Spring Garden (Waunakee)

In a word: A mixed bag.

The specs: #01065  
225 S. Century Ave., Waunakee 53597
Details at Yelp

Latest Spring Garden (Waunakee) news and reviews

JM ate the ravioli and a lemonade.
Nichole ate the monte cristo with a side of spaghetti and a cup of decaf.
The bill was $21, or $10ish/person, plus tip.
JM gave Spring Garden a C+; Nichole gave Spring Garden a B (see our grading rubric).

Spring Garden in Waunakee holds down one of the storefront in the Waunakee's downtown strip mall. This one felt right away like a classic family restaurant: giant booths, odd pairings, spaghetti with everything, tapioca pudding or carrot cake for dessert.  If that speaks to you, Spring Garden may be the spot to hit, as it is reasonably priced. If not, there's little to draw you in unless you are looking for standard fare in Waunakee.

Nichole got what should have been the best quinella ever: Monte Christo, Spaghetti, Carrot Cake, Decaf. Sadly, when dessert time arrived she found she did not want for anything and passed the carrot cake by, but man, how exciting to have carrot cake as a part of a meal's base price. Of what she had, the food was not so much good as nostalgic. The Monte Cristo hit all the right notes, the vegetable soup starter was traditional and the spaghetti... well, the spaghetti was not so great. But at these prices, who can complain?

Well, JM can. His ravioli were not much better than those he had in containers with a certain chef stamped on them (hint: rhymes with Roy Hardy).  The French Onion soup starter was actually pretty good, though very oniony. The lemonade was a little thin (not Spartan Bowl thin, but still not great.) His garlic bread was mostly just bread which was fine for dipping in the canned tomato sauce, but there was nothing that really moved him.

With a sprawling menu and heaping helping of old school family restaurant thrown in, there is probably something here that acts as soul food for Waunakee denizens.  Nichole enjoyed the ambience while JM shifted uncomfortably and heard the name of Waunakee sportsball archrival Lodi mentioned by not fewer than four patrons or staff.  This place might be as close to the capitol as you can get while not being in Madison at all.