What is your favorite restaurant to eat at in Madison? (Oregon: high school, shop)

[BadgerGrl]

Does Monona count? I vote for Fat Jacks. The best smoked barbecue you'll ever have. Try the back ribs, they are always so tender and have a great sauce. Plus they are on special on Saturday nights, $16.95 for a full rack with sides.

[jlawrence01]

Husnu's
547 State St
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 256-0900 www.husnus.com (http://www.yelp.com/biz_redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.husnus.com&src_bizi d=Trs4cEYdP6AX_KihTk9kWQ&cachebuster=1283226152 - broken link)


A great Turkish restaurant on the pedestrian mezzanine.

[Harpoon]

I wanted to revive this thread as I know other people may have some additional great locations to share with the rest of us. After living in Madison for a while I have found a few great spots that have not been mentioned. The Shish Cafe on University is my favorite restaurant in the City, Sunrise Cafe on State Street has some decent breakfast food, and arguably the best pizza in town can be found at the Glass Nickel.

[Milwaukee City]

I always enjoy eating at City Wok, their City Beef and their city pork is great.

[spectator80]

'glass nickel' pizza is good, but not the best imo. i like 'roman candle' better. there's one on willy st., one in downtown middleton, and i think they opened one somewhere in fitchburg too. another amazing pizza i just recently tried in madison is 'pizza brutta' on monroe st. they make classic neapolitan pies with all fresh ingredients (including fresh-made mozzarella) and use woodfire and stone ovens. i'm hungry just thinking about it. can't wait to go back!

[7G9C4J2]

Good idea to revive this one - the restaurant scene changes often in Madison, as in most places, and there are some newcomers that deserve a mention, as well as departures to note.

Three of the places I commented on in my original post are no longer around. El Pescador on East Washington closed last year, as did Restaurant Magnus (and before that, Magnus had changed from Argentinian to Norwegian cuisine), and LuLu's is a casualty of the huge tear-down/rebuilding project currently under way on Old University. I've heard that the owners of LuLu's have opened a new place out farther on the west side, I think on Odana Road, but I haven't gotten out to try it yet.

One relatively recent addition to the east-side restaurant scene is the Daisy Cafe and Cupcakery. We're not big sweet-eaters, so we rarely indulge in the cupcakes, but their breakfasts are absolutely to die for. We eat there every Saturday morning, in fact, and I highly recommend their egg sandwich, their huevos rancheros and their pancakes. They serve lunch and dinner as well, both of which are excellent (try the edamame slaw sometime) though we don't tend to go out for supper as often. We've never, ever been disappointed there.

There's also a relatively new sushi place on the east side that we've been to and liked quite a bit. Takumi is in the shopping center off East Wash where Half Price Books is located. Very good sushi, and very attentive and friendly waitstaff; we'll be back there regularly.

I realized that the last time I posted here, I neglected to mention Wong's Garden on Atwood Avenue. Wong's is a small, family-run Chinese restaurant that has been there for probably a couple of decades, and I honestly have to say that I think the food there is better than any Chinese restaurant in town. It's not pretentious, and there are only probably 15 or so tables in the place, but that's always where we go when we're hungry for top-notch Chinese food. Incredibly friendly people there, too; they have caller ID on their phone, like most places do, and when I call from my office to put in a carryout order to pick up on my way home from work, the owner's wife greets me by name when she picks up the phone.

I second the recommendation for Roman Candle Pizza. They do a highly excellent thin-crust pizza, and they have some amazingly creative combinations of toppings. The "Pestoral" is a particular favorite, and I really like the "Professional" too. They also serve a truly wonderful roasted red pepper soup.

[JoshB]

I'll chime in.

Pasquals at Hilldale, Great Southwestern food.



O'Gradys Pub, Located on Mineral Point road near West Towne Mall.



Ians Pizza on State Street, great pizza. Big selection.



Tex's Tubbs on Willy Street or Atwood, somewhere around there. Love the salsa bar. Quesadillas there are good.

[Megan1967]

Had lunch at Merchant the other day and it was GREAT! They are a little pricey (though lunch isn't as bad as dinner), but the food was terrific. I can't remember the name of the dish I ate, but my friend who is a gourmet chef raved about it and recreated it at home for her husband.

Sushi Muramoto in Hilldale is really good too. Fresh. Fresh. Fresh.

Of course I always recommend the Food Fight Restaurants. Food Fight Inc. > Home And, no, I don't work for them.

[7G9C4J2]

And we recently found the former managers of LuLu's - The Nile, out on Odana Road where Research Park runs into Odana, is the new incarnation. It was excellent, just as good as LuLu's, though I'm sad it's so far on the west side now. We likely won't get over there nearly as often as we used to get to LuLu's.

We also just recently tried Bella Vita on Gammon Road right across from West Towne Mall, and were mightily impressed. It's an Italian restaurant owned and run by four local couples, and they clearly know what they're doing. Superb chicken piccata, amazing bread, excellent desserts - very, very good food, and quite good service. I'd definitely recommend it.

[JoshB]

MWB,
Thank you for reminding me of Bella Vita. I had tried them for lunch one day. I had the Lasagna, it was so good. The appetizers were delicous too!