Althouse: Where to eat in Madison, Wisconsin.

May 27, 2010

Where to eat in Madison, Wisconsin.

34 comments:

Original Mike said...: You missed Brocach.; 5/27/10, 11:53 AM
MadisonMan said...: No one recommends Culver's!; 5/27/10, 11:58 AM
Original Mike said...: I liked the old Lombardino's. Now it's a frou frou restaurant.; 5/27/10, 12:09 PM
Triangle Man said...: No one recommends Culver's!

Or Crandall's.

I don't see any Althouse picks.; 5/27/10, 12:10 PM
Original Mike said...: Crandall's closed.; 5/27/10, 12:13 PM
Triangle Man said...: Crandall's closed.

No kidding? I guess I didn't notice that on my way into Sonic to get diet cherry limeades.; 5/27/10, 12:19 PM
Triangle Man said...: I like Nina Camic's picks. My map would add Eno Vino and Lazy Jane's.; 5/27/10, 12:21 PM
Original Mike said...: You mean the one on University Avenue? I thought that one was just take out.; 5/27/10, 12:21 PM
Anonymous said...: Isn't "Dotty Dumpling's Dowry" a strip club?

Who recommended that?; 5/27/10, 12:21 PM
Original Mike said...: Dotty's is a hamburger joint. Great hamburgers, lousy buns. (Great beer selection).; 5/27/10, 12:23 PM
MadisonMan said...: That comment about the lousy buns at Dotty's is so spot on. I won't eat there because the buns fall apart. Drives me crazy.

I'd rather go to Blue Moon or Village Bar for a burger than Dotty's. Anyway, Dotty's was better when it was on Regent Street.; 5/27/10, 12:55 PM
kjbe said...: "Dotty's is a hamburger joint. Great hamburgers, lousy buns."

And,in it's earlier locations, it was even better.; 5/27/10, 12:56 PM
Calypso Facto said...: That's a pretty comprehensive list! I guess I'd add Casbah. Maybe it would have been easier to note where NOT to eat?; 5/27/10, 1:05 PM
Original Mike said...: The Village has good burgers, MM? I live really close, but I haven't stopped in.; 5/27/10, 1:11 PM
MadisonMan said...: I like them. Nothing fancy. I know the owner's wife -- she was my kid's teacher at Randall. Maybe that colors my opinion.; 5/27/10, 1:14 PM
kjbe said...: Calypso - that's what I was thinking.; 5/27/10, 1:52 PM
Original Mike said...: I eat Dotty's hamburgers with a knife and fork.; 5/27/10, 2:02 PM
Tarkwell Robotico said...: Synchronicity:

I am travelling to Madison next week. As a daily reader, I was tempted to email precisely this request: what's good to eat in Madison.

Here it is. Freaky. And thanks.; 5/27/10, 2:08 PM
MadisonMan said...: No one recommends La Brioche True Food?

That surprises me. I love that place!; 5/27/10, 2:13 PM
LordSomber said...: Is Okayz Corral still there? Played there a couple times way back.; 5/27/10, 2:26 PM
MadisonMan said...: I vaguely recall Okayz burning down a while ago.

Maybe I confuse it with some other place.; 5/27/10, 2:48 PM
Original Mike said...: MM: I think you're right.; 5/27/10, 2:52 PM
Bob_R said...: Interesting. I have not been back since 1988. Fascinating to see what has survived and what has passed on. No Ovens of Brittany! Lots of strange little dives that are still around. Cool list.; 5/27/10, 3:02 PM
Bob_R said...: Ha! I missed the comment that Lombardino's has gone upscale. That was a block from our house. What a dive. (I mean that in a nice way.); 5/27/10, 3:04 PM
Original Mike said...: Lombardino's (the old one) had a chicken marsala to die for. Had it several times. There was a secret, addictive ingredient in it or something.

Then one day, it was blah. Not bad, but not at all special. I asked the waitress about it and she told me, in a soft voice to keep others from hearing, "Yeah, the new guy doesn't know how to make it."

That was the beginning of the end of Lombardino's, IMHO. Some time later it was bought and turned upscale. I only go there now when I have to.; 5/27/10, 3:11 PM
List-a-Beefy said...: As recommended by Eating in Madison A to Z (through Q).; 5/27/10, 3:35 PM
Triangle Man said...: No one recommends La Brioche True Food?

That surprises me. I love that place!

Perhaps their "no electronic device" rule spoils it for the law school demographic?; 5/27/10, 4:11 PM
MadisonMan said...: Original Mike, the one thing I love at Lombardino's is the Pizza Lombardino -- the one with Prosciutto, Arugula and Cheese. And the fried calamari are the TWO things I love at Lombardino's. And the fact that I can walk there.

THREE things I love about Lombardinos: I can walk there, the pizza Lombardino, the fried calamari.

I don't recall ever going there back before the present owners. In those days I was probably more likely to go to Merck's Trophy Tap than Lombardino's.; 5/27/10, 4:51 PM
Original Mike said...: The old Lombardino's was old school Italian. The next time I'm there (I get work visitor who stay at the InnTowner, so that's when I end up there) I'll try the pizza Lombardino

Ahh, the Trophy. I used to go there.; 5/27/10, 5:18 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Fascinating to see what has survived and what has passed on. No Ovens of Brittany! Lots of strange little dives that are still around. Cool list."

A place like Ovens, which tried to be the best restaurant in town, got overtaken by far better places. The dives don't have to compete like that.; 5/27/10, 6:32 PM
John Cunningham said...: www.urbanspoon.com should have some good ideas. I find the site pretty good when reconning a city.; 5/27/10, 7:04 PM
Mr. D said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/27/10, 9:22 PM
Mr. D said...: Sorry, double clutched on my post -- last time we were in town we ate at the Hubbard Avenue Diner in Middleton with my sister, who was a student of yours. The food was very good and it's a kid friendly space. Haven't been to Dotty's in a long time, but remember it well.; 5/27/10, 9:25 PM
BJK said...: Someone got Ian's right....that's all I wanted to see.; 5/28/10, 9:05 AM