Nau-Ti-Gal – Celebrating 25 Years of Waterfront Dining
by Lisa Lathrop on 04/12/10 at 4:32 pm
As Featured in the May 2007 Issue of Madison Originals Magazine.
Take a 150-year-old building on the water, add a family with a long history in the restaurant business and you’ve got the recipe for success called Nau-Ti-Gal.
Nau-Ti-Gal is owned by the von Rutenberg family who had their restaurant beginnings at a small downtown Madison burger joint called the Nibble Nook. Bill and Betty von Rutenberg opened the Nibble Nook in 1961 and ran it for five years. They began building their restaurant empire when they bought the former Jack Burke’s Supper Club, now The Mariner’s Inn, in 1966.
In November, 1982, the von Rutenbergs bought Hanson’s Tavern to open what Betty named Nau-Ti-Gal. Robert, the youngest of the three von Rutenberg sons, told the story about how his mother named the restaurant to sound like “nautical” and used a mermaid as the logo. Calls started coming in from irate feminists who thought that the restaurant was a strip club because of its name. Betty usually was the per¬son to answer the calls and she set them straight that Nau-Ti-Gal is a restaurant and not a strip joint. Rob¬ert laughed that the caller would back down as no one argued with Betty.
The property is just down the road from the Mariner’s Inn along the Ya¬hara River. The location has had lives as a former stagecoach stop, a speakeasy, general store, gas station, engine repair shop, and a live bait shop. Now, it’s known for burgers, Sunday brunch, Friday fish fry, clam chowder, and cookie dough. Cookie dough? Those not familiar with Nau-Ti-Gal cookie dough, available at the Sunday Brunch, are missing out on a taste treat. Cookie dough became a menu standard because Betty would make two batches of cookie dough when she was baking. One batch was baked and the other batch was enjoyed raw by her sons, Bill, Jack, and Robert. Now, the cookie dough is produced without eggs or baking soda by Lane’s Bakery, which is owned by family members of Bill’s wife Debbie.
After Betty’s death and their father’s retirement to Florida, the sons now run von Rutenberg Ventures, the conglomerate that includes The Mariner’s Inn, Nau-Ti-Gal, Captain Bill’s, Betty Lou Cruises, and Westport Marine.
Robert was a latecomer to the family business as he spent time in Australia as an exchange student during high school, joined the Peace Corps for a stint in West Africa, and settled in New York. He was the vice president of a textile firm, but when his life partner died of leukemia in 1999, Robert decided that corporate life had lost its luster. He came back to Wisconsin with the intent of only staying three months. Seven years later, he’s still here. Robert is now the general manager of Nau-Ti-Gal and is in charge of menu development and the staffing which during the summer numbers over 200 and during the winter 35 employees.
“There are staff members who worked for Nau-Ti-Gal when it first opened that now have kids of their own working at the restaurants,” Robert shared. “Many kids work here their freshman year of college and come back each year to work for us,” he added.
Robert is in charge of the menu and explained that it changes seasonally, but that there are favorites that will always be offered such as Shark Bites, an appetizer of white Mako shark which is flown in fresh from Florida, hand cut, breaded, and prepared at the restaurant. For dinner, Robert said that the baby walleye is a customer favorite. The hand-breaded walleye has a taste similar to lake perch and Nau-Ti-Gal serves it hand-breaded and deep fried.
Three shrimp dinners are on the menu including Hot and Nau-Ti shrimp, a Cajun-prepared shrimp served with fresh Mediterranean salsa; coconut shrimp coated with Piña Colada batter and rolled in toasted coconut and served with honey mustard sauce; and stuffed shrimp with a sea¬food stuffing and hollandaise sauce. Clam chowder made fresh at the restaurant is also a crowd pleaser. The Balsamic Burger, a Black Angus burger coated in a balsamic sauce then topped with fresh mozzarella and roma tomatoes, is a popular burger choice according to Robert. Head chef Garrett Westbury is in charge of the kitchen, but Robert does step into the kitchen to check on food-prep.
“Our Sunday brunch has been voted Madison’s number one brunch by readers of Madison Magazine,” said Robert. While many restaurants are going away from serving a brunch buffet, Nau-Ti-Gal offers a buffet to rival others. All-you-can-eat prime rib, ham, turkey, shrimp, smoked salmon, eggs Benedict, Belgian waffles, fresh fruit, cold salads, pastries, and desserts are offered from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Sundays.
For dessert, a piece of Key Lime pie made with Aunt Nellie’s real Key West lime juice or another of the desserts made in-house is a must. Nau-Ti-Gal has partnered with Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream for Vanilla Bean ice cream made specifically for the restaurant. Made with extra Tahitian vanilla bean, it’s a cool treat on a hot summer day.
Nau-Ti-Gal was the first restaurant in the Madison area to offer outdoor seating, which started when the restaurant opened in 1982. Today there is an outdoor bar, a covered deck that seats 100, and space for outdoor functions to accommodate groups from 20 to 500 people. Robert said that rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions, company picnics, and class reunions are popular events held outdoors at Nau-Ti-Gal. Parties with Caribbean or Survivor themes, and BBQs, fish boils, and pig roasts have been held. Robert said that his staff works with customers to ensure that every detail is taken care of. The staff normally wears casual clothing, but does dress up in formal attire for formal parties and weddings.
During the summer, volleyball leagues play three nights a week, and there is live music on Thursdays. Karaoke is in the main dining room on Friday nights after the fish fry crowd leaves, beginning at 9:00 p.m. Jack said, “People are comfortable coming to Nau-Ti-Gal; it was designed for all ages to feel welcome.”
People from their early 20s into their 80s will enjoy the dining and activities available. The emphasis is on fun at Nau-Ti-Gal, and as Betty so aptly said, “Having a restaurant is like having a cocktail party every night without waking up with a hangover.”
