Stam House

When I was a child, my parents used to take our family to the Stam House for fish fry. It's an interestingly modified old barn that has recently been updated and rebranded as a supper club. I had not been there in 25 years or so, and it was interesting to see the changes and similarities to my past memories. They have a nice bar with a good selection of beers and booze. I got a Fantasy Factory. 

We got an appetizer as they had Pierogies which are hard to find in restaurants. They were pretty decent, but not the best I have had. They gave us what looked like one roll that had been diced into 5 pieces. The bread tasted OK, but it was weird how small it was. The waiter, who was very energetic, offered to bring us more, but we let it go. There is no salad with the meal, and no one chose to get one this time. The meal came with a potato and vegetable, so we still got our starch and fiber. 

I got the 15 oz. Ribeye Medium rare for 43$, and it was cooked well. Pretty good piece of meat. It was flavorful and had just enough fat, but not too much. The quality was higher than Toby's, our Outback as you would expect for the higher cost. The meal came with a choice of Potato and veg, and I got Fingerling potatoes and sauteed broccoli. There was not much to them in terms of seasoning other than butter, but they were fine.

Overall this was a good place. The meat quality and prices were similar to Delaney's, so I am giving it the same grade of B-. I would go there again. 

Toby's

Toby's Supper club is a small little place north of McFarland. We went at 5:30 on a Wednesday so we could get in easily. We were wrong. It was packed. You get drinks at the bar and they take your order while you wait. Then when a table is ready they get you there with your food. Mayor Soglin was there, so we figured it must be good enough for us. We got Old Fashioneds as they had a very poor beer selection, and it was a super club after all.

When you get to the table you are greeted by an interesting group of foods. They have a relish tray, a tray of pickles, and assorted breads. The salad was ready to go for us when we got there (iceberg and some carrot strips). The highlight though was 5 well iced cinnamon rolls. They were room temp, but fresh and delicious,

I got the T-bone Medium rare and it was cooked correctly. It was however more bone than T. Not a lot of meat for a 16oz cut. It wasn't especially good meat either. The Hashbrowns were fine, but nothing spectacular. They were crispy on the outside but there wan't any difference between what they do and Dennys.

The bathroom was fascinating. They had a sink immediately as you walked in on the left. Further down were 2 urinals on the right. Past the sink was the toilet, but no stall. If you were sitting on the toilet you would be watching the asses of the guys pissing in the urinals. This lead to several quite interesting theoretical toilet scenario questions that I always love for dinner conversation.

I give this place a C+. Similar to Outback. It was inexpensive- 22$ with everything included except drinks. You get what you pay for. It was fine, but nothing special.

Flemings

Flemings is very nice. It is very expensive. You are getting an upscale steak experience there.

They serve fancy bread with spreadable cheeses, which is good. They are corporate so they don't have a ton of local beer choices, but they had plenty of beers in bottles. I had a Sierra Nevada but it cost 7.25$. The Steaks are all a la carte and I got the 12 oz Filet for 49$. There are no lower cost options, or volume options, The salad was very good but was an additional 12$, and I had part of a side that was green beans, onions and bacon for another 12$. It was also good.

The steak was well cooked and a great piece of meat. It was as good or better than the meat I got at Tornado, or Smokeys, or the Wonder bar. It was also very expensive. They gave us a bunch of sauces that were pretty plain. The meat stood on it's own though. The staff was very attentive. They were trained to be attentive to rich assholes, which is fine, but I felt a bit odd there. There was quite a bit of upselling, from wine to salads, to dessert,

The price of this place is high, and they deliver a level of service that is geared toward that clientele. At one point Dirk asked where the bathroom was and was walked to it. Why, because they are required to walk you to the bathroom. The product itself is very good. Meat, bread, salad, is all great, but this place still leaves something to be desired. All in all it was a positive experience, but there was just something off. I give it a C-.

