Husnu’s

Food was merely ok. The bread was cold and our order came back wrong. The Hommus was served over lettuce, which was weird to eat. I would only eat here again if I had no choice. I was surprised especially after all the positive reviews and awards.

I had the lamb, hummus, and pita bread for dinner here. The meat was overly chewy and way under salted. It felt like I got a cheap piece of meat because it felt like I was eating gristle at times.
The lighting was way too dark and tables much too close together for comfort. I understand that it would be a popular place to take a date, but I could not recommend this place for dinner when there are places nearby that would have a better atmosphere and better food.

I can’t speak for the food, I didn’t try it. My boyfriend and I planned to until the owners son insulted us. My boyfriend was talking with him regarding Turkey, the food, culture, suggestions for what to order off the menu, etc. It’s like a switch was flipped and the son, Anan I think was his name, said my boyfriends ego was too high and he was fake. To my surprise my boyfriend stayed calm, wondering what he’d done or said to make this guy insult him for no reason. After stumbling on words, he denied ever saying the word «fake». I interjected that he had, and as another service member I would never talk that way to a customer. To this his reply was that my boyfriend influenced my thoughts, we were twisting his words and that I am trash. He proceeded to yell at us as we walked away.
The food may or may not be good. If you’d like to support people like this, go ahead and try it. I sure won’t.

I like this restaurant. Strategically located on State street, this restaurant is one of our favorites. My favorite ones are lambshank, lamb couscous and/​or lamb pide. Lamb Pide is my first choice, as the price and the portion are reasonable.
Their fish curry is close to my native food taste, so I feel like I’m at home :), which is always some good feeling. I love spicy food, so I can handle it well, but for those who don’t like it spicy, you better ask the server to customize it.
I always appreciate their service. The waiter/​server is always nice.
Come hungry as they’ll provide you with some bread with their homemade olive oil, and some soup or salad prior to your main course. Unfortunately, I’ve never gotta try their dessert, as we’re always having food coma from the appetizer and the main course.
I would love to try their Baklava, some other time.

My wife and I ate there twice, both times we were elated with the food,
Acorn squash and chicken was Devine. And the baked trout was also superb. Prices are very good.

I come from a turkic background and I look the part so naturally I was greeted in Turkish by the owner (i think?). I’m thinking ok this is going to be a great place, very authentic.
Boy oh boy was I wrong!
Mom had the lab kewab, and I had the chicken. Priced very reasonably but I would have been willing to pay a bit more if that means that they can produce a high quality product. Mom said her meat was chewy and hard. I tried a piece and I agreed. My chicken was bland and had a weird texture.
The rice which is usually so so tasty at middle eastern/​turkish restaurants was so lackluster. Sorry Husnus but this food was not authentic in any way.

Very happy about my meal here. Might not have been the best service in town (in fact the waitress forgot our pita) or the most. Original kind of food, but it sure is pretty tasty and pretty authentic too.
I had the grape leaves dolmas and BF had the lamb shank. I loved my dolmas! They had just the right degree of sour and the perfect amount of yogurt vs. red sauce. Pretty great! Only criticism I have is that the leaves were a tad too thick. Didn’t get to try the lamb shank but BF seemed to like it!
Rice was also good and I believe it might be more authentic than basmati which is and Indian rice…
Oh and lentil soup was delicious! Just the right amount of spicy!
Will go back to try some of the kebabs and other dishes!

We stumbled upon this place after a game — was just looking for something tasty and warm. We were pretty disappointed. The place looks authentic and has an authentic feel, but when a menu has fettucini alfredo and chicken florentine on the menu, you know it’s not going to be authentic.
The lentil soup had little if any flavor. The cucumber yogurt sauce on my salad also had no flavor. For our main dishes, we got the lamb curry, and the asmali tabuk. The lamb curry was filling, but could have been easily make at home. The asmali tabuk was SO sweet! The idea of the dish sounds authentic, but was just crazy sweet.
In the end, the restaurant atmosphere was good. We were cold and very hungry so it served it’s purpose, but probably won’t return there.

This is a prime example of a place that was
when it opened, and now and influx of regional eats has made it lose some of its splendor. I still dig it though, not the ginger chicken which has an awkwardly bright color and little ginger taste, but the kabobs… oh man that chicken kabob is delish. I’ll head back and explore more of the menu, and my hope is that you will too. The place has a quaint feel that’s refreshing on State where something seems to open up every week. I like their style.

A solid Turkish place. They cover all the basics well. Quality ingredients, good sized servings, not expensive and hustling servers in a well-​attended place.
A fan, def!

Great for lunch. I had a friend come down from Minneapolis and I thought this was a great place for her to get her veg on. She got the borek, and I had the squash.
I absolutely love yogurt on my food. It probably has nothing to do with my name.

