This is a small-town effort to bring big-town dining to a local clientele that doesn't quite know how to deal with it.<br /> <br /> You gotta like the effort. And their effort is pretty damned good. <br /> <br /> People who'd drive a hundred miles to Kansas City and pay a hundred dollars more for the same dining experience are reticent about "The Madison House."<br /> <br /> The main dining room is situated in what used to be a factory floor. It's a bit of a stretch to criticize a restaurant for acoustics, but it’s a louder place that it should be.<br /> <br /> The servers seem to be very young – high school age, mostly – but they seem to get it. It must be one of the plum part-time jobs in this little town; they work their butts off to do the best they can. And sometimes their best is… well, best. <br /> <br /> It’s not quite a “destination” place, but if you find yourself in southeast Kansas and want a good steak, it delivers in a lot of ways. <br /> <br /> Sundays they do a Family Style fried chicken dinner. I’m a fried chicken snob and wasn’t all impressed with the fare, but the kids serving it made it a good visit.<br /> <br /> In a small out-of-the-way town in Kansas where “fine dining” used to be the Sonic Drive-In and Taco Bell, this is an oasis for people who go out to eat to enjoy the experience. <br /> <br /> Whoever cooks the steaks knows what s/he’s doing. <br /> <br /> I order “not quite Medium but a little more than Medium-Rare” and that’s how they’ve always come out of the kitchen. <br /> <br /> I’m not that reliable when I cook steaks for myself.<br /> <br />