Halverson's

In a word:  Average supper club.

The specs: #0229
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, Madison Fish Fry, collected at del.icio.us; official web site;

JM ate the chicken sandwich.
Nichole ate the Halverson's chicken.
The bill was $28, or $14/person, plus tip.
JM gave Halverson's a B; Nichole gave Halverson's a B+ (see our grading rubric).

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Halverson's has been around for a long time. The restaurant has roots in Lake Kegonsa's camp club history and the log cabin appearance of the place attests to pride in that heritage. The dining room is decorated with skis, logging tools, and a bit of rosemaling here and there.

The hostess seated us quickly in a cozy corner booth. Our server came by soon thereafter with a warm loaf of soft wheat bread which we had no trouble dispatching completely. The menu was your typical supper club repertoire - lots of meat and gravy dishes.

Nichole's dinner included a trip to the salad bar. It was short, as supper club salad bars are wont to be. It offered the requisite carrot shreds, beets, and other assorted chopped veg to go on top of your iceberg mix or spinach. The standout, however, was the hot bacon dressing designed to complement the spinach. Gloppy and sweet, it probably cancelled out the nutritional virtues of the spinach.

Halverson's chicken breast, rolled in bacon, sliced and laid atop a pool of cream-of-mushroom, was classic Better Homes fancy. The vegetables, however, were very fresh and good. How often do you get a choice of sweet potato?

JM's chicken sandwich was dry but filling. The BBQ sauce was a nice touch but went better with the fries than the chicken.  The bun was large and filling and anchored the condiments well.  He found his sandwich good and hearty, but not worth it as a destination.

Halverson's offers a wide range of desserts, but again we were too stuffed.

All the parts of our meal didn't quite add up to an awesome whole. But Halverson's certainly scratches the supper club itch, especially for Stoughtonians.

Comments

[Crystal]

I sometimes drive past that place, and I always wonder if it's any good. Thanks for the great review!

[Charley]

If I had to choose one word for Halvorson's, It would be "inconsistant". I grew up in McFarland and I've lived in Stoughton for 4 years now and I really want to like Halvorson's, but I'm so often disappointed in my meals there. We stop in about twice a year just to see if they've improved. One time everything will be quite good and the next it's so bad we vow never to return. But eventually we try them again because we'd really like to have a nice supper club in our neighborhood to go to.

[sally o']

Does Halversons have a Thanksgiving buffet menu? Please send! Thanks!

[Nichole]

I don't know about Halverson's, but Madison on the Cheap puts together a list of Madison-area restaurants serving Thanksgiving dinner.