Madison and Fifth

Great atmosphere, awful service. I arrived here with an out of town guest and was appalled by the service. We sat for 10+ minutes before I had to get out of my seat to ask if we would have a server for the evening.
The server I approached promptly came to the table to take our orders. We never got a name or an apology for the error on the overlook. At this point we just wanted some food.
I asked a few questions in regard to the menu that I learned were incorrect once the food arrived. I had asked about the portion size of a salad and was informed it was a large dinner salad, the only thing large about it was the plate is was served on. My friend was not overly impressed with his steak which took a hour before finally arriving to our table. Again we had to get up, this time to ask the ETA on our food.
Beverages were not refilled and we had to ask for our check.
At the end of the meal and after paying our check I inquired about seeing a manager to inform them of the service, or lack there of. Ends up the manager was our server. I figured it was not worth the effort at this point.
You’d be better off at the next door chain restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory, then here unfortunately.

ducked in for lunch the other day finding myself alone in the restaurant about 1pm. nevertheless i used the restroom and to my surprise when i returned people were flocking to this hip wine bar/​lounge/​restaurant.
If been here for cocktails in the past for i love their lychee martinis. but today i ventured and wanted to try their lunch fare.
Spicy Italian Sausage Sandwich: grilled and served with seasoned fries
9.95
huge portion with the bread not soggy or tough and the fries were not oily either. very tasty linguiza.
service was impeccable which bought them their fourth star.
a definite destination for their wine list! and a great spot to start your night clubbing down the street… a fan. ⁴⁄₅ judoslices

Nice setting & adorable service, but the food fails to impress. I came in here after seeing a great looking entrée in a grapefruit shell… hello Saffron Risotto.
++ | Gnocchi |
Best thing here. Instead of the standard round potato nubbin, you’re served a great homemade rolled gnocchi. I had mine with a perfect brown butter sauce w/​a bit of sage. (Unfortunately, the brown butter version no longer seems to be on the menu…)
– Saffron Risotto
Looks fantastic but the goat cheese, spinach, & cranberries are better suited for farro or quinoa rather than risotto. This was unbelievably weird.
Not worth the price:
Lunch for 2 = $ 52

The World According to Noelle
~Allergic Girl’s Guide to Life~
«Meet me at Madison and Fifth.» Noelle W.
I absolutely adore the restaurant Madison and Fifth. Pretty murals painted on the walls above, wine bottles lined up neatly, comfy booths, wood fire oven, small bar area. The ambiance is contemporary, the food is good, the service friendly albeit slow. This is a great place to dine with– family, friends, a date, or even solo. My favorites here are the Chicken Caesar Salad– grilled to perfection chicken, crisp salad, delicious dressing and delectable homemade croutons. My second favorite meal is the Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza– everything I described in the salad but on the delicious pizza crust-​mmmmm simply delicious. When dining with others– they have had the shrimp and pasta (which looked tasty), the salmon (which was so-​so), duck ravioli (which lacked any smell or taste of duck and thus was sent back). They have a good wine list. I had a sip of an Italian White Wine which was divine.
They have a good list of desserts– which I plan on trying on my next visit. Upon arrival you will be seated and served freshly baked bread with a cream cheese spread– melt in your mouth goodness. The tap water is good (no need for bottled). They have high ceilings which give this restaurant a nice and open feel. Every time I have dined here service has been friendly but seriously slow– so don’t come here if you’re in a hurry.
According to the Palo Alto Online news there was a small fire behind the Cheesecake Factory (on University Avenue) which has temporary closed Madison and Fifth (see news article–
).
Noelle’s Notes
A Noelle Favorite.

The ambiance is great, the service very friendly, but as Jae M. says, the food is not great. The Caesar salad looked like a chopped salad on it’s way to being coleslaw. I wouldn’t have recognized it as a Caesar if it hadn’t been for the large shaved slice of Parmesan.
The pasta was overcooked, not al dente. Normally, I wouldn’t notice, except unfortunately, the overcooked pasta water was actually settling at the bottom of the plate.
I want to like this place, but there are definitely better Italian restaurants.