Delaney's

I had not been to Delaney's in many years. My brother worked there in high school bussing tables and chopping onions for their famous onion strings, so we would go there as a family on occasion to support the local business that would employ him. It is about the same place as it has been for years on Madison's west side.
I had a decent vodka gimlet at the bar before dinner. They didn't have a ton of beers to choose from, but they had a couple decent beers. I got a Lake Louie APA with dinner. We had to get the famous onion strings as an appetizer which are good but filling. I saved some to mix with the steak and hash browns. Salad and sourdough bread also came with the meal and was pretty standard. I got the ribeye medium rare for 34$. It was well cooked, and served on a hot skillet with a big slab of butter.
We had a server in training, so we had lots of people checking in on us between him and his trainer. They were both nice. Delaney's is a pretty good value for the dollar like Outback. It was a bit more expensive than Outback, but we got better sides, salad, and the drinks options were better. I give it a B-.

Wonder Bar

Wonder Bar was a delightful little place. I used to frequent it when it was the Bar Next Door for drinks before it was converted into a steakhouse. The bar gave a generous pour on their drinks, and had several fun specialties. I had a vodka gimlet as is becoming my norm, and a Key Lime Pie Martini.
Dinner was the Tomahawk special for 45$. As you can see in the photo below the steak is aptly named. It came with salad (I got the baby spinach with hot bacon dressing, while others got the wedge), and side ( I went hashbrowns with cheese and onion). It was a well cooked medium rare. Dirk added on some scallops which I sampled and they were spectacular.
I was too full for dessert but Pat and Dirk got cheese cake and Creme Brulee respectively and I sampled both. The kitchen staff came out to talk with us and told us they like to put bacon on the creme broulee when they make it for themselves in the back. Dirk did not hesitate to request added bacon and it does indeed make everything better. Pat then asked to do the same with his cheesecake with similar results.
The staff was super nice and I thoroughly enjoyed the Wonder Bar. Pat agreed, while Dirk and Phil did not seem as impressed. It was not quite as good as the Tornado, but I think this place was a solid 2nd place in our Steak Club nights so far. Grade B+.

Steak Club so far

I will follow this up with posts about subsequent Steak Club events (hopefully while drunk), but for now this is a quick summary of our 4 nights so far.

1) Smokeys Club. This being my first Steak Club I had to order the biggest steak on the menu as is tradition. I was not disappointed with the T-Bone (20oz, $45). I got it medium and it was well cooked. Smokey's gives you no shortage of other stuff as I got soup, salad, a relish dish and I got fries instead of the hash browns. The hash browns are great, but I've had them before and wanted to try something else. I started the evening off with one of the many specialty martini's (I went with banana), before switching over to one of my favorite beers, locally made fantasy factory. Overall I think I like Smokeys a bit more than the rest of the group. I give it a solid B.

2) Tornado Steakhouse. After enjoying my T-bone so much at Smokey's I got another at Tornado (21oz, $39) . Plus I'm angling for a nickname like Costanza (hope I don't get stuck with Koko). Got it medium again and it was perfect. This was a great piece of meat. All the sides are a la carte here which is fine. The bill ended up being about the same as Smokey's after salad and sides were added. I went vodka gimlet here before switching it up to beer. I think this was the top Steak Club event so far, and I think others would agree. The quality of the meat was spectacular, which made this place the best. Grade A.

3) Outback. We went cheap and saved some dough on this one. You get what you pay for. They had no T-bone on the menu so I got a porterhouse (18oz, $24). The meat was pretty good, but the rest left something to be desired. They had only the corporate allowed beers, which meant they all sucked. I had one crappy beer then switched to their specialty margarita which was decent. The sides were pretty shitty but the price was right. If they had put this piece of meat with the sides and drinks at another place it would have been great. Grade C+.

4) Johny Delmonico's. Went back to upscale and was very disappointed, I went with the tenderloin (10oz, $41). Everything was a la carte again here. We got the calamari which was decent at best. and the garlic mashed potatoes were not significantly better than what I make at home from a bag of dehydrated mix. The specialty drinks were only so so, but they had a couple decent beers on tap. I ordered the tenderloin medium rare and it was borderline medium well. Grade D.

Summer time suggestions

We need to come to a consensus about our steak excursion this summer. Please post comments here and we will figure it out.