Steenbock’s On Orchard

The lighting in this place was great. Lots of Windows and lots of natural light. I thought the menu was limited however. Not much to choose from. The service was great our waitress was very attentive. She got my order wrong however. Can’t forget the fries! It wouldn’t be the first place I recommend.

I absolutely loved the pretzel bun burger I had for lunch here. I was truly sad when I finished it because I wasn’t ready for it to be gone!!! I made the mistake of ordering the side of greens instead of fries. The greens didn’t have much flavor at all, but luckily a nice friend let me taste a few of her fries. They were great, too! I thought the atmosphere was a little cold and sterile, but I guess it’s just my personal preference that I like cozier places rather than really modern/​trendy atmospheres. Everyone at the table was happy with their food. I would go back.

This review is for the exceptional customer service and accommodations provided by the staff at Steenbock’s. I recently attended a work-​related lunch with a large group of people, and was a bit anxious as I have recently been following a low-​iodine diet for medical reasons. This essentially means no soy, dairy, seafood, or iodized salt. I didn’t want to skip the lunch or sit at the table without eating, so I called ahead to ask if anything could be done and to inquire about which salt they use. I was assured that they only use kosher salt, and would be happy to accommodate my needs. I ended up eating a delicious, customized salad with a simple, bright dressing, and couldn’t have been happier or more satisfied. Highly recommended!

We had a larger party and came in on a Friday night expecting a large crowd. A large crowd we did not find. The layout of the restaurant is interesting — it’s like a long arch that makes it easy to configure into many small tables or larger ones as needed.
I ordered the Clam Chowder and Pad Thai — both were good. They weren’t knock your boots off good, but they were decent. Our service was good — no complaints there. There is a struggle for nearby parking. Hit up the Union South parking lot — it was 3 bucks for the night.
I don’t go out to dinner that much, but I enjoy a cocktail when I do. Not so at Steenbock’s — your limited to beer and wine only.
So overall not too bad — I knocked a star off for lack of alcohol choices, and a star off for the food not being killer. I would go back, but I would also venture out and try other places first.

I ordered daily risotto (with Salmon). Very nice bright and quiet environment where you can have a formal conversation with a colleague. The food is OK and not very expensive. A great place to eat with someone if you are not very close.

We recently hosted my daughter’s wedding reception at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, for which Steenbock’s is the caterer. Very simply, it was perfect!
The food was really, really delicious! Our family is rife with foodies, and we loved the dinner. We were not served «banquet food» but rather «restaurant food.» The components of each dish were very interesting and well executed. Our guests had their choice of salmon, beef short ribs, or stuffed chicken. Everyone I spoke with was very satisfied with their choice, and several were trying to deconstruct their meals so they could try to re-​create them at home. Why not just go to Steenbock’s and have them make it for you? :)
The appetizers were also much better than we anticipated, having had lots of mediocre food at other weddings. The crab cakes, prosciutto-​wrapped asparagus were very tasty, and the cheese variety and charcuterie were beautiful to look at as well as delicious.

My family and I had our first graduation dinner here; it was great. Nice food, good service and great ambience. They have a good selection of wines. I loved their steak and cheese board. I go to this place often for lunch, but I had dinner twice and I loved the back area: private and classy!

Ate here a couple years ago, had the tasting menu with wine pairing. It was easily the most adventurous and elegant meal I have ever had… It wasn’t just dinner but an experience! Thought it easily out matched l’etoile for a fancy dinner; l’etoile did have a more elegant ambience though.
Haven’t been back since they changed the menu so not sure how it is now…

If you’re looking to bring UW-​Madison visitors to a fancy place, that’s probably where you’ll end up. Indeed, for its location and ambience, it totally fits the bill for a good and decent restaurant appropriate for the important guests. Or, on a day where you wanna go to somewhere to feel like an adult but don’t wanna venture of campus, this is a good place to go to.
I’ve been to Steenbock’s several times for lunch and including the recent restaurant week. I would say the food is decent, but definitely not some place I would return just because of a craving.
With regards to restaurant week, the nice thing is that they take reservations, and can comfortably take a group of 10. Food came relatively quickly for our large group of 10, but getting their attention was really hard. Also, standards seem inconsistent, for several of us who got the same dishes, some were really unhappy, and some were really satisfied. For example, one of the chicken was nicely done while the other was really overcooked; for the pork ribs, mine was enjoyable, but another of my friend complained it was too dry.
Food:
Calamari — surprised it wasn’t fried. but the soup was decent and calamari was relatively fresh
Pork ribs — fries was wayyyyyy to salty. Pork ribs was reasonably tasty
Bread pudding — ice cream was mostly melted, and fell off half of our puddings. too rich for me.
I would definitely say for $ 15, the three-​course restaurant week was a great deal. However, do be prepared to spend at least 1.5 hour to cope with the high traffic volume. Even on non-​restaurant week days, lunch does take around 1 – 1.5 hours at Steenbock’s.

