L'Etoile Restaurant

Pretty rough visit for what we had expected to be close to Michelin Star quality. The good: staff was pleasant and kind, the food was consistent and they met our celiacs allergy really well. We both did the 175$ tasting menu and they had no issues swapping a new menu for my partner. I got the old fashioned and enjoyed it. We originally had a reservation time for 5 but a conflict arose on our end and luckily they where able to change it to 7:00 without any issue. The bad: the staff was not the most well trained for the quality of restraunt as advertised. Comparing to other fine dining locations I feel the higher the price tag, you stop getting better food and should start receiving better service. Only one chair was pulled out and it wasn't for my accompanied guest. My partner got a drink and found she was allergic to one of the ingredients, we put the drink on the corner of the table expecting them to ask about it but instead of asking if we had an issue or liked the drink the staff just ignored it for the most part or asked me if I wanted more to drink. Not the restaurant's fault on this one, but another guest directly next to our table seemed to have been recovering from a sickness and was consistently coughing. At a minimum I had expected to be moved tables as our table and the one across from us made knowing looks after every cough. The worst part was during the second course of the meal we found a flying ant in our salad. I enjoy farm fresh food but I also am paying for the bugs to be removed prior to being served it. We let the staff know and they quickly took it back and got us a replacement dish. We assumed we would be comped for the dish/portion of the meal. However, we where given a digestive whiskey at the end of the meal and was told it was a special thanks, though we noticed a couple other tables also had received this so felt this was just the standard and nothing special. Additionally we where never asked if either of us could drink the digestive before being given it. My partner does not like whiskey at all and was unable to partake. I had decided to try to reach out the next day as I didn't want to make a scene as the dinner and the night was to celebrate a special occasion with my partner. I have looked through both the website and the tock reservation site and found no email or contact for customer service. They did have a phone number posted but after calling it was just for the front door desk. I had hoped for a better experience but either a off night, New staff, or just a difference in fine dining expectations we did not have an experience I will ever talk highly of. I hope the staff will reach out to make amends. Overall we paid roughly 450$ to be given a bug, kind but poor service, and ultimately, felt like the experience was not personal.

We had an absolutely breathtaking experience dining last night at L’Étoile. Soft jazz in the background just light enough to hear, incredibly sweet and knowledgeable staff, perfect pacing of the courses, delicious and fresh ingredients, an aesthetically gorgeous yet also very filling tasting menu… nothing was left unaccounted for! Everyone’s favorite ended up being the seared Hokkaido scallops. I didn’t know scallops could taste like that… just wow! Even the palate cleansers were stars in and of themselves, as were the post-dessert traditional French sweets. Our sincerest thank-you to everyone here for such a special and memorable night.

Exceptional service and great food and drinks.

Amazing cuisine and incredible staff. But, you definitely pay for it. As long as you're prepared to spend several hundred dollars for a meal for two people, I'd recommend this lovely restaurant.

We had another wonderful evening at LeToile, the #1 restaurant in Madison. The food was inventive, the service excellent and the Capitol views amazing. I have been going to LeToile for 50 years.