MADISON & FIFTH

We were down in Palo Alto over the weekend for dinner with friends (we ate at Joya (I'll submit another review). However we walked past "Mad & 5" and even though it was peak dinner hour on a Saturday night, the place was nearly empty--maybe three tables, tops. Seems like people have figured out what they get from that place.

We eat out pretty often, and we aren't fussy eaters. We almost never send anything back or complain. But our experience at this restaurant over a year and a half ago was so bad that we refuse to go back. I can't even count on one hand the restaurants we refuse to revisit.

...We had the opportunity to try this new restaurant when we visited our friends in Palo Alto. The decor is quite nice and we were impressed with what they'd done with the space. The food wasn't bad, although for their prices I would say it was mediocre. I had the "homemade" pesto linguini, and the pasta and sauce seemed way too starchy. One of us had the pumpkin risotto, which came in a little baked pumpkin--nice presentation. The salads and appetizers are good. I had the grilled ahi carpaccio, and it was quite good.

The main problem we had with the restaurant, and the reason we won't be going back, was the staff and service. In one word: Inattentive. We are by no means restaurant snobs, but the level of inattentiveness was way over the top even for us. The women crew were dressed inappropriately for a restaurant that charges as much as they do (the hostess wore a skirt so short that she was providing peeks when she bent over, one waitress had a shirt that kept creeping up her midriff so that every time she bent over to serve a table we could see her thong underwear)--perfectly fine for nightclub setting but not for a nice dinner restaurant.

The worst however, was our waiter, Walter. He asked if we wanted Pelligrino or flat water. We ordered Pelligrino. Never once did he come back to refill our drinks or offer more bottles of Pelligrino (that would have made the restaurant another $14 at least for two bottles we would've ordered). He did not offer a bread basket for us, even after we asked (other tables got one). We were not offered ground pepper--the food needed it, and there was no pepper shaker on our table. We had to ask one of the hostesses because after the food was served, Walter didn't come back to check on us until after we were done eating. We also had two pasta dishes but was not offered any parmesan (the parmesan dish was sitting on the hostess's counter at the front).

When we were done with our entrees, Walter came back and asked us if we were ready for our check, having forgotten that one of us had asked for the chocolate souffle at the start of the meal. We reminded him, at which point he started to turn around and leave. We had to ask him if perhaps the rest of us might like to see the dessert menu. He took our dessert orders then walked away, failing to pick up any dishes. When we got our check, we did not get the tray of little cookies that others got at their table.

In the time that we were there, we noticed that the patrons at Walter's other tables seemed to always be looking around for him, as well.

All this for $50 per person (not including alcohol)? No, thank you. We won't be returning.

THE FOOD IS OUTSTANDING. Were there when it was not crowded so got full attention of staff; don;t know what it's like when they're busy. enjoy,

don't even bother: The waitstaff doesn't seem to care, esp. the manager. The time we went was a Sunday late lunch (almost 2pm) when it wasn't even crowded:
1. need to ask over 3 times for a clean fork
2. they store bread inside a wood drawer that would normally be used for napkins, utensils, other misc. stuff
3. need to ask over 3 times for hot water on a new cup (because there was lipstick mark on the white porcelain cup)
4. food was slow and the taste was only so-so (stale cheese bowl)

My fiance & I swore that we will not come back ever again. Everytime we pass by the place when we are in Palo Alto, we always wonder why there are still patrons there. We were betting on how long this place will last...