Excellent meal. I'm gluten sensitive and the server offered to adjusted/combine two different menu items and the end result was delicious. Not a quiet dining experience but few places are these days. read more

I came here for a nice dinner to celebrate my birthday a couple of months ago. My fiance made the reservation and were seated pretty promptly. It was semi-busy for a Sunday evening and I evidently shared a birthday with many other patrons tonight since I heard a lot of birthday singing throughout the night. I ordered the mulled wine, the cauliflower appetizer (it was essentially just a deep fried cauliflower), mussel frites for my entree, and a mousse (topped with whipped cream and brittle) for dessert. Honestly, the waitress that we had wasn't particularly friendly. The food wasn't too impressive to me either. The mulled wine was great--it was pretty warm and tasty, and what I needed for the cold winter night. The cauliflower that we ordered we had thought it would be some kind of salad but instead it was fried with olives added (seemingly random) to the dish that didn't really tie-in the flavor, the mussels were okay, in a white wine and butter broth, and the dessert was fine too. The waitress was nice enough to comp the dessert (the reservation was made letting them know we were there for a birthday celebration). I feel like my experience overall was really only okay. I'm not sure I would come back. I felt that the food was over-priced for the mediocre service and food. read more

Sardine was my favorite spot I visited in Wisconsin. As someone from France, I have a very high standard for French food, and Sardine met all of my expectations. It was definitely busy on a Sunday brunch, and we had to wait 20 minutes to get a high top table, so I would definitely recommend putting in a reservation if you're planning on going. Even when busy, the atmosphere was very charming, and I felt happy to be there. The service was also lovely, with our server keen to recommend dishes. We started with oysters, which were large, flavorful, and delicious. We then went on to my favorite meal possibly ever: moules frites. These were probably the best moules frites Ive ever had in the United States. The mussels were seasoned with a light white wine and cream sauce with a mix of herbs and spices. It was exactly like my favorites mussels in Normandy. The sauce was also perfect to dip my fries in when I was done with my mussels, I was incredibly impressed. My brother will be moving to the city in a few months, so I'm excited to come back here when I visit him! And I'll be sure to make a reservation ahead of time this time. read more

Sardine has a really nice atmosphere and it's right on Lake Monona. I've been here for brunch a couple times, and have had great experiences! It's a great spot to bike to, with a BCycle docking station right next to it! read more

Sardine - Yogurt and (Half) Belgian Waffle - French Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Brunch with friends on Saturday was lovely! If we had wanted a quieter space we would have reserved a table in the back, and we may do that next time. Lively, fun atmosphere, good and friendly service, delicious cocktails/brunch drinks, and yummy food. If I order the salty beet salad again, I'll be sure to order something crunch to balance out all of the yummy crema fraiche. So good.... read more

Sardine is definitely one of my favorite spots in Madison. I love the happy hour, brunch, but also had a great dinner there, as well. The atmosphere feels fancy yet approachable at the same time. The staff is usually very nice and friendly. It's in a good area, as well, close to lots of other places to walk to and things to do. A true gem! A little on the pricer side, but such a fantastic place. read more

Sardine - oeuf mayonnaise - French Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Cool interior, very nicely finished and furnished. They service was great and food was tasty. read more

Sardine - Menu - French Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Maybe they had an off night in the kitchen but I was kind of disappointed in Sardine. First off, the good: Parking was easy, and they have a big parking lot with plenty of spots. Our server Jessica was attentive and helpful. The Moules Frites appetizer was pretty good - the white wine creamy sauce with the mussels was a good combination. And the fries were top-notch, I was reminded of the best version of McDonalds fries - crispy, salty goodness. Meanwhile, the entrees left a lot to be desired. The steak in the Steak-Frites (yes we doubled down on fries oops) was very dry. It was cooked pretty well to a medium temperature but still ended up chewy and tough, even with a healthy amount of butter on top. I know traditional French steak-frites with hanger steak can be a little tougher but this was supposed to be a ribeye. The final product was just off, and it was like something I could have done at home with a generic steak from the supermarket while not having to pay $39. The white wine mustard braised chicken's drumstick piece was good but its breast piece was very dry - maybe it needed more brine or was just overcooked. And while the sauce and the root vegetables were good, the potato puree honestly tasted like store bought boxed mashed potatoes. Maybe my palate doesn't have the sophistication needed or we should have ordered some of their other seafood options (given the mussels were good). But overall, a disappointing evening given the cost (over $100 with the tip for two) and the fact that it was for a birthday dinner. read more

