Madison’s Restaurant

Happened to be in Highlands for the day and I have to say, my wife and I were shocked at how good this place was. The décor is absolutely stunning. This restaurant is first class and I am itching to return for dinner. The staff was fantastic and paid a great deal of attention to the patrons. We ordered the trout app and it was really good. I wasn’t too big of a fan of the bread that it came with but either way, it was fantastic. They also bring out some bread in the beginning that is amazing. My wife ordered the chicken salad and said it was the best chicken salad that she’s ever tasted. I had the pork sandwich with some cole slaw and both were amazing. Pork was cooked perfectly and the cole slaw was fantastic. I didn’t even need BBQ sauce for the pork sandwich, it was that good. If you’re ever in Highlands, NC… this place is a must!

Top notch food, service and ambiance. Perhaps the best food I have ever had. Pricey, but 100% worth every penny.
I am still salivating over the heirloom tomato and jalapeño soup. It was so delicious we considered getting another serving for dessert, but the sweet tooth won out and was also not disappointing.
Will go home and try to replicate the soup.

Attention to detail is what separates great restaurants from the rest of the pack. I noticed at lunch today at Madison’s that the cloth napkins were made in Italy. That about sums up the dining experience at this, Highlands’ nicest restaurant.
They have a great promotion going on January through March — locals get 20% off their bill except for drinks by showing a Macon, Jackson or Rabun County driver’s license. We took advantage of this discount today and had a very enjoyable lunch.
To get things started, the server comes to your table with a basket of three different kinds of fresh hot bread and rolls to choose from with homemade butter. Heaven!
I chose the vegetarian burger that comes on a whole wheat bun. It also comes with either salt and pepper chips or a cup of soup. I had the soup, which was a purée of bacon, potato and asparagus. It was fabulous.
Sophia had the chicken salad salad served on a bed of arugula. It wasn’t too mayonnaisey, so she really liked it.
The iced tea at Madison’s, as expected, is first class. Service was attentive and personable. It is such a beautiful dining room — the low ceiling surprisingly creates an intimate environment.
Madison’s is open every day of the year, a real plus since many of the fine dining restaurants in Highlands are closed for part of the winter months. Overall, it’s hard not to give this restaurant five stars. The food, the setting, the service are all top notch. Thank you, Old Edwards Inn, for setting the bar high for other restaurants here.

I was in Highlands on business and it was early so I had a few minutes to grab a bite to eat for breakfast. Upon my arrival in this town Madison’s popped up on my Unilocal app. This location is inside a hotel which is upscale or appears to be. The wait staff were extremely professional and courteous. They were dressed to impress! This is the type of place where they will place the cloth in your lap sort of place so please note that.
I was promptly seated and received a menu and water within a couple of minutes. The waitress was very kind and asked if I had any questions regarding the menu when I was ready to order. I went with the biscuits in gravy since I was in a rush to eat and get out the door so I could work. Upon the arrival of the food I was a little taken back that she had to have a cloth to sit my plate down because it was HOT. That is a first. I then realized that most likely the biscuits were heated up as they didn’t taste fresh and they had too much butter on the top which… possibly frozen biscuits? The gravy had to much of a sweet or sage taste for me. You would think for $ 8+ dollars for biscuits in gravy they would have been freshly made from SCRATCH.
I would look for another place to eat for breakfast if I was in the area again.

I can’t say enough about Madison’s.
The location really is stunning, the interior is beautiful, the staff is perfectly attentive, the prices are reasonable and the food was GREAT.
My boyfriend and I went for brunch — I had the poached egg and pork belly and he ate the trout and caper omelette.
Both were delicious.
When my meal came out, I was afraid that the portion was a bit small for my appetite but it ended up being just right. I don’t know what they put in their grits, but I’d sell a relative for their recipe.
Definitely not a place to be missed if you visit the highlands!

We were staying at OEI, on our honeymoon and called to ask when last seating was (9pm). We arrived at 9:05.
They refused to seat or feed us. Very disappointing.
Would like to go back, as I’ve heard it’s good. But may not go after that crappy experience.

Great place to stop for lunch and an afternoon glass of wine next to the waterfall when in Highlands. Wine garden attached to the fabulous Old Edwards Inn and the quality and service is on par.

Amazing breakfast and service. Had the Poached Egg with Pork Belly and Cheese Grits. Phenomenal. Power Boost juice was nice also. Great Job Madison’s.

