Patrick D.
Yelp
Update: 8/4/19 - lark just gets better and better. Returned for dinner with family. Enjoyed the elote dish, along with the crispy skin salmon, tuna, and much more. Dinner was outstanding and really appreciate the local sourcing of ingredients. We sat in the window and it felt perfectly cosmopolitan. Pro tip- the cocktail menu is well thought out and expertly prepared. Easily as good as you'd find in madison or Chicago,
A favorite for sure.
Update: Mother's Day Brunch 2018
Perfect. Maple bourbon old fashioned was delicious. Our party had the Lark Burger,
Finally. Janesville gets a restaurant worth visiting again and again.
My parents live in Janesville and when we visit from Madison it is always a serious struggle to come up with satisfying local dining options. Not a fan of chains at all. Last night we tried a new(er) steak house on main st. Not particularly pleased. But I give them credit for trying downtown, even though the steakhouse served frozen vegetables in...August. In Wisconsin.
So while we were leaving we passed Lark. My wife googled it, read the magic words "seasonal menu" so we stopped with our kids at nearly 9pm.
We were greeted warmly. The space was nicely decorated, well laid out, with a bar to the right and a dining room toward the back. I particularly liked the wallpaper treatment and how the material on the banquets worked so well with the other design elements. It is simple, but elegant.
Our friendly server came by, and answered all of our questions. Even though we had already eaten dinnerC we ordered three small plates and two desserts.
The charcuterie/cheese board was good. It included Spanish chorizo, speck and prosciutto, along with some carr valley cheese, and pimento cheese. Again, it was good, but it was fantastic for Janesville!
Next up was the Hot Chicken. This came with 4 crispy fried chicken wings over thin corn cakes, a small amount of braised greens, and finished with micro greens and a hot and sweet sauce. I liked it despite the outside of the chicken being a bit overdone. It was more toward black than golden brown. But again, the quality of the ingredients were evident. And keep in mind...this is still a new restaurant and these minor things are expected.
Burrata salad is up next. It arrived nicely plated with fresh black cherry tomatoes, creamy burrata, some olive oil, balsamic, salt. What a far cry from the pink food service tomatoes we experienced down the street a little earlier at a different establishment. Love burrata with tomatoes (in season). It is like the essence of summer sitting on your plate. I don't think the burrata was made in house, but the quality was super high. Not everyone wants to, or has the labor, to make fresh cheese in house. And that's ok. But again...burrata. In Janesville. That's cause enough for celebration!
I ordered an aviation. This classic cocktail was as good as any I've had anywhere. This bar program seems to know what they are doing. And this is amazing for Janesville.
We shared the brûlée of cafe con leche, and the tres leche torte. Both excellent and well prepared.
In closing, I'd like to say that this restaurant is s very good thing for janesville. I hope it is just the thing to spur other ambitious and passionate locally owned restaurants to appear. Janesville has a downtown that has so much potential. I've always thought this since first seeing it 20 years ago. But it's up to folks to support it. I hope they do. We will be back.