SO GOOD!!!! This place is easily my favorite upscale place to eat in Madison now! The ambience of the restaurant is very pretty and the staff are all very friendly. My friend and I had a really good time enjoying the food and the view of the lake. Moles Frites: 10/10 the sauce was so creamy and tasty! The mussels were well cooked and went well with the sauce. The fries were so crispy and freshly fried! Lavender Creme Brulee: 10/10 the lavender flavor was very prominent and sweet in creme brulee and it paired very well with the blueberry sorbet! Absinthe Frappe: 9/10 I've never had absinthe before but I think it paired very well with the mint and was a refreshing drink. read more

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Sardine is THE spot for brunch. Consistently delicious food and service. The shrimp cakes were delicious and came with a side of eggs and salad. The specials make a perfect table appetizer. Highly recommend trying the shrub soda is you are looking for a non-alcoholic beverage. My only regret was not getting one of their in house pastries. Next time! read more

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Came here, for the first time, for brunch the other day and had a wonderful experience. To me, a good brunch is more than just the food, but also the vibe. With an extraordinary lakeside view, my group and I each ordered separate meals, which were all amazing. One of the few places in Madison to get ingredients (seafood, red meat, etc) of high quality, good views, and a good menu variety, Sardine is a pretty penny but also worth price! The only "downside" is the wait staff was a little low energy, but being a waiter (especially now) is super hard, so can't knock folks for being tired! 10/10 coming back! read more

Sardine - French Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Came here for New Year's Eve dinner with my partner and we instantly loved it! We both instantly loved it and no doubt it's our new go to date night spot. We made reservations for 9pm and arrived 15 minutes before and were seated instantly. Our waiter was extremely kind and knowledgeable. We ordered the bread and butter to start. He got the steak frite and myself the mussels and frite. We both LOVED our dishes. Absolutely delicious. He said the steak was cooked perfectly. My mussels were the best I've had. The dish also came with some bread to soak up the broth. The mussels were extremely clean and tender, not over cooked at all. They were super flavorful after being cooked in the broth. For desert we shared the profiteroles. We could tell they were freshly baked and I loved the chocolate sauce. My partner loved the ice cream as well. Overall an amazing place. Great atmosphere for any occasion! Friendly staff taking covid protocols which was much appreciated. All staff wore masks and tables were spaced generously. We will definitely be back. I hear they have an amazing lunch as well read more

Sardine - Part of the moules frite. Beautiful table settinf - French Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

ONLY FIVE STARS? This place merits way more than that, so here ya go: ***************************. . . Okay, that's how many stars this place merits. I took myself to brunch here, and I have to say, the duck salad was mind-blowingly delicious. Paired with a glass of some nice French bubbly, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. The setting on Lake Monona is perfection. It was so damn freaking awesome I came back a couple weeks later and ordered the same thing. My current fantasy is to have someone treat me to a nice dinner at Sardine. . . but for some reason, I can't seem to scare up a date willing to do so. Is it something I said? I may come back with pictures and more details, but I'm not so good at figuring how to get photos from my phone moved to where I can access them. I digress. That's my problem, not yours. Bottom line: Go there for brunch. You're welcome. read more