July 26, 2009 — Palo Alto Bar Crawl details (on Twitter under #pabcrawl)
Stop 4 —
— Madison & Fifth (Ketel One and Tonic)
After meeting up with Dennis, Tracy and Andre, our newly expanded party moved on to the next destination. Tthis was like The Lord of the Rings now, with our fellowship slowly growing… and yes, I know I’m short enough to be one of the hobbits, thank you very much and zip it! ;p)
Next up was Madison and Fifth on University — if that doesn’t sound weird, try this… Madison and 5^th Avenues don’t actually intersect so that address — Madison and Fifth, is fictitious. Feels like the Twilight Zone, don’t it? LOL
Very contemporary décor, what you would expect a New York themed restaurant to be like. Great bar area and when we entered, we were the only ones there so we got our pick of barstools!!! (Doesn’t take much to make me happy, I know!)
Fellow Unilocaler Kevin N. had joined the noble quest by now and drinks orders were placed — Sapphire and tonic for Mike, Kevin, and Andre, Tanqueray (the Rangpur version snob!) and tonic for Tracy and Ketel One and tonic for me (oh, I love it when I’m non-​conformist :)
Good drink pours — bartender was attentive initially but disappeared soon thereafter — saw her chatting to some of her co-​workers — it’s all good! They probably had us pegged as harmless drunks who were probably not going to order any food anyway haha.
We were done in a New York minute… get it? New York joke because we were in a New York themed restaurant — get it? Oh, never mind… hehehe
Bathroom break #2 — this one was quite fine — no hassles about using this :)
~ 3 stars overall — nice enough but nothing stands out enough to give it the fourth star — maybe a return visit with some food will revise that opinion :)
# 117

Gosh, you know Im not one to say something bad … I’d rather not say anything at all but my dining experience @ 5^th and madison was rather disappointing.
The ambiance is great, love the place. Waitress was friendly, but the food was, well, not good. I ordered the lamb shank with saffron risotto and my friend had the saffron risotto. The lamb it self was decent but the presentation was awful … it literally looked like a violent explosion of some kind had landed on my plate. Not to mention the rice wasn’t even thoroughly cooked, it fell very short from being risotto.
Nicely enough they noticed we hadnt taken but a bite of our food and comped the bill … offered free dessert but we passed!
So dine @ your own risk!

Good, but not great. Not a top pick along University, but definitely not last either.
The majority of dishes is excellent — my osso bucco (while also ginormous — HUGE cut) was falling-​off-​the-​bone and rich with the textures of the sauce, meat, and melted fat. My dad’s lamb leg was also perfectly cooked (and also ginormous). The lobster risotto special of the night was also generously portioned (no lobster skimping) and creamy, as was the spicy black ink linguine.
The only failure of the night was a stuffed pork chop — seriously overcooked and tough. The presentation of the sides was cute; mashed potatoes were served in a hollowed apple, and my roasted potatoes came inside a green bell pepper.
Drinks were weak. I had their Madison and 5^th cocktail, a variant of a screwdriver (they change the juice content to something more tropical). Too much juice — no balance.
Service was very polite. I would have found the super perky waitress annoying, had it not endeared the children.
Décor is subdued, which is nice, but to be honest, the art scenes on the wall was too fake, almost a Cheesecake Factory-​style homage to New York.

This past Saturday, my boyfriend took me here for Valentine’s Day. We got there for our 6:30 reservation and we were greeted by one of the owners and he sat us. The owner was very nice and spoke with my boyfriend a bit, since I guess he was the one who made the reservation for us.
I really liked the décor of the restaurant. Classy, yet conservative. The walls are decorated with sceneries of New York, and mirrors line the borders of the ceilings and wall. I like the décor and setup because it’s upscale, but also simple and nothing over the top.
For dinner, we ordered Caprese for our appetizer, I had the Black Ravioli, and my boyfriend had the Pork Chop dish. All of our food was really good. My boyfriend’s Pork Chop was very tender, juicy, and tasty, and it was accompanied by a honey glaze sauce. It also came with mashed potatoes which were awesome. My dish was black ravioli stuffed with pureed duck. I liked my boyfriend’s dish better, but I definitely appreciated the unique-​ness of mine.
The only reason why I’m giving three stars is because of the service. Our waitress wasn’t horrible, but she just acted so nonchalant like she wasn’t even there. She came by the first time and we weren’t ready to order yet. The second time she came back, she was just like «okay, are you guys ready yet?» in a somewhat hurried and annoyed tone. The service wasn’t bad, but it just seemed like our waitress really didn’t want to be working that night. Other than that, everything was good, but the whole experience would have been better if the service was better. It’s only disappointing because you would expect with the prices you’re paying, you would receive great service.