Yum. The Mediterranean salad is great. The eggplant parmesan is delicious and slightly non-​standard – soupy like stew with little cheese.
Eat out on the patio (during summer months, anyway) and people-​watch.

I enjoyed Husnu’s, though I do need to note that I enjoyed the food of the others in my party more than my own. The lamb shank was delicious! I ordered a dish with eggplant and yogurt, and it was good, but it was kind of greasy, and the yogurt became overwhelming. Our server was very nice, especially considering we had a group of 9 young adults. We got to sit outside, which was great for a summer evening.

Delicious! Dinners were served with bread, soup or salad, and rice. I had the chicken cous cous, and the veggies were so good in the curry that I wished I had gotten the vegetable curry, but the chicken was very tender.
The yellow lentil soup was really, really delicious and the bread served with olive oil was addictive; don’t eat too much though, or you will have lots of leftovers. Also tried a kebab curry with beef that was delicious.
The baklava is extremely fluffy and they don’t douse it in honey, which is great. Definitely give it a try if you’re looking for a restaurant downtown.

The only time I have ever gotten food poisoning, I got it here, while I was on vacation.
I was sick for a day and a half, when I decided to try something different other than my beloved Kabul.
Have never been back, and won’t ever.

The food was okay. Neither my friend nor I thought the food was very good.
The service was terribly slow. It took a long time after we finished our meal to get the check and even longer to pay for it.

I think this place is fine. My dining companions thought it was great. I think the food must just be too rich for me, because I thought everything seemed overwhelmed by sauces. (Perhaps I will return when it is less than 95 degrees out).
They have both indoor and outdoor seating which is nice and the waitress is polite and efficient.
A bit pricey for dinner.

We had a great meal here while in town for my future sister-in-law’s college graduation. This is one of her favorite restaurants in town, so the whole family (party of 10) came here to grab dinner. I was super impressed! The bread basket that started the meal was delicious, and served with their homemade olive oil. The menu was extensive and had an interesting mix of Turkish, Greek, and Italian entrees. For my entrée, I had the «tavuk omer pasa» (chicken with mushrooms in cream sauce), which was fantastic. My fiancé had the chicken kebab, which was great as well. The chicken in both dishes was very flavorful and juicy, and the portions were good-​sized. Entrees also included soup or salad & rice. Prices were very reasonable considering the quantity and quality of food (many entrees in the $ 10-​$ 13 range). They did an excellent job accommodating our party of 10. I would love to come back here if I were in Madison again and I definitely recommend this place to others.
(Best _​_​_​: Best Mediterranean)

I will keep going back, for sentimentalities sake… but that’s a story for another time. ;)
I enjoy the atmosphere, nice indoor lighting and window seats offer a fun view of the busting sidewalk. The menu is expansive, although it offers only two vegetarian entrees (Eggplant Parmesan and Vegetable Couscous). Granted, there are soup /​salad /​appetizer options that are veg-​friendly, but I would expect a few more full-​size entrée offerings as well. The Veg couscous is good, but not fabulous. I think it just needs a zestier sauce to kick it up a notch. It does come with soup or salad, which is appreciated.
The service has been hit or miss, sometimes quite good and other times… just a bit odd. For example, the last time we were there we ordered a bottle of wine. The waitress brought the bottle (already uncorked) and set it next to me (and I wasn’t the one who’d ordered it) along with two glasses (also both next to me). She poured a taster amount in one of the glasses, set the bottle down, and walked away! Hmm! We had to just laugh because the whole thing was so odd. Oh well! I will chalk it up to her being new or untrained in wine service. Not a huge deal, just funny. At least the wine turned out to be quite good. ;)

Despite tough competition from similar restaurants on state street, Husnu’s is probably the best Mediterranean option. I went for the first time last week, and was very impressed with both the service and the food.
We sat on the outdoor patio which was pleasant in the last days of summer and they started us off right with a basket of deliciously warm bread and dipping oil. The bread wasn’t anything special, but it did have some kind of mild spice that gave it some flavor and made it quite filling. Both my girlfriend and I also had soup, so by the time the meal came out we were almost completely full (my only mistake here).
The meals themselves were generous and well-​rounded. We tried the kabobs with rice and the chicken couscous, both of which were extremely tasty. The couscous was perfectly cooked and well combo’d with the sauce from the slow cooker (or whatever they used to make the food so tender).
Our waitress was polite and talkative, albeit a little slow at bringing out drink refills, but it was a nice night on state so we weren’t really too bothered by it. My only other gripe would be that the prices were a bit much, but you certainly got a good deal of food and there were a lot of menu options that sounded enticing. I’ve had better Mediterranean food in other cities, but for Madison this is one of the better stops.