the subject of this restaurant … Tutto doesn’t allow you to get their happy hour rates if you sit outside–another ridiculous rule on their part. Shame on Tutto for screwing their customers.)

Breakfast with Eating in Madison A to Z

Friday, October 9th, 2009

As mentioned, I had the pleasure of having breakfast with the folks behind Eating in Madison A to Z last month at Pancake Cafe. Here’s the review they wrote: http://www.madisonatoz.com/2009/09/pancake-cafe.html

One thing I’d like to add: It was so busy that our waitress refused to handle our bill and said to pay up front. We were all stunned by this candidness. At that point, another waitress came by to take care of it. This was really the icing to the cake after the 25 min. wait for our seats and the 30 min. wait for our food to be delivered.

    Madison Symphony Orchestra Urban Air

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