Plenty of times this past spring and summer, I played golf at Madison Country Club and looked with curiosity on the clubhouse. I’d heard rumors about restaurateur Nicholas Kustala, owner of the Vault Steakhouse, also in Madison, being involved in a new restaurant there.

As it turns out, the property was purchased out of receivership in August, and Kustala’s group is no longer involved in the eatery there, which used to be called Allure. Now it’s just Madison Country Club, and I finally scratched the itch of my curiosity on a recent Saturday evening.

Walking through the lobby to the restaurant, you’re reminded right away that the building used to be a true country club, though now both the course and restaurant are now open to the public. The entrance way can be described as grand, and the restaurant itself — while updated with a more contemporary vibe — still has the dark hardwood, white tablecloths and ornate chandeliers you might expect in such a space.

The menu, however, isn’t exactly what you might expect.

Read more of Correspondent Mark Koestner's review "Dining Out: Madison Country Club adds surprisingly modern flair to food."

For as long as I can remember, there has been a Cebars Euclid Tavern on East 185th Street. I’ve been there countless times, and it’s a place with which I’m very familiar.

Which is why it’s kind of surprising that there’s been a Cebars in Lake County for almost a decade now, and yet until recently it was unfamiliar to me. My wife — also no stranger to the original — and I decided to become familiar on a recent Wednesday evening.

Owned by the same Cvelbar family that has long operated the original Cebars, the version on North Ridge Road in Madison is quite different. For one, it has an area that’s a devoted dining room, more restaurant than bar. It also has a separate, large space with pool tables and a stage for the live entertainment that’s always been a Cebars staple. And, unlike on 185th, all the restrooms are on the first floor.

Read more in correspondent Mark Koestner's review: Dining Out: Cebars Madison brings familiar touches to Lake County

The Cleveland-area restaurant scene has no shortage of quality steak houses. For those of us in Lake County, however, the true steak house experience has meant driving west.

But Cuyahoga County no longer holds exclusivity on at least one part of the top steak house formula. Vault Steak House and Wine Room, on the square in Madison, has brought high-end steaks to Lake County.

Read more in correspondent Mark Koestner's review Dining Out: Madison's Vault Steak House dry-ages, cooks steaks to perfection.