Finally made it out here for restaurant week and the $ 15 lunch was an exceptional deal. Sauteed calamari was delightfully tender in a light tomato broth. The sweet and spicy Korean Style Pork ribs were perfectly seasoned, and the accompanying slaw complemented them amazingly well.
Desert was a let-​down. The bread pudding was served room temperature and dry and would have greatly benefited from some warmth and more sauce.
I’m not sure this is where I’d head for an upscale meal, some small touches were missing, but the food is worth a visit.

Upscale restaurant with great flavors, a great atmosphere but not quite able to deliver on quality.
Came here for Restaurant Week 2015 and had a good experience. To their credit, it’s a tall order to be able to serve a decent 3 course meal for $ 15 and for the most part Steenbock’s delivered, but there were definitely a few flaws for a higher end restaurant like this.
For appetizers we had the spinach and bacon salad along with the Moroccan Chutney with Cambozola. The spinach salad was well done with great blistered tomatoes, well cooked onions and a good mix of flavors, unfortunately my «warm» spinach salad came out quite cold which diluted the dish a bit.
The Moroccan Chutney also had bright flavors and the cambozola cheese was a perfect mix. Here though, the sweetness of the sauce clashed with the tomatoes to the point where the dish became sickly sweet and inedible.
For our meals we had a Root Vegetable Pot Pie and the Pancetta and Herb Stuffed Chicken Breast. The pot pie was the standout dish of the meal. The crust was perfectly savory with herbs baked into the dough and the components were perfectly cooked in a lighter sauce that worked well for lunch.
The chicken breast was a bit of a disappointment. It was well matched with the brussel sprout-​parsnip succotash and the flavors were definitely there. Unfortunately the brussel sprouts had a more-​than-​characteristic bitterness and the chicken was badly overcooked to the point of being very dry and stringy. The «stuffing» was actually not a stuffing, but rather a mass of shredded pancetta and herb lumped on top, which only served as a salty (albeit tasty) augment to the dish’s already overcooked dryness.
For dessert the only menu choice was the Dark Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding. Again the flavor was good with strong chocolate notes that complimented the pudding and the small scoop of vanilla ice cream, but just as in the «stuffed» chicken the dish missed the described mark. The opportunity to use the flaky and buttery notes of croissant were completely drowned in the density of the pudding and the bright notes of the raspberries were lost after two tiny bites.
All in all, the service was quite good, the food came out quickly, and the ambiance was a nice, bright, modern flair. The meal was by no means a disappointment, but for what the restaurant is trying to be, they really need to step up their quality control and make dishes that match what’s on the menu.

The lobster salad on wheat was to die for. It was so fresh, light, and tasty. We asked to have it on wheat toast instead of what it came with and the waitress was happy to substitute. Wonderful experience for lunch.

Oh, I wish I could give Steenbock’s five stars, but the service at lunchtime was a little too sparse. It took us nearly 15 minutes to flag down our server so that we could get our check at the end of the meal, even though there were only a few tables still filled by the time we finished our food (which, by the way, also took forever to get to us). Looking back on a few of the reviews, I’m very surprised to find that Steenbock’s has been praised for their superb service. I must have missed that memo.
Service aside, the food is definitely five-​stars worthy. For such a classy-​looking restaurant, Steenbock’s serves one of the messiest (but also one of the most delicious) chicken sandwiches I have ever tried. As great as it sounds on paper, it is even more impressive on the plate. The guac is a nice touch of color and flavor, and the creamy coleslaw helps to add additional texture to the sandwich. If you are on a date or with anyone you are trying to impress, you’d be better served dining with a fork and knife. Otherwise, dig in and get messy!
PS. The sandwich comes served with either a side salad or fries. Go with the fries. We all know that your diet is a futile one.