I went there this past weekend and I loved it.
First off, the service was great. Johnathon really took care of our needs and he never disappointed.
As far as the food, I had the sea bass special. The fish was cooked perfectly and the sambuca infused cream sauce was excellent.
I will be going back frequently.

As a college hoops fan, we have this chant that goes a little something like this: «OVER-​RATED!»
This chant is best used for teams that, well, are overrated and receive more publicity than they deserve. After my meal here, I had half a notion to stand up on my chair and start chanting basketball hazing-​style, but refrained myself at the risk of making a scene… for the coworkers I was eating with.
The service was okay, but the food leaves much to be desired. I got a caesar salad, which turned out to be a big piece of lettuce and a big piece of cheese. Maybe they were trying to be artsy, but come on, really? I thought of my dad’s saying when it comes to salad – «Why should I eat that? I’m not a rabbit.” – and it’s dishes like this that make me believe he’s on to something.
I got the salmon as my main course, which was decently flavorful, but the portion was pretty small. A big fat kid thumbs down.
So, overall, I guess they were successful in hitting one of the aspects of NYC – posh, but overpriced and overrated.

Driving back to Mt View from lunch…
Archie: These Googlers on bikes make me nuts.
Jen: So how soon before you hit one of them?
Archie: On purpose?
Jen: WHAT?!
Archie: Oh, I meant, never I hope.
Jen: Oh, darn.
Archie: What?
This place is decent but the pasta was kind of undercooked and the sauce was nothing, as my Spanish friends would say, spectularrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Dente.

Too bad I had to order to go but I love the atmosphere of the restaurant. Has a great modern feel and perfect fit for University Ave. I had the duck which was cooked beautifully in the brick oven. Loved the sweet marinade they used on it. The truffled potatoes came in a de-​cored apple (big apple?) which was interesting and good, again matching the sweet and savory theme.
Madison and Fifth definitely has that New York trendy accent, even though those two streets never meet (even 5^th Ave is parallel to Madison) in Manhattan.

This is one of the many cute restaurants on University with outdoor seating — love it! The ambiance is very warm and trendy, but like Esther L. said, not too trendy. Great date spot.
Food:
–Steak on the dinner specials menu: Topped with cheese and mushrooms, with a side of huge onion rings, baked potato, and broccolini. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and it was tasty! Perfect if you’re craving beef.
–Linguine alle Vongole Bianchi: With clams, arugula, and cherry tomatoes. Great if you don’t want a heavy pasta dish. I don’t like tomatoes but I liked the ones that were cooked well since they were soft & tasty. (–1 star because they packed the rest to-​go for me and when I opened it for lunch today, there was only ONE clam! I purposely made sure not to eat all the clams at dinner so I wouldn’t have just pasta leftover.)
Drinks:
–Sangria: Yum! Perfect balance of fruity sweetness and dryness of the wine. This one is a creeper though… watch out!
–Appleberry mojito: Mojitos are my favorite drink but I think I’m still a little traumatized from a overdoing-​it party experience so it was a little less than enjoyable to drink. But I’m sure I would have loved it under normal circumstances!

I adore this place, it has a great ambiance (would be a fab place for a date or post-​work cocktails and apps). The food is awesome as well, Ive been there a number of times and will highly recomend the Orecchiette or the «Mad and Fifth»…yum! :)
The wait staff is generally friendly, attentive and quite knowledgeable about wine and food parings. a major bonus in my book.
I docked them one star, however, because one of the times Id been there the waiter was distracted by my friend’s low cut dress and had to re-​ask for our order
… on a side note, he did attept to make up for forgetting what we ordered with desert and a few rounds of lemon drops on the house.

