Mariners Inn

It is a longstanding tradition for my dad and I to have dinner here at his birthday time. He’s a fan of the traditional supper club, and that is Mariner’s in a nutshell. Heavy wood interior, lovely window views of a Lake Mendota inlet and docked boats. Lots of birds to watch through the windows. Service tends to be attentive, which is nice. Soda was from fountain and flat. Server was attentive with ice water and fresh lemon for drinking. They used to have mixed greens for their salads, but are back to iceberg lettuce, which was disappointing. Mine had quite a bit of the yellow lettuce heart. Great peppercorn dressing. The clam chowder is consistently delicious and among the best in Madison. A basket of rolls came with the salads, two white and one pumpernickel. Since there were three of us, that seems kind of an assumption. One seemed less fresh than the other two, but the fresh ones were nice.
We usually get the seafood stuffed mushroom appetizer, which was good, although the hollandaise type sauce seemed a little thick and more bland than I remember. Stuffing was good with obvious seafood chunks. We had the Tuesday shrimp special which was a lot of shrimp – four large cocktail shrimp, three fried shrimp and two stuffed shrimp. I always love their fried jumbo shrimp – a light batter with firm shrimp, but the cocktail ones were disappointing. Stuffed shrimp were oddly similar to the stuffed mushrooms. Good cocktail sauce. Their «famous» hashbrowns are okay – onion flavor was strong and they are quite oily. Other sides were mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, french fries, au gratin potatoes and vegetable of the day. One time I had a rice mix, and I wish they’d bring it back. I’m assured by my dad and sister that the steaks are delicious. I’ve only made it to dessert once. It remains my favorite place for shrimp, but be prepared for heavy food. There is a «lighter fare» menu with smaller portions, which is nice, because the full portions are truly too much food (although most people will probably manage).

The Madison restaurant scene has improved greatly since I was young and The Mariner’s Inn was the talk of the town.
Sadly, the restaurant hasn’t changed even a bit with the times.
The food would of been exceptional in 1985 but they need to evolve.
I still enjoy eating here when visiting home because we don’t have supper clubs out east, but still, for the price, they need to up their game.
Love the old school interior though.

Since our family was visiting, we decided to all go to the Mariner’s Inn for steak and seafood. It was dark when we visited, so we couldn’t see the lake, but I can only imagine that the view is spectacular in the daytime.
There are multiple rooms, lots of wood, and I felt there was almost a supper-​club vibe going on.
The servers were friendly and knowledgeable. Unlimited white and pumpernickel rolls were included. Soups and salads were very good and I liked that the salads include blue-​cheese crumbles and not just blue-​cheese dressing. We did have some small mix-​ups in the delivery of our orders, such as the rare steak being delivered to the medium-​well eater and vice-​versa, but we quickly got that sorted out. The quality, flavor, and textures of the steaks were all very good. The sides were all fine. They raved about the hash-​browns which were good but nothing to write-​home about. Desserts were good, but not amazing.
The meal and experience were nice. The prices seemed a bit high for what it was, but the atmosphere felt like you would go here for a special occasion. It really did remind me of going to a supper-​club as a kid.

So caveat first is that we went on New Year’s Eve so expected it to be busy. But also still expected good service, great food, and a nice evening. They had a special menu which was OK and the steak was to die for — which is the main reason to go there. But the service was sub-​par to say the least. The tables were so jammed in and ours was on a corner so every wait staff that zoomed by bumped the table each time. That may sound petty but man was it irritating. One last gripe is that I wanted a glass of champagne (my hubby has beer no matter the occasion). They had a glass of bubbly on the menu –great. But the wait staff brought me a glass of white wine instead. By the time I flagged her down to ask for the bubbly and then by the time she brought it — IN A LITTLE CAN — our entrees were already here. the steak was awesome but that one redeeming thing did make up for a really mediocre NYE. Staying home next year.

We went to Mariners for restaurant week on a very cold Sunday night, the service was very good, a warm and cozy atmosphere. Had the surf and turf and a couple of New York strips with clam chowder. The food was good!