This is the place for most formal campus lunch/​dinner place where guests and visitors are being hosted for meals. Being right on campus and located in the new glassy Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, its geographical location is perfect for formal events. And hence I have been here a couple of occasions. Their menu changes with the seasons as they source local ingredients for their food, which is a good thing. I like places that support local produce, plus, you won’t get bored of the same menu year round.
For some reason I really like the location and layout. The building it is located is a full glass building. So while dining you can have a full view of each and every happening outside. During the summer months they open up the swing doors, you have a choice of sitting indoors enjoying the cool breeze, or choose to sit right outside to be in the center of it all.
As the menu changes I would suggest going with your favorites, or whatever best arose your curiosity of catches your attention. You can hardly go wrong here. I have dined with huge groups where we have ordered vastly different foods and so far the feedback has always been positive.
Being surrounded by significantly lower priced eateries (think Aldos, Subway, QQ Express, Ginger Root, Harvest Grains, the Sett and the likes), it is not a regular go-​to for students. But if you feel like some fine dining one day on that special occasion, or if you are looking for a place to host visits right on campus, this is the place to go for.

Came here for dinner during Restaurant Week on 1÷28÷14. We were seated in the section to the left of the bar instead of the main dining room. Maybe because we were just there for Restaurant Week? It’s an odd spot and made us feel disconnected from the restaurant.
Service was great but the food was below average. Everything came out immediately which was great but made me wonder if dishes were pre-​plated and waiting to be sent out. My wine had bits of cork scattered all over the surface. Our server apologized and returned with a new glass of wine. She had the bartender fill it to the rim which was great especially because the glass was originally only filled a third of the way.
Appetizers:
— Fagioli (soup w/​spicy sausage, cannellini beans & hand cut noodles) was ok, nothing to brag about.
— Roasted Chicken Risotto was flavorless and the shredded chicken was rubbery.
Dinner:
— Seared Beef Flat Iron (w/​cipollini onion, goat-​cheese chive mashed potatoes & a cabernet demi sauce) was the best dish out of all the dishes we had.
— Grilled Lamb T-​Bones (w/​smoked tomato, cannellini beans, sambuca-​shallot marmalade) was disappointing. The beans were undercooked, unseasoned and took over the majority of the plate. But the marmalade was great. The t-​bones were really tiny, so not much meat to fill up on. Also, it didn’t help that the steak knives looked and worked more like butter knives. So our table shook whenever I tried to cut into the meat! It was very frustrating.
Dessert:
— Molten Chocolate Cake (w/​pretzel ice cream) was boring — I’ve made better ones at home. The pretzels in the ice cream were soggy and not pleasant to bite into. Chocolate covered pretzels on the other hand would have been a much better choice — I’ve had this in Target brand ice cream (of all ice creams!) which was way better!
— The Bananas Foster Crème Brûlée was beyond disappointing especially since our server recommended it. I have a huge sweet tooth, but this dessert was way too sweet. And the brûlée part was even more disappointing — the sugar over the custard did not dissolve completely into a nice hard shell, it was a grainy/​gritty mess.
Overall, it was a total disappointment. We normally wouldn’t mind shelling out $$$ for a great meal but this was heartbreaking. Don’t think we’ll be going back anytime soon.

This restaurant is distinctly priced for a different sort of clientele. Instead of a $ 5 lunch from Union South, $ 5 sandwich from Subway, or $ 7 – 10 of food from Regent St., the $ 12 – 16 lunch here is going for something different. At this price-​point, no doubt you’d expect the quality to be better. It’s not. It doesn’t fit it’s price point… the only thing the place has going for it are the linens and the convenient location in the middle of campus.
When we want to show a prospective student a nice lunch, this would be a no-​brainer place to take them. It quickly becomes disappointing when you realize you could’ve had a better deal eating better food at another restaurant around campus. From served lettuce going bad, to the tasteless bolongaise sauce, to the rueben (Harvest Grains in Union South has them beat!!)… it’s not a fun experience I wish to replicate.
They do dress the place up during the busy times, but if they’re not going to deliver quality at all times, then they should stay closed during the quiet times during the day. I don’t know what their strengths are; all they seem to have going for them is their location and ability to grab visiting faculty or people from surrounding events in the WID.

