The Continental Opens in Fitchburg
By MadisonDining.com on Mar 09, 2007 in New Restaurants
The Continental
2784 S. Fish Hatchery Rd.
Fitchburg, WI
608-661-4161
The Continental has opened in the building which formerly housed La Paella. This new restaurant is run by the same people who operate Cafe Continental in downtown Madison. We’ll be checking it out and we’ll let you know what we think. If you’ve tried it, let us know by either leaving a review here, or by adding a comment to this entry.
Been there, loved it. Will return. Excellant food, delicious desserts. Owner came out to our table and greeted us. Wonderful experience.
I went a few weeks ago and was quite dissappointed. The octupus was cold and extremely rubbery and my pasta was bland (though, the homemade noodles were good). The service was great and the ambiance was nice. Because I went when it first opened, I will try again in a few months hoping typical ”opening” errors have been fixed.
I’m not sure where these people have been, but the Continental we have our Corporate Events at EVERY month, treats us like Kings and Queens. The staff is always attentive, the food is superior, and the guests always have a fantastic time!
We took a chance and are VERY glad we did! We highly recommend it!
Well, when you have corporate events spending all that money, you’re more likely to get treated like a king or queen. So don’t boast here. Go there on your own and see the service!!!
I like the atomosphere of The Continental but was dissapointed in the food and service. Bad, bad, bad service. They don’t seem real concerned with keeping the customer happy. You may have a good thing going downtown but don’t bet the rent on your Fitchburg location!
Love the patio but hate the service. Nobody bothered to mention to us that it was happy hour (i overheard another server telling the table near by) beanwhile, I had left money on the bar to cover a glass of wine (at full price) but it was 1/2 price for happy hour. I mentioned to both the server (she said she would do something about it but never did) and AGAIN to the bartender Tom who stated, “you went to the patio before I could give you the bill” and when I mentioned that nobody told me about happy hour he said “well everyone that comes here during this time knows about happy hour”. Didn’t offer to make things right and I was so mad I didn’t ask for money back which I should have since he ended up w/ a seven dollar tip. To top it off, confusion amongst wait staff meant we waited for 15 minutes on patio before someone came to us and we got our second glass of wine AFTER our meal was already finished (it was ordered w/ food). Service mistakes happen, it’s how you address it that makes or breaks the deal. In this case, it wasn’t addressed at all.
I love the Continental. The food is wonderful and I like the laid back feel. I’ve returned again and again.
My husband and I enjoy going to ‘Cafe’ Continental’ downtown. Last year we decided to try the ‘Continental’ in Fitchburg. Unfortunately our first experience wasn’t positive. We did however give it another try last weekend and I have to say we were very impressed. As soon as we walked in we were warmly greeted and seated immediately. Our server was friendly and helpful and our wine and appetizers were brought out shortly after ordering. Our main meal was delicious and the portion sizes were very generous. And then there was dessert…….If you are looking for a great vibe (the atmosphere was relaxed but classy), great service, wonderful food, an excellent wine selection and delicious desserts, then this is your restaurant. Our server mentioned to us that the ‘Continental’ is under new management. We will definitely be going back.
I am sorry to hear that many of you had a bad experience there. I just ate there last night and Jim Schiavo greeted us right as we walked in. The service was excellent, even the bartender was a great help. When we were leaving Jim told us that they will soon have menu items available that were from Antonio’s. We also offered a suggestion of having the mushroom crepes as an appetizer and he told us whenever we want them to just let them know and we can have them with any meal. I can’t wait to go and try the items from Antonio’s. I never had a chance to eat there before they closed so I am looking forward to Grandma Schiavo’s recipes. We will definately be going back also.
I love The Continental in Fitchburg. My lady and I go in at least once on the weekends for drinks and dinner. The service is always prompt and friendly. Its nice to have a service staff that isn’t pushy or annoying. Amazing food, you can tell some thought goes into it and the specials are always a good choice!
Can’t wait for Valentine’s dinner!
Mayabe it took a while to organize, but my husband and I just ate there and found not one thing to complain about. The service was good the food great.
We received a gift certificate for our 50th wedding anniversary.