We dined at the Mariners Inn last night (a Friday night) with a group of 10 people. Between all of us, we sampled a large number of their appetizers, entrees, and even drinks. The group I dined with are very particular about food, drink, and service and all of us were very pleased! Steaks and fish were cooked to perfection and everything was delicious — they have a good Friday fish selection, too. The staff was exceptionally attentive and friendly. The owner even came out to ask how everything was. Really could not have asked for a better experience. If you are looking for a traditional steak and seafood restaurant in a quiet and cozy atmosphere, then look no further. I would recommend this restaurant for both large groups and for an intimate evening out.

This is one of those places straight out of the 70s, when people went out to eat for special occasions and expected to pay a lot.
I recommend the fried shrimp. Definitely the best I have had in recent memory.
Service was excellent.
Clam chowder is good, but they are not fooling anyone with the store-​bought croutons.

I am not impressed at all. For food we ordered calamari as an appetizer (pretty good but it was a little fishy), clam chowder (I thought it was good but my fiancé would have preferred it a little creamier), petite salmon and asparagus (the salmon was overcooked and the asparagus did not taste fresh), caijun walleye (good but would have preferred the sauce to be thicker), walleye fishfry (very bland) and the caijun tenderloin (the best meal out of the 4) for the price I definitely don’t feel it was worth it. As far as service.. they had a girl who has only been there 2 months taking care of almost all of the tables. She didn’t come check on how our meal was until we were done eating. I also asked if they had bbq sauce so I could dip my fries but she forgot. Also, at one point we were without water for probably 10 minutes. Then when we wanted to go we had to wait a while to get our bill and at this point there was probably only 3 tables of people. Will not be going back.

We went here for restaurant week 2015, thinking we’d have a good experience like we did during restaurant week 2014. However, the scallop and filet combo this year was AWFUL. The scallops were tiny and rubbery, and the meat was thin, chewy, and had terrible flavor. We couldn’t even finish our meals. The service wasn’t much better. We will not be back.

The broiled haddock was very good, seafood stuffed mushrooms are outstanding, very good brandy old fashioned. It’s obviously a popular Friday destination so make reservations or be content to mill around the bar for a bit. Nice atmosphere that can work as a casual or dressier night out, right on the water. Will be going back!

Wonderful food. Excellent stuffed mushrooms. Steaks were delicious. Warm rolls were fabulous. Everything was excellent. Highly recommend.

Lovely location, especially dining outside. However the service and food quality have gone to pot. Mediocre stuffed shrimp, steak, duck, key lime pie. Clam chowder and basa were very good. One dinner order was the wrong dish. An unfortunate decline for a Madison tradition.

Went here for Mothers Day brunch instead of Nautigal because we needed an early reservation… We really love Nautigal and enjoy going for brunch any Sunday so we figured Mariners Inn would be just as great. First off, we checked in at the front desk and they ignored us and didn’t seat us for 20 minutes (seating people who got there after us while ignoring us)… The seating area is super crowded and people were always in the way. The food… Seriously nothing to write home about. Some of the same items we love at Nautigal were dry and nasty at Mariners Inn. We payed $ 28 a person for a limited variety of mediocre food… Not impressed! The outside is cute though lol

I find myself making a reservation for four or more at least twice a year at Mariner’s Inn. The von Reutenbergs continue to set a very high standard in the realm of supper club dining, and are, arguably, the best establishment to patronize for dinner during Madison Magazine’s Restaurant Week.
Their clam chowder is very good: creamy, seasoned and perfect for dipping their house rolls into! The surf (petite lobster tail) and turf (7oz top sirloin, I think) have never disappointed us. The steaks have always come prepared to the proper requested doneness.
They had a new entrée this time, Filet of Romance (or something named similarly), that my wife and father-​in-​law had. Basically a petite filet of tenderloin topped with a Rosemary skewer of broiled quarter-​sized sea scallops and sauce béarnaise. Though I’m not super crazy about tarragon, I thought that it was a well-​composed dish, and the steak was melt-​in-​your-​mouth tender.
Desserts are classics at Mariner’s: Betty Lou’s cherry cheesecake, a decadent chocolate mouse, and key lime pie (because why not have something tropical to take your mind ever so briefly away from WI’s winter?). All were good!