I really liked this restaurant.
And yes, it came close to feeling like a Manhattan eatery.
The Timeout Pizza was… wow, my tastebuds just lit up thinking of it again. A fresh mixture of gourmet mushrooms and olives at the base, next layered with a very light cheese and marinara, topped with the leanest, tastiest prosciutto you’ve ever had. The dough itself was cooked to perfection, allowing that quintessential NY-​pizza-​bend as you docked that baby between your lips. Mmmm. I’m sure some cat named Luigi was in the kitchen there firing these up!
The Galletto al Mattone alla Diavola was the second entrée. A spicy, marinated Cornish Hen with roasted potatoes and vegetables. This had to be «Luigi’s» Momma’s home-​cooked recipe, or the like. This was a special dish as well.
Even the proscioutto & melon worked as the perfect starter. Both in season and highly delectable!
The service was… extraordinary. They did not miss a beat! And just the way I like it; not ridiculously attentive, there RIGHT when needed, and discreet. The maitre’di, promptly recommended a red wine (not on the list) and it was a homerun in flavor. Rich, smoothe and velvety.
Madison & Fifth gets HIGH marks in all areas. So good, in fact, this will definitely be put on the «Return Soon» list… and so much so, I’d go outta my way even to visit the original next time in the Apple.
Oh yeah, APPLE ! The apple strudel and vanilla ice cream was so good it drew giggles!
This was a magical summer night… and Madison & 5^th sparked the evening’s enchantment.
Ciao Bella !! Magnifico!

Came here for the first time with my husband for our anniversary. Had a good time. The manager was nearby most of the night to making sure everything was running smoothly. All in all we enjoyed the frito misto appetizer (don’t expect too much shrimp — 2, or artichokes –1, though), the goat cheese salad, and one of their pasta and sausage dishes. If I came back I would definitely splurge on the risotto since it seems to be their signature plate. But it will set you back $ 20 and is quite hearty so I wouldn’t recommend it after a large appetizer.
4 stars since I will probably not be returning. There are other restaurants in the area that I like more for that kind of price. But still a good choice for a night out in Palo Alto.

The menu looks good/​interesting and I would like to come back for a taste, but this review is a comment on the service.
What ever happened to professionalism? Seriously I don’t know who owns this restaurant, but they need to do some serious «drive by» check-​ins on their staff. The hostess at the front of the restaurant was leaning against the hostess station with her back to the door. She was on her phone so much it was ridiculous. She was at work and apparently texting her friends was more important than providing a good impression to customers. When she wasn’t texting, her phone was on the hostess station ON TOP of the reservation book. Where was the manager. you ask?
He was pacing the restaurant (from bar to door next to customer tables) on the house phone or standing on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant loudly talking and gesturing to someone. I am guessing that it wasn’t a business call.

Awe!!! It’s a pity that this restaurant has such poor ratings!!! :-(
I went there last Friday… and my friends and I enjoyed a delicious dinner!!! Although we only ordered vegetarian food… we were very satisfied with what we ordered… Pizza, ravioli (two thumbs up!!!) and the dessert was soooooo goooddd!!! My sweet freak friend absolutely loved his chocolate fondue!!! =) Another friend and I ordered a sweet crêpe… oh so tasty… my taste buds were high on the awesomely well prepared and fruit laden crêpe!!!
Now, lastly I must mention the part that ALSO does add to the experience of *fine* dining… — the ambiance is so New Yorksy… modern art… nice lighting… very well done!!!
I will definitely go there again and try out more stuff! :)

The place I really wanted to go was packed, so we wandered down University to find this place really empty on a Thursday night. I had the pork chop which was filled with some cheese. It was pretty tasty. The sauteed mushrooms on top were super salty, but the Asian styled broccoli was actually not bad.
The pumpkin risotto tasted really awesome however, with shrimp inside this mini pumpkin dish.
Service was weird however. No refill on ice tea? When it costs 2.50 a glass? Really? I can make a whole pot of tea for that price. We were waiting for 2 of our party to come and they were a little late, but the waiter started taking away their glasses, w/​out asking us! The whole experience was on and off.