I don’t know what all of those before us complained about but we had a great experience, and we have eaten in restaurants all across the country and Europe so know a good meal when we get one
Great people. Great Atmosphere. GREAT FOOD. Recipe for success. Whenever I have people in town, I take them here, never disappointed.
Highly recommended!
June 20th, 2008:
It was my wife’s birthday so we took her and her parents and brother and sister in law out to eat here. The waitress did not tell us any specials and when our calamari came it was way over cooked so we had to send it back. After that we waited about 30 minutes for our entrees and never saw the waitress, so I went to ask the man at the front if we could get served and he said we would just have to wait. I told him m wife read on the internet that their service was not the best, and he told me I was not welcomed back. he told me to go eat on the internet and came unglued. I went back to the table and we finally got served after which we paid and tipped and were leaving.
On the way out the owner came over and said it was good to fire a customer once and ahwile and that he was firing me “Mr. Internet Man”. At that point he started to physically get us out of the restaurant and used a lot of swear words.
The net is that this is a terrible managed restaurant.
As the server of Jack’s table last night, I would like to clear the air of this situation. First of all, their table of 6 had reservations for 6 pm; however, they showed up 45 minutes late. (All while we held their table during the dinner rush). While it is true that their calamari was overcooked, our owner gladly replaced it with a fresh dish himself and made sure they were satisfied. During this time, i checked on their table twice, offering more water, drinks, etc, making sure their appetizers were fine. About 10 minutes after Jack approached our owner complaining that their food was taking too long, their tables orders came through (they had 2 separate steak orders, prepared medium and medium well). Take into consideration this was the dinner rush and we have a 80 + person patio filled, as well as 3 separate dining rooms.
As an apology, the owner offered an after dinner drink sambuca to the entire table, which they promptly refused. I brought them their check and cleared their table. On the check, the man had written “the service was terrific but i’m leaving 15% anyway.” As a person in the service industry, i depend on the kindness of others to pay my bills. Please don’t leave snide comments on a check. I apologize if you weren’t given the absolute perfect service, but i also had other tables and duties to juggle. As i recall, your bar drinks and water were always full and, while you were waiting for your meals, i tried to give you some space as i could tell it was a special occasion.
First of all our reservation was for 6:30 PM not 6 PM and the whole section of the restaurant we were in was empty. The second point is that I wrote the service was “terrible but I’m leaving a tip anyway” not the word “terrific”.
Our biggest mistake was going to this restaurant after reading all the poor reviews on their service and the unprofessionalism shown by the owner Jim. Since the majority of the letters on this site say the same thing I’m saying I don’t feel it is worth the debate. My only point would be if you want to have an enjoyable dinner out I would pick another restaurant to go to.
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went last night. wanted a Manhattan. asked what kind of bourbon they had. Jim Beam. That was it. OK. had an old fashioned instead (bad). Sat down for dinner looked at the wine and spirits list. Makers Mark, Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve were all listed (Southern Comfort was listed too; who the heck thinks that is bourbon?) My wife had a Ketel One Citroen cocktail and he ran out while making the cocktail; He just left the cocktail short and served it. Then he went downstairs and got another bottle. Next cocktail had a normal level. I was totally put off by the bar experience. Awesome food and service though. I’ll just cocktail at Liliana’s and then go over to the Continental after.
I’d never been to the Continental before, and was expecting to have a poor experience based on all of the comments here. They may be well-deserved, but in the interest of fairness, my happy hour experience was just fine. Not amazing, not life-changing, but fine and serviceable. I had a bruschetta-type appetizer, which was quite good, and my wine was very good. Service is definitely strange there- hard to put your finger on it, but there’s a noticeable vibe that’s slightly uncomfortable….
I’ll go back again, as it’s convenient to my office. Otherwise, eh.
Our experience at The Continental in Fitchburg, WI was horrendous!! It was the worst restaurant experience ever! We went to The Continental for my husband’s birthday dinner on a Saturday night. We arrived 20 minutes before our scheduled reservation and were seated right away. Only two small tables were occupied. Clearly, we did not need a reservation. The person who seated us turned out to also be our server. While cordial enough, he lacked confidence and seemed very uncertain of how to wait on tables. We ordered cocktails and then looked over the menu. Our server came back with cocktails; we ordered our entrées. Then we waited. And waited. Noticing that another table had received bread, we were wondering when we would get some. We didn’t see our server (or any other server) for some time. When we did, we had to flag him down to inquire. About 15 minutes later, he finally returned with our bread. The miniscule amount we received was eaten pretty quickly since we were still waiting for our food. We had to flag down our server again for more which we only got directly as our meals arrived, which was a full hour from the time we placed our order.