I have never been disappointed! Tonight was amazing. The food was excellent. Steaks cooked perfectly. Their menue has changed with the times with many healthy choices and lower prices. I love the warm, relaxing atmosphere. We were seated by the fireplace it is my favorite place to go to celebrate special occasions. It gets five stars from me.

The food here is really hit or miss, but when you get a hit it’s the most delicious thing ever. The best thing here? The clam chowder for sure. I’ve come here just for a bowl of it. The restaurant is ok. I don’t really like sitting inside and the chairs outside are terribly uncomfortable. Aside from the chairs, sitting outside, listening to live performances (the ones I’ve heard were really good), and enjoying the scenery while it rained was quite a pleasant experience. I don’t like the servers I have here. They usually don’t seem to know what they’re doing. I really prefer their menu during restaurant week. I’ll try to stop by here next time I see them up for the event. Otherwise I’m going to stick with the occasional visit for the chowder.

My wife and I decided to go to Mariners Inn for our 31^st wedding anniversary. We had heard good things about it so we thought we would give it a try. The atmosphere was nice, but felt a bit «old school» supper club. The service was mediocre, our waitress was friendly but unattentive. Steak and Seafood are the predominant menu selections. As a vegetarian, I was happy to see at least one menu selection available. Local RP’s Pasta in a Alfredo sauce with fresh vegetables… Sounds great… Was very disappointing. Flavorless sauce with whole cherry tomatoes a few peppers and a diced stalk of asparagus. Didn’t really come together as a dish…
My wife had the petite tenderloin with scallops, crab and a bernise sauce served with asparagus spears. She also had the augruatine potatoes. She thought the tenderloin was delicious, as were the augruatine potatoes. The scallops were served skewered on a sprig of rosemary that gave the scallops an unpleasant after taste, and the crab meat, was OK, but almost nonexistent on the dish.
Our overall experience was like that of my dinner… Rather bland and disappointing.

Went there for restaurant week. Clam chowder and key lime pie were great. Lobster was rubbery and didn’t taste fresh. Sirloin was well done despite ordering it medium-​well. I am saying it was dry as a day old biscuit.
Glad we were there for a deal. I would have been livid if I’d paid full price for that meal. Now I can just say, I’ll never go again. Our waitress was rushed despite the dining room being empty.
When we arrived at 7 we had to wait ten minutes for the hostess to arrive. We were not greeted when we entered nor when we left. Parking lot was icy and dangerous. Coat room was storage for wayward things and in shambles.
On the plus side the ambiance was nice and the location is beautiful.
On an extra picky note Lake Louie warped speed scotch ale was $ 5.25 a glass which is pretty steep for Madison standards. Compare this to the six pack price which even at gas stations is $ 9.99.
Not going back again.

I do not understand the low reviews. Everything was fantastic from the moment we arrived. We were seated immediately with no reservations. The host seated us in a room where my small child was able to explore. The Clam Chowder was super tasty. The steak size portion is beyond decent.
The Macadamia Encrusted Grouper is PHENOMENAL. The mango salsa that goes with it is fantastic. The service was great too. Our waiter was well versed in local beers and helped us select a great one. The location is beautiful too.
A must go to!

Disappointed. Some restaurants establish themselves and then never try to maintain standards when they achieve a clientele.
Our party was seated over 30 minutes after our reservation time. Bread served with our meal comes with a variety of bread types but they all tasted the same. I tasted the ceviche and the clam chowder, which were good, but not memorable. Surf&turf, cheesecake with strawberries, all «pretty good» but the food and atmosphere are not on par with the prices.