We’ve been coming to Highlands for years and bought a house there two years ago. Somehow only visited Madison’s for dinner for the first time this past Friday. What a lovely meal! Delicious pimento cheese to start your mouth watering as you peruse the menu. We had the wonderful charcuterie plate and a Caesar salad as apps. Moved on to the melt in your mouth ribeye and the halibut special. Our kids had items on the children’s menu, but I think they’ll beg to split a steak next time with a side of the amazing fries. Soufflé for dessert was good, but the sticky toffy pudding was one of the best I’ve had.
Madison’s has a lovely atmosphere– would be nice for a special occasion. The service is also the best I’ve experienced in Highlands.

Breakfast was ok, service was slow but friendly, toast was cold but cheese grits, bacon and pancakes were good

I stayed at the Old Edwards Inn from 10÷31−11÷2 and had the happy experience of dining at Madison’s for breakfast on Saturday morning. I will say service is a little slower, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
We had a light dusting of snow the morning of 11/​1, and that coupled with the traditional décor made Madison’s a perfect choice for breakfast. We were seated by a window (best seat in the house!) and we ordered the trout and bagel (my friend’s) and the plain waffle (mine). I also had a latte and was happy to discover they had sugar cubes, which is something I rarely see! The whole atmosphere on a snowy morning is just perfect for a cozy, lazy breakfast in an adorable setting. I’m sure the place gets really nice for dinner, but for breakfast it was a wonderful and relaxed experience. Next time I’m in Highlands, I’ll probably be coming here every morning for breakfast!

I read all the positive reviews before and based on the menu online, we were pretty excited.
The food was good but not great. My wife had ribeye and I had this October Festival special (more on that later). Only about 30% of the ribeye was edible with so much fat and gristle. But she said the edible portion was pretty good. But $ 33 dish? Didn’t look like it. What I had was also pretty good but not a $ 30 special of the month good. I definitely don’t think they can maintain this «high end dining image» in larger cities like Atlanta. They are definitely overpriced. I guess that’s understandable given the location, etc. But still…
The service wasn’t the best, either. Our waiter wasn’t very attentive and he disappeared completely toward the end so we had to ask another waiter for our check. We didn’t like that. Another major disappointment was the menu posted on their website. It did not reflect what they were serving at the time. I was looking forward to the pheasant dish on the posted menu and it was one of the deciding factors of us coming here. Well, I was told that they don’t serve this until November. Maybe the hunting season hasn’t started. who knows? If that’s the case, then don’t post it on your website. They had a couple other dishes missing from their real life menu as well. This place seems like a premier upscale restaurant in Highlands (at least they want to make it appear to be) but they need to do a better job paying attention to little details. We were disappointed because the Inn itself was so fantastic.
Also, please make up your mind about your dress code. It should be either dressy or not. Shouldn’t have both. There were people in jeans eating. My issue isn’t that there were people who dressed in jeans… my issue is with the restaurant’s stance on their own rule. You either stick with what’s advertised or don’t. They need someone to come in and tighten up this place.

Just delightful. Secure reservations at least a month in advance if trying to get in during a weekend. Though it might seem like a hassle, Madison’s is well worth it.
The average age of our group was about 30 years younger than the age of the average patron here, but the food is not old fashioned at all. All the ingredients are as fresh as can be, and they are prepared in such a way as to maximize and heighten the natural, in-​season flavor without overpowering. I knew we were in for a treat when complimentary plates of homemade pimento cheese and pastry-​like crackers were brought to the table. We perused the impressive and extensive wine list and settled on some mid-​priced reds –that were scrumptious– and placed our appetizer order. The scallop starter was breathtaking — perfectly buttery scallops seared to a crisp on the outside and just barely cooked through on the inside. The quail starter was okay, but the fresh peaches and blue veined cheeses that were plated with it amped it up a bit, and we had great fun puncturing the poached quail eggs that came on top of each fried quail breast. The soup special was a cauliflower squash purée with a mini venison pie and roasted pickled garlic purée. I mean, the soup had a MINI PIE in it, how could it not be amazing?
Our server was fantastic at perfectly pacing our meal. We were there to celebrate, and wanted to linger over each course, and she respected that cadence while at the same time ensuring we never had to wait too long before another beautiful dish appeared. The bread basket here was a winner as filled with warm herb rolls, bacon cheddar cornbread, and black pepper biscuits. Even the butter was beautifully garnished with stripes of black sea salt sprinkled on top. These little details, like the salted butter and the edible flowers really helped put this meal over the top.
For entrees, four of the six members of our party went with the hanger steak, and the bite I stole and accompanying purple carrot was delicious, but I think I won the entrée roulette with my duck breast, served with fava beans and turnip purée. I love duck, and this was honestly the best I’ve ever had. Like everything we ordered, it was also beautifully plated, which added to the gustatory delight I experienced with every bite. While the prices here fit the five star taste and ambiance, the portions are significantly larger than your typical fine dining experience, challenging the stomach capacity of even the hungriest members of our party.
Of course, even with the larger than expected entrees, we managed to find some room for dessert. The table shared two vanilla souffles accompanied by little pitchers of warm strawberry compote (one soufflé adorned with a «happy birthday» message in chocolate piped across the plate for the birthday girl), and one giant slice of a decadent chocolate and raspberry cake and some espresso to complete our meal.
The ambiance is formal, so dress to impress, and be prepared to be impressed by this little gem in the mountains.