I ordered tenderloin medallions ($27) with the béarnaise sauce served with grilled asparagus and some sort of sweet potato item (not chips or mashed potatoes). My husband ordered the salmon ($23) which was to come with seasonal vegetables and sweet potato chips. He also ordered a side of grilled asparagus ($3).
The food arrived and we both just looked at our plates knowing that something was not correct but before we could say anything, our server was already gone. My entrée arrived with mashed potatoes (not the sweet potato item as indicated on the menu) and three pale, wilted spears of asparagus (not grilled as indicated on the menu). My husband’s entrée was piled high with sweet potato chips and also three pale, wilted spears of asparagus (not grilled as indicated on the menu; and where were the seasonal vegetables?). The “side” of asparagus that he ordered wasn’t immediately provided along with the gorgonzola butter he had requested. I sliced into one of my tenderloin medallions (which appeared to have a small dollop of béarnaise sauce lying underneath) only to find that even though it was seared on the outside, it was raw on the inside. Definitely not the medium I had asked for. And it was cold. I sampled the mashed potatoes (again, not what was indicated on the menu) and they were cold as well. The asparagus was also cold. And when I say “cold,” I really mean cold; it was not even remotely warm. I pushed my plate away and commented to my husband that I wasn’t going to eat this. His salmon was hot but his asparagus wasn’t and the sweet potato chips tasted like old oil. I rarely complain at a restaurant but after having waited so long for our food only to get a cold meal that was cooked completely wrong and not presented as it was on the menu, I had to speak up. Our server finally returned to the table and I told him very politely that this was not right and that I’d like to speak to the manager.
A gentleman appeared and asked what the problem was. I immediately apologized stating that I never do this but that this meal was unacceptable. I even gently touched his arm to enforce how badly I felt about complaining. I told him that my plated dinner was not what was described on the menu, my steak was rare when I asked for it to be medium and that everything was cold. Without much consideration on his part, he began to say what appeared to me to be a rehearsed statement. He apologized (insincerely, I felt) and said “I’ll take care of your dinners.” His choice of words here and the manner in which he phrased it implied “eat what’s in front of you and you won’t have to pay for it” to which I responded “but we have no desire to eat this.” His reply was “Perhaps you should find yourselves another restaurant and never come back.” Needless to say we were shocked! “And you’re the manager?” I said. He responded, “No, I’m the owner.” Unbelievable. In a futile attempt to relate to “the owner” that his approach to this situation was not the right way, my husband expressed how he had been in the restaurant business for over 13 years, four of which were in an Italian kitchen, and if there was ever customer dissatisfaction, the meal would be re-done on the house. The owner again responded that perhaps we should just leave and find another restaurant and never come back and to take our “professionalism” elsewhere. Even when I said to him “Do you know how many people I am going to tell?” his response was “I imagine several and you should feel free to do that.” He proceeded to insult and goad myself and my husband.
We got up to leave, aghast with “the owner’s” behavior. My husband and the owner were behind me as we were leaving the dining room and I heard muttering but frankly was so engrossed in my own thoughts over this incredibly insane situation that I didn’t pay attention to what was going on UNTIL I heard the owner call my husband a “tough guy.” Needless to say, a very loud verbal exchange ensued within the restaurant with the remaining table of patrons and staff turning to see what was going on. The owner continued to berate and insult us all the way to the door.
We absolutely cannot believe that an owner of a restaurant would behave like this and that in this economy one would respond in this manner when there are paying customers. We were more than polite and did not provoke him in any way. Having seen only two occupied tables in the entire restaurant on a Saturday night should have clued us in that this restaurant had troubles. The fact that he tried to provoke a fight is incredibly outrageous. This entire situation could have easily been rectified had the owner displayed any amount of integrity and civility; to acknowledge that his customers are his livelihood. It is clear to us that he has no desire to keep his restaurant going. Perhaps the hat should be hung.