Best Romantic Restaurants in Madison

Always love the food and service. On the special event evenings such as Valentine’s Day we would love to see a little more variety in the desserts. Two of the three were the same as last year. With such great chefs let them loose for dessert. Also, went to the upstairs bar after dinner and the bartender was excellent. He could have use a 2nd person so we did not have to want so long to pay our bill or get a 2nd drink.

Four of us attended Geist on Valentine’s Day for dinner. We were seated in the outside area which has a beautiful ambience but the evening was quite cold so we wore our winter coats throughout the dinner. The outside area has two fireplaces and one standup propane heater but it was still cold. Perhaps they could procure one or two more heaters? The service was fantastic and the fixed menu excellent. Three of us ordered the scallops starter and the filet mignon main. Excellent! One of us ordered the salmon which he said was very good. The dessert menu was limited to two items which were good. Maybe next year they could add a chocolate dessert option? Geist is excellent and we would definitely go back. Considering how very busy the restaurant was, the service and kitchen staff delivered! Great job!

We enjoyed Pelato. We took out 10-year-old so it was great being able to order tapa sized portions so we could all try lots of different things.

Our server, (forgot his name, but a tall and polite gentleman), took great care of us and brought us a free dessert and savory dish, as we were celebrating my girlfriend’s birthday and our five year anniversary. Something I enjoyed about him too, is he was informative, guided us through how the menu works, but was not overbearing in his delivery or presence at the table. I’ve been to so many places where you can tell the server is being a bit performative and will drown you in details instead of reading the room and giving people time to process lol. What really stood out as well, was the fact that every staff member we interacted with, (the host, server, and THREE other employees on the floor), all knew we were celebrating and made a point to congratulate us. You could tell they pay attention to special details here. My partner and I are both in the service industry (fine dining), so we notice the small stuff and had no complaints! Even our water glasses never dropped below 3/4ths full. Also worth noting — the value you get for the delicious food, great ambience, and service is WELL worth the price. A wonderful dining experience without breaking the bank. Would highly recommend this place 👍🏻

This is a great place for families and those with young children. They have a better kids menu than most and have plenty of (paid for) fun add ons that delight a pre-schooler. The adults had fried gator as an appetizer, fish and chips, and blacked fish tacos. All were good and what we expected quality-wise. It wasn’t nearly as loud as we expected and the Dover and mermaid were extra fun in the aquarium. Our service was great from beginning to end and the staff seemed to be in good spirits. We will be adding this to our family special event rotation.