Sardine - This photo has nothing to do with the review, but now you know what I look like. - French Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

absolutely phenomenal brunch spot for my bday!!!! it was a gorgeous day and we were lucky enough to sit by the window facing the water while still chilling in the ac. it was so hard figuring out what to order! i need to come back to try the warm duck confit salad. my bf ordered the smoked salmon tartine special which had a fishy aftertaste but was unlike anything i had before. the presentation is just stunning! i really liked my omelette as well - you could really taste the butter in the omelette and the goat cheese really pulled everything together. the fries were crispy and i had high hopes for them but i could tell they weren't super fresh. my friend got the shrimp cakes which were also phenomenal - crispy but also filled with so much flavor. i also need to get this when i come back next. they gave me free dessert (a blueberry meringue) which was light and the perfect end to brunch. the pastries were good too and all came from madison sourdough. i was disappointed in my drink and def should've gotten the aperol spritz instead. overall, gorgeous ambiance, great service, and delicious food!!!! read more

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Sardine never misses. They have a great menu and everything I've tried has been amazing. They make a perfect Bloody Mary. Fresh oysters with a great mignonette. Delicious brunch offerings. This is a great date spot or a fantastic place to take friends or family you have visiting. read more

Sardine - Menu, Bloody Mary - French Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

The food is always fresh and yummy! The staff is very attentive as well and the place is very pretty. It can get a little loud though.

First time visit, and I would definitely come back next time I am in town. Our server was great. The pacing of our meal from appetizers to coffee. The oysters and mussels were especially good and so was the rib eye. read more

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Fabulous food, fabulous service, fabulous experience. Matthew was a wonderful waiter and the rest of the team was lovely. Of particular note was the charcuterie platter and the chicken liver toast with plum jam. The pot of butterscotch crème was superb. read more

We enjoyed the modules frites. The base soup is amazing, even with the bread. The gras mousse in platter is great. Other than these 2, I would say others are just on average level. And the serving is a bit slow, when the restaurant is mostly full. The server have good and friendly attitude tho. read more

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Incredible food incredible service love this place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yummmmmmmmmmmmm read more

I have dined by myself at sardine in the past and today brought my wife and daughter to one of my favorite Madison spots. We arrived for our 1pm reservation and were seated by the windows overlooking the lake. Water was brought to the table right away, but it was almost 20 minutes before our waiter stopped by our table to apologize for the delay in getting to us. After another 10 minutes the waiter returned to take our order. We ordered oysters and shared plates off the brunch menu as well as cocktails. We received our drinks at 1:45 and the oysters at 1:50, almost an hour after being seated. I had to leave the table to ask someone for some plates, horse radish, Tabasco etc. before we could start on the oysters. The rest of our appetizers arrived soon after and again had to ask someone for plates to share. Our waiter never checked in to see about drink refills or on our food. At 2:30, almost 1.5 hours after being seated we finally received our entree. The issues during our visit were entirely related to service. The food as always was absolutely delicious. I hate to leave a less than positive review related to service as I know how hard it is to keep staff in restaurants these days, but today was really off the charts when it come to slow and inattentive service for our our table. We'll be back, but today was a very frustrating experience. read more

This is the place in Madison. Excellent food and superb cocktails. Service is first class. Don't miss happy hour! Kelsey and Corina Rock!!!!!! read more

in my head this is a 2.5/5, right smack in the middle of the scale. location: a bit hard to find, confusing doors/signage, but nothing too terrible. wait time: no wait, sat at table quickly--wait for food was a tad slow but not awful. food: this was my main issue by far, considering both the price and what a place like this is trying to be. starter: cheese board + mayonnaise eggs the bread was cold, not the freshest. cheese board: no explanation of what cheese was what, fairly simple and lacklustre presentation. nothing special about the taste of the cheeses, truly only thought one out of the four was interesting. could use more than a couple of raspberries and some sad walnuts to accompany. the eggs were like a deconstructed devilled egg. probably better if it was just a devilled egg. ‍ main: ordered medium burger came out pretty much well done, the meat itself was fairly flavourless, thank god for the fig in this, it's the only thing i tasted. asked for ketchup or aioli for the frittes, since they came out plain. bottle of ketchup was basically frozen and the aioli was pretty tasteless. i have a gigantic sweet tooth but passed on the dessert menu. i don't think i would have reacted well to a poor basque cheesecake (which i typically love). my bf's meal: 27 bucks for mushroom polenta seemed a bit extreme. especially given the hard/undercooked fingerling potatoes in the dish. read more

