The only reason this restaurant got a three star because the food was OK. But besides that everything else failed to meet expectations for a group of 15 people. I have been to this place over the years on corporate dinners with colleagues and clients. This will be the last time that I frequent this restaurant. In nutshell, the service was the worst part. Cleanliness less shockingly lacked. There were leftover beer caps under the table cloth. Indicating the table had not been cleaned at all. A glass of wine spilled as a result of the beer, cap and the service did not even bother to bring any napkins to clean up the spilled of wine. The appetizers came before the plates and the people sitting against the wall had to do the plate service every time. God forbid if the service people would come from behind and collect the plates for you, or give you the plate with food. They expect you to yell the order across the table because once again they are too proud to come behind and next to you to take the order. Not to mention a restaurant that charges $52 on the high end of the entrée, who wants to add 3% fee for credit card payments for a group of 15. Not to mention the entitlement of set gratuity, charge despite the lack of service. Everything has to be requested because there is no proactive thoughtfulness in the service. It’s a classic sign of a mismanaged place that has run over its time.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
Jamie G
My brother and sister-in-law recommended this place, so we decided to all go for a double date. They mentioned their co-workers loved it, so we had high expectations. Well, the food surpassed them! You can usually tell if a place is great from the very first bite, and everything tasted incredibly fresh, creamy, and simply divine. I was amazed that everything we tried was exceptional. I ordered the butternut squash ravioli, perfect for the season! The owner was so friendly and, after overhearing how much we enjoyed the cheese with figs and prosciutto, he brought us an extra plate on the house. He also treated us to berries and cream, the ravioli special and even a glass of limoncello. It's been a long time, if ever, since I've experienced such excellent customer service. You can tell the chef is always consistent, he truly cares about his craft. I highly recommend this place, and I love that we've found our new go-to spot whenever we're in Madison and craving Italian, or even when we're not—the food is just that good!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Berries with Cream, Butternut Squash Ravioli
john raad
Spot on food!!!! Service, the bread and zucchini chips awesome Scallop appetizer.. totally prefect Susan & managers and bus kids on top of things in dining room.. ^5's all around... Great meal.. thank you chef..
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Red Snapper, Scallops
Brandon Winstead
Excellent food and impeccable service. Highly recommended
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Deborah Andiloro
Food and service are outstanding!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fred Wortmann
The best in Madison!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Carpaccio Con Parmigiano
bruce baxter
This is definitely the place for a special occasion. Make your reservations early. The food is incredible, only to be outdone by the service. It may be slightly more expensive for the area, but is a BYOB. They are not making money off the drinks and serve better food to retain clients. And the food was incredible.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ruben Martinez
The best!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Callie Bedell
Delightful BYOB restaurant that has that old world Italian feel. It’s a smaller restaurant with 2 different sides and somewhat dimly lit. The food is absolutely outstanding with great service.Not pictured are the little appetizers you get per person which I could eat as a meal itself if it was a larger portion. It’s white beans over a little piece of bread with thinly sliced eggplant with garlic and olive oil - it’s absolutely to die for! It hasn’t changed in years and remains to be the most delicious appetizer you can get with your meal just for dining with them.Their veal and chicken dishes are pounded thin and are infused with flavor. The soft shell crab francaise was an appetizer special and has a sauce you could soak up with the bread provided - absolutely divine. Great for a table of 4 to split one. The shrimp appetizer with white beans was also delicious, nothing was left!Every entree came out hot and delicious. Our server was fantastic and gave great recommendations.The real star of the restaurant is the dessert man - he always ends his spiel with “and there’s always room for dessert!” - we had indulged in the warm apple tart and the NY cheesecake (my mom and brother said it was one of the best they’ve had in a while, being creamy and just the right sweetness). The apple tart came with a cinnamon sugar ice cream and was great to share for 2 people.Il Mondo Vecchio is 5/5 - highly recommend (and make sure you call ahead and make a reservation).
Parking: There is a parking lot right next to the restaurant - you may not get super close but it’s a free parking lot with plenty of spaces.
