The East Side Club Reviews

Daughter's wedding held here, General Manager Jen was delightful to work with, as was her assistant Bethany. Bartenders were great, lake view was awesome. we had the Lakeview Room, so we were able to have the lawn and Tiki Bar available. Used Upstairs Downstairs Catering and they rocked it as well.

If you want a fun, relaxed wedding, go to the East Side Club!

I have had nothing but great things from The East Side Club. It's the best deal I was able to find to stay within my budget, it's right on Lake Monona, and they are willing to accommodate with anything I need. Jill has answered all of my many, many questions and always is willing to help and try and keep any extras that I want within my budget! Love them!

The East Side Club in Madison is rather old school of a space, having been constructed in the 50's, however the views of Lake Monona can't be beat! It also has plenty of easy access parking. Kris, the general manager who took over about 6 weeks before our wedding, did an unbelievable job picking up all the bits and pieces that the previous, unresponsive, event co ordinator left laying around, and she helped us get an amazing, two day event completed without a hitch! As an overall space, our price was slightly on the upper end of average for what was overall available, however in the end we did have a wonderful day, a solid space and again, Kris was invaluable.

My husband and I wanted to find a reception venue with some character, one that would showcase the beautiful views of downtown Madison. We found great value and service with The East Side Club.
Bonus**By renting the downstairs, Lake View Room, we were able to enjoy the lawn area where our guests played horseshoes, bags or just sat watching the sunset over the downtown skyline.
The staff was courteous, professional and timely in their response throughout the planning process and on the day of the event.
Our guests also raved about the venue and the casual feel that went well with the overall theme of our wedding.
The East Side Club uses two approved catering vendors currently Gaylord Catering and Blue Plate and while I would have preferred initially to have my choice of caterer, Gaylord did a knock-out job.
My two suggestions for improvement would be to upgrade some of the decor, such as the mirrors in the Lake View Room, but these were easily covered with a little DIY creativity. And also to make the downstairs room more accessible for either disabled or elderly guests who have trouble with stairs.
All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better place to hold our reception.

Beautiful scenery! Some lack of communication between bartenders and general manager (needed to explain what was in the contract to bartenders), and throughout the last month had three different general managers of the establishment which made it a little hard, but overall everything worked out really well!

The location offers a great view, especially for the ceremony, but make sure you check in frequently, especially when it gets close to the date of your event. Be very specific about your needs and expectations and make sure you go there and verify.

The venue was beautiful, unfortunately my positive feedback ends there. The staff who we worked with were at times rude and took a very long time to respond to questions and concerns. When they would respond it was often to only some of our questions. If your wedding reception deviates from what they are expecting they are not flexible and are difficult to work with.

We had a non-alcoholic wedding, and the East Side Club was very difficult to work with about this. We had to purchase the specialty drink bases for our non-alcoholic cocktails. They did not talk to their supplier in enough time to be able to obtain our first choices for sparkling juices. Even though we talked with them extensively about our drink menu and that this was a non-alcoholic wedding some guests were served alcoholic beverages at the beginning of the reception. We were hosting all drinks, however they charged some guests for their drinks.