First, this place can be hard to find if using google maps directions. Really nice ambiance. Bartenders are quite knowledgeable. Food - meh. Service on a weeknight needs some help... waited and waited for my dinner. In fact the bartender and the person sitting next to me (seated after me and completed meal) commented on how patient I was. Patient? Why not check on where your guests order is... Cold steak is not good. read more

All around professional delicious bistro. Great service, innovative cocktails, fantastic desserts.

Excellent food. Wonderful atmosphere and service. I loved the Steel Cut Oats. The oysters are particularly fresh. The mimosas were made with quality champagne and fresh squeezed orange juice! read more

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Its a hopping place! Will come back maybe in summer to check it out again. My cassoulet was bland. The vibe-is great!

A good restaurant in my opinion should have a mixture of good food and fun ambience- for us this had neither! We walked in for dinner last night to a lovely bustling restaurant- beautiful decor... then we were seated with a reservation in what felt like a back room - I asked to be moved to obviously open tables in the larger area and was told no (some ridiculous excuse) and then politely sat. It took about 20 minutes for a waiter to arrive to take our drink orders and then another 10 minutes for them to arrive. I ordered the tuna - it tasted less than fresh. The steak frite that my companions ordered was a bit gristly and tasteless and the fries were mediocre at best. The meal was quite expensive - I don't mind paying a lot for good food but this was definitely not it. Our waiter was nice, but overburdened.. and paying extra for bread - ugh! read more

Overall, everything was amazing! The service, atmosphere, food, and wine. We enjoyed every dish we ate. They let our son, who was celebrating his 8th birthday, pick a dessert from the menu - which was so kind! read more

Sardine - olive tapenade, sun dried tomato, crostini - French Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

We enjoyed our anniversary dinner at Sardine. It was loud and busy on a Wednesday evening. After a longish finger-drumming wait for our server to show up, things then went smoothly. We had a couple of manhattans and a grilled squid special. Then we had the mussels (which came with a colossal serving of fries!), duck leg confit, a salad, and spinach gratin. Flavors are inoffensively classic French. They do charge for bread and butter. For dessert we had pot de creme and a brown butter old fashioned (which was not as good as the manhattan!). Lots of leftovers for breakfast. We would return! read more

Sardine - clockwise from lower left: mussels, bread, spinach gratin, duck leg, frites - French Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Wonderful atmosphere, service, meal and view of the lake. DUCK CONFIT LEG & THIGH rich duck-mushroom infused broth, semolina dumplings, Swiss chard, mushrooms, bacon lardons. read more

Sardine - French Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Don't let the name fool you. This place doesn't sound appetizing, but it's so good! Was so enchanted by all the good food, I forgot to take pictures. Ate WARM MONTCHEVRE GOAT CHEESE, ROASTED CARROTS & CAULIFLOWER, BAKED POTATO GNOCCHI, BREAD & BUTTER, SEARED SALMON and CHICKEN PAILLARD. There was such great flavor in everything we ate. Im just visiting, but I would love to eat here again. read more