Steenbock’s, I give you three stars.
One star is for our waitress, who was as cute as the corgi bellyflop video and settled our debate on choice of wine the only way that debate should ever be settled: by bringing out a glass of each.
One star is for the building that Steenbock’s is in, which has indoor trees, water sculptures and magic touch screen displays to show off the building’s green pedigree.
One star is for trying hard.
Some problems: it was expensive for what it was, the food was only fair, the wine and beer menu limited, and it was nearly empty at seven on a Friday.
Not a winner by Madison’s standards but interesting to try once.

Disclaimer: This review is for their Restaurant Week lunch.
We came to Steenbock’s last week for lunch, and I left wondering how it was possible that I had never been considering I work just a few buildings away.
The food, service, and ambiance were amazing. Even during a busy weekday Restaurant Week lunch, we had a lovely dining experience.
The food was excellent. We ordered the spinach salad and calamari appetizers, burger and lamb bolognese entrees and the molten chocolate cake and crème brûlée desserts. The burger was the best burger either of us has had in Madison, and the bolognese (served with tagliatelle) was delicious as well. The desserts were similarly outstanding, and the appetizers were yummy and huge. I could have eaten my salad alone for lunch and been very satisfied. My one criticism of the food was that the spinach salad was served with warm tomatoes in it, which wilted the spinach a bit. I also felt the meals were not particularly cohesive, but since the Restaurant Week menus have limited options I don’t think that would be an issue normally. The portions were so big I got a second lunch out of my leftovers the next day.
I was seriously impressed with how good the service was. The hostesses were very friendly, and our waitress was extremely attentive and nice.
The ambiance at lunch was great. The place was busy and the tables are a bit close together, but you don’t feel like others can hear every word you’re saying so it’s not at all uncomfortable.
If you haven’t been to Steenbock’s yet, you really need to check it out. I know I’ll certainly be back!

Lovely.
Conveniently located across the street from Union South.
The atmosphere of the place is very clean and sleek, Zen-​like.
I ordered the Moules & Frites and that was rather delicious. Add to that already delicious combination some onions, curry broth, chili aioli, and grilled bread and you have a win.
Aside from the food, our waiter was great. Personable and helpful in offering menu suggestions and tips. He convinced me to order the mussels, and as it was my first time trying them, I was a bit hesitant. Especially given the fact that I was super hungry and not too up for ordering something that I would end up not eating, but I’m sure glad I was talked into it because my meal here was Fantastic. capital F.

I forgot who said a restaurant is only as good as its people.
Perhaps nobody said that and I can claim it?
Regardless, in Madison, Michael Pruett is the most unsung apron wearing, slicing, dicing, sauteing, dude in a kitchen, which makes it easy for me to say the following: Steenbock’s is the most overlooked restaurant in the 608.
Bold statement time: If you haven’t eaten at Steenbock’s you’re missing out on what might be one of the strongest dining experiences you’ll have in Madison. The interior is far warmer than another well known fine dining establishment in town, which sets the scene for an incredible culinary adventure. The service is spot on! SPOT FRIGGIN’ ON. So much so that if a server misses a beat, a GM or AGM is quick to swap out a fork, refill a glass, or bring by a new napkin that’s fallen on the floor. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not for all the pomp and circumstance. Just put good food in front of me and I’ll be ok. BUT if you’re going to build a reputation for solid service, deliver. And these guys do. (Something else I can’t say about other fine dining experiences I’ve had in town).
When it comes to the food. It’s remarkable. Full of flavor, artfully plated and portioned in a way that you can easily savor every bite without feeling like you’re over doing it. True that some entrees are pricey as compared to most places in town, but split some small plates with friends, or just simply make Steenbocks a once a quarter place as I’ve done and splurge after a few months of hard work. You owe it to yourself!
My biggest grip about the place… nobody is ever there when I am.
Why?
If I’m being completely honest, it’s in the worst location maybe second to Naples15 which is in a basement. Here’s the deal, you can’t really see it from the road, the parking situation is abysmal, and I fear that because it feels like a «destination» (even though if you read their website and map your trip it’s actually easy) people just pass. DON’T PASS ON THESE GUYS! My fear is the time will come when it doesn’t make sense to keep Steenbock’s open and Michael will be flipping burgers and sending out cheese curds dressed up in panko or something stupid on the Capitol.
Go.
Eat.
Tell others what you think.
Go back with them.
Eat again.