Very formal atmosphere. Excellent service. Charles could not have been a more attentive and informative waiter.
The pear salad was wonderful and the chicken pot pie was very good. The mac n cheese was very unusual: truffle oil and rich. My daughters burger was excellent. Great place to celebrate a special occasion.

For sure the best spot to grab dinner in Highlands. We really enjoyed our meal, however some of the dishes got a little too busy and missed the mark, but not by much. I loved the service and the kitchen was quick. We had a chance to each much from the Old Edwards Inn establishment. We attended a wedding rehearsal dinner the next night and everything was spot on. The night following that, we had dinner at the wedding. That’s where some kinks came through (super dry halibut), but all in all delicious and the service was some of the best in any town I’ve been to. I wish you would export your service ethic to my town.

Excellent service and attention to detail. The vanilla pear salad was wonderful with. Many flavor that blended nicely with kale, pear, goat cheese fritters and a butter nut squash jellae. My wife enjoyed the duck and I loved the barrel fish. The vegetables were superbly prepared and crisp. The Caramelized carrots were like candy.
The sweet potato soufflé was not what we expected. The top was a delicious, mildly sweet potato cream with the bottom made up of bacon. The bacon detracted from the flavor and would best be left out.
Overall, Madisons was excellent. We highly recommend it.

This is a go to date spot for the wifey and I. Always first class service + great food experience, etc. They set the standard (along with the Inn) on how to treat their guests.
Meals seem to take 90min + here… which is a great thing. Multiple courses accompanied with cheese/​crackers + chocolates with your check… don’t rush!
The only knock is that you feel somewhat ‘looked down upon’ if you are not buying a bottle of wine or even care to look at the wine menu. They need to ease off here.

This was the best meal we have had out in a long time and service was beyond words!
Best Xmas Eve meal out ever!

Excellent restaurant and incredible wine list. My wife took me there to celebrate my birthday with great friends, Our evening started Mary our server – she was great in every aspect of service, next we were greeted by our wine navigator, he was spot on when we challenged him with three different wine preferences rolled into one bottle… actually it took two to get us through dinner! The a la carte menu is similar to most fine dining establishments, the wine was reasonably priced the chocolate soufflé capped off a great evening.
We will be back!

My husband surprised me with a birthday getaway to Old Edwards Inn & part of the package he got included a 3 course dinner at Madison’s. This place. Wow. What an experience!
First, let me say, you should really go here if you’re celebrating a special occasion. From rose petals sprinkled on the table… to complimentary surprises from the kitchen… to our dessert with «Happy Birthday» written in chocolate — they really roll out the red carpet for you!
We started with salads — one garden drenched in homemade blue cheese, one with pear and fried goat cheese (both decorated with edible flowers!). We also tried their scallop appetizer — large scallops so fresh and delicious. For our mains, I had the beef tenderloin and my husband had the venison. They were both out of this world! I think I was in a food coma by this point, but I do remember my tenderloin was served perfectly medium rare with purple carrots and a variety of other fresh root veggies (think different types of beets).
The service was also outstanding… the food was all perfectly timed and our waiter checked on us just enough. He advised us on the very important decision on dessert… apparently every day they have a special soufflé and he said that was the way to go (but you need to plan for it since it takes 20 minutes to prepare).
That night it was an apple cinnamon soufflé. By now my food coma was a permanent condition. Wow… so good… drool. Definitely try the soufflé, hot out of the oven goodness!
I loved Madison’s and hope to try it again some day if I’m back in Highlands!