Did the weekend brunch and it wasn't bad. Ambience left a little to be desired, but that's due more to the building than anything else. Fits the whole modern, big, open, echo chamber vibe of most modern restaurants these days. I've never been a fan of such interior design in the first place, so take the above complaint with a grain of salt. For a drink I ordered a Bloody Mary and I got to say that it was spicier than expected, which was actually a nice surprise. Most bars and restaurants don't go that heavy on the heat while still being able to discern the other core ingredients of the cocktail. I had the Croque Madame for my meal. It wasn't bad, the side of greens with vinegarette was a nice contrast to the heaviness of such a sandwich. The fries were just okay as I received ones that were cut too small and were a bit on the cooler side, definitely having the temperature of being plated too far in advance before the sandwich was completed. Overall, the taste of the sandwich was really good. The nitpicks I have regarding it relate to the bechamel sauce on top having been put under the broiler. I would've preferred that they broiled the sandwich first, then place the sauce and egg on it so the bechamel had been runnier. I guess that's more personal preference because I'm just not much of a fan of bechamel that's been heated until slightly solidified. My other complaint regarding the Croque Madame was the ham itself. A bit on the saltier side, though, that probably wouldn't have mattered all that much if they hadn't overcooked it to the point of being too dry. Texturally, it was like someone had inserted a piece of soft leather or plastic into a really good sandwich. The service was okay. It was busy, like I'm sure it always is for the weekend brunch. Still though, it was odd and slightly annoying to see waitstaff standing around. Seriously, if you don't have anything to do at the moment, don't stand around doing nothing where the customers can see you. Find some place to hide. At least that's how we did it back in my day working in a restaurant. (See how old of a fogey I am now?) In all, it was a good, but not great experience. And though I'm not sure I would go out of my way to necessarily do brunch again; I'd be interested in coming back to taste their dinner menu. read more

I've been to Sardine a few times and can say that the items I love I love and the ones I don't are still really good too! My favorite is a classic but the mussels and frites are fantastic and I highly recommend. The frites are chefs kiss level and you will just be happy you did. Overall, a cool experience filled with good vibes, good drinks and really good food. It also sits right on the lake so take in those views before and after dinner as well! read more

This place was actually wonderful. The service was good and the food was spot-on. Grace was an amazing Server and had wonderful recommendations for the food and wine pairings. Really our only minor concern was with the bartender that almost "pushed" us away from an almost empty bar as we sat and had a drink and when we decided to take our table for dinner he kept saying, "you need to go stand at the Hostess desk." Well, there was no one AT the Hostess desk and we already had our table guaranteed by the Host. But beyond that, everything was wonderful. We had a variety of appetizers; Oysters, warm Montchevre goat cheese, Moules Frites, along with the bread and butter and all of them were cooked perfectly. As was the French Onion Soup that we all tried. The wine, a Barolo, was absolutely perfect and complimented the mix of seafood and the desserts that we tried; the espresso pot de créme and chocolate soufflé cake. Definitely a GO-TO if you're in Madison. read more

So, I love Sardine BUT just came in to have some dinner and wine at the bar around 6:30pm and the service was lacking. The bartenders were terrible. If it hadn't been for the bar back we wouldn't have had any service at all. No utensils til our meal was here (provided by the bar back!) We had to flag them down for more wine. At the end of the meal, we asked for a dessert menu but they never asked us if we wanted dessert even though the menu was laying in front of us. Just handed us the bill. We know that the table wait staff is beyond excellent and we are disappointed with this level of service at the bar. This is one of our favorite restaurants in Madison and I'm sorry to say it will take me awhile to want to come back. read more

What a spectacular meal from start to finish. Not only did we choose the perfect night to dine near the windows (the water skiing show in the background made for a movie-like setting), but service was great and the food was magnificent. We all opted for Aperol spritzes, and shared the goat cheese starter. We had whitefish, salmon, and mussels for mains. I would absolutely recommend this for a summer night or special occasion. Hope to dine again soon! read more

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We went for brunch for the first time today. I highly recommend getting a reservation because their brunch is super popular! The waiter was very friendly and had great recommendations. It was also very classy, yet comfortable! I got the crab, bacon lardon, and shrimp cakes. It was probably the best brunch I've had in Madison! Highly recommend! read more

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Still probably the "fanciest" place I've eaten in Madison. On this visit for my friend's birthday I got the skate wing. I've never had that before, it was like a soft fish. Very richly flavored, I'm sure lots of butter, and surprisingly filling. Definitely worth a try if you want to try something new and on the seafood side. read more

Always a fabulous time at sardine. Steak frites cooked to perfection. Amazing service. Cauliflower appetizer is a must. Can't wait to come back read more

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