Wheelchair accessibility: None, there’s a step up to get into the restaurant and it’s a very narrow walkway in.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Warm Apple Tart with Gelato, Veal Toscana
Dan Del Buono
This place is lights out. Made me think I actually like vegetables with how great they were at seasoning them. I can't reccomend a fine Italian restaurant
Awesome ?? food, nice atmosphere, polite server's. Get there early, it gets crowded
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Lamb Shank, Lobster and Shrimp Arrabiata
Carol Pierce Feith
We were a table of 10 for lunch, and the service was impeccable. The food was delicious with a wonderful variety of choice on the lunch pre fixe menu.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Veal Toscana, Chicken Marsala
jess andrade
Top quality restaurant. The food is amazing (the penne vodka!! yess!!), the decor is so pretty it creates a great ambiance, and the staff is always friendly. Everyone loves a good BYOB and this place is perfect for any occasion you want to dress up for. Can’t wait to eat here again!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mark Neidorff
For **THAT** special occasion, this top Italian restaurant is very hard to beat. Classic cuisine, perfectly prepared. Very professional staff. Great ambiance. When the occasion arises, this is a "go-to" place not to miss. 5 stars are well earned.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Charlie Cessna
most restaurants dont retain quality over years and years. this place does. remarkably consistent. excellent food. excellent service. classic old world dining experience... yes you have to pay for it, but that should be expected. I'm sure thats how they survive at this
The only reason this restaurant got a three star because the food was OK. But besides that everything else failed to meet expectations for a group of 15 people. I have been to this place over the years on corporate dinners with colleagues and clients. This will be the last time that I frequent this restaurant. In nutshell, the service was the worst part. Cleanliness less shockingly lacked. There were leftover beer caps under the table cloth. Indicating the table had not been cleaned at all. A glass of wine spilled as a result of the beer, cap and the service did not even bother to bring any napkins to clean up the spilled of wine. The appetizers came before the plates and the people sitting against the wall had to do the plate service every time. God forbid if the service people would come from behind and collect the plates for you, or give you the plate with food. They expect you to yell the order across the table because once again they are too proud to come behind and next to you to take the order. Not to mention a restaurant that charges $52 on the high end of the entrée, who wants to add 3% fee for credit card payments for a group of 15. Not to mention the entitlement of set gratuity, charge despite the lack of service. Everything has to be requested because there is no proactive thoughtfulness in the service. It’s a classic sign of a mismanaged place that has run over its time.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
My brother and sister-in-law recommended this place, so we decided to all go for a double date. They mentioned their co-workers loved it, so we had high expectations. Well, the food surpassed them! You can usually tell if a place is great from the very first bite, and everything tasted incredibly fresh, creamy, and simply divine. I was amazed that everything we tried was exceptional. I ordered the butternut squash ravioli, perfect for the season! The owner was so friendly and, after overhearing how much we enjoyed the cheese with figs and prosciutto, he brought us an extra plate on the house. He also treated us to berries and cream, the ravioli special and even a glass of limoncello. It's been a long time, if ever, since I've experienced such excellent customer service. You can tell the chef is always consistent, he truly cares about his craft. I highly recommend this place, and I love that we've found our new go-to spot whenever we're in Madison and craving Italian, or even when we're not—the food is just that good!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Berries with Cream, Butternut Squash Ravioli
Spot on food!!!!
Service, the bread and zucchini chips awesome
Scallop appetizer.. totally prefect
Susan & managers and bus kids on top of things in dining room..
^5's all around...
Great meal.. thank you chef..
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Red Snapper, Scallops
Excellent food and impeccable service. Highly recommended
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food and service are outstanding!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The best in Madison!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Carpaccio Con Parmigiano
This is definitely the place for a special occasion. Make your reservations early. The food is incredible, only to be outdone by the service. It may be slightly more expensive for the area, but is a BYOB. They are not making money off the drinks and serve better food to retain clients. And the food was incredible.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The best!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Delightful BYOB restaurant that has that old world Italian feel. It’s a smaller restaurant with 2 different sides and somewhat dimly lit. The food is absolutely outstanding with great service.Not pictured are the little appetizers you get per person which I could eat as a meal itself if it was a larger portion. It’s white beans over a little piece of bread with thinly sliced eggplant with garlic and olive oil - it’s absolutely to die for! It hasn’t changed in years and remains to be the most delicious appetizer you can get with your meal just for dining with them.Their veal and chicken dishes are pounded thin and are infused with flavor. The soft shell crab francaise was an appetizer special and has a sauce you could soak up with the bread provided - absolutely divine. Great for a table of 4 to split one. The shrimp appetizer with white beans was also delicious, nothing was left!Every entree came out hot and delicious. Our server was fantastic and gave great recommendations.The real star of the restaurant is the dessert man - he always ends his spiel with “and there’s always room for dessert!” - we had indulged in the warm apple tart and the NY cheesecake (my mom and brother said it was one of the best they’ve had in a while, being creamy and just the right sweetness). The apple tart came with a cinnamon sugar ice cream and was great to share for 2 people.Il Mondo Vecchio is 5/5 - highly recommend (and make sure you call ahead and make a reservation).
Parking: There is a parking lot right next to the restaurant - you may not get super close but it’s a free parking lot with plenty of spaces.
Wheelchair accessibility: None, there’s a step up to get into the restaurant and it’s a very narrow walkway in.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Warm Apple Tart with Gelato, Veal Toscana
This place is lights out. Made me think I actually like vegetables with how great they were at seasoning them. I can't reccomend a fine Italian restaurant
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Awesome ?? food, nice atmosphere, polite server's. Get there early, it gets crowded
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Lamb Shank, Lobster and Shrimp Arrabiata
We were a table of 10 for lunch, and the service was impeccable. The food was delicious with a wonderful variety of choice on the lunch pre fixe menu.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Veal Toscana, Chicken Marsala
Top quality restaurant. The food is amazing (the penne vodka!! yess!!), the decor is so pretty it creates a great ambiance, and the staff is always friendly. Everyone loves a good BYOB and this place is perfect for any occasion you want to dress up for. Can’t wait to eat here again!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
For **THAT** special occasion, this top Italian restaurant is very hard to beat. Classic cuisine, perfectly prepared. Very professional staff. Great ambiance. When the occasion arises, this is a "go-to" place not to miss. 5 stars are well earned.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
most restaurants dont retain quality over years and years. this place does. remarkably consistent. excellent food. excellent service. classic old world dining experience... yes you have to pay for it, but that should be expected. I'm sure thats how they survive at this
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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