Singapore and more
Red Lion Singapore Grill and Japanese Cuisine cooks both Japanese dishes and specialties from the Southeast Asian island city-state. This is the place to go for Hainanese chicken rice, claimed by...
View ArticleBig in Stoughton
Breathe easily, Team Free Chips and Salsa. Stoughton’s La Cantina is on your side.
View ArticleFired up
If your meat of choice once flapped a wing in its pre-barbecue days, chances are good you’ll enjoy it at Doc’s Smokehouse.
View ArticleTaco of the town
Oscar Villarreal, the chef behind Fuego’s, has opened a fast casual taco spot off the Beltline. The centerpiece of the Migrants experience is the taco menu, with ample options for both meat-eaters and...
View Article“C” is for cookie
It’s everyone’s favorite sweet, right? A cookie can be a snack or an extravagant dessert. These five Madison favorites cover both ends of the spectrum.
View ArticleEat map
Capsule reviews of where Isthmus food writers — and Madison — were eating and drinking before the pandemic. We're happy to see that most of these eateries are still open, serving inside, outside,...
View ArticleWe are what we eat
There is that one dish. You know the one. The one you crave, the one you simply cannot not order. If you don’t already know about these dishes, we hope you’ll try them and love them too.
View ArticleNoodling around
Ahan is Jamie Hoang’s Lao-Thai restaurant inside The Bur Oak. It would be easy to say that Ahan’s food is the best bar food in the state, but The Bur Oak isn’t really a bar, and Ahan’s food doesn’t...
View ArticleGood ideas
There’s a chill vibe at Settle Down Tavern — did you notice the name? Even better, the kitchen is exceeding expectations.
View ArticleMenu magic
A meal at The Harvey House will fill your life with a little magic. Reservations can be hard to find, but you can also grab appetizers and a drink at the bar.
View ArticleKosharie finds identity in its namesake dish and more
Head for the Egyptian kosharie, as well as fluffy biryani and kebabs, at this Regent Street hideaway.
View ArticleLittle Palace makes classics like General Tso’s new again
Warm, smart, and funny touches make Little Palace easy to like. The space at 225 King St. retains the date night vibe it’s had since it launched years ago as Cocoliquot.
View ArticleBlind Shot Social Club hits the sweet spot — at breakfast, lunch and dinner
With five golf simulator screens available for booking, Blind Shot Social Club is a clubhouse of a sort, with an attractive mid-century modern design. The food is fun and often irresistible.
View ArticleMadison’s barbecue champ
Our reviewer has long held that barbecue in a region without a local style of its own should still pick one and not try to do everything. But City Barbeque changed everything.
View ArticleBandit Tacos & Coffee is a fast casual hotspot
Bandit Tacos & Coffee is one of the few places making its tortillas in-house, daily — and with corn sourced from Mexican farms. But don’t skip the tostadas, either.
View ArticleFairchild is having fun
L’Etoile’s influence is evident at Fairchild — the resumes of chefs Itaru Nagano and Andy Kroeger and co-owner Patrick Sierra all list L’Etoile — but the vibe is more casual; service is purposeful and...
View ArticleOne Dish: The Chicago dog at Lil’ Buddy’s Popcorn
At Lil Buddy’s Popcorn, the Chicago dogs, dragged though the garden, are the draw.
View ArticleLovely Middle Eastern interlude at Madison's Petra
Petra opened in 2021 in the Odana Road storefront where The Nile was in business for about a decade. Its spacious dining room is often underpopulated, but the food was legitimately lovely every time.
View ArticleAmara transforms the former Pasqual’s Cantina at Hilldale
Amara is the third restaurant from the group that brought Madison Merchant and Lucille. Its Amalfi Coast aesthetic — think bright, acidic and seafood-centric — unlocks a menu not found in many area...
View ArticleA sense of history runs side-by-side with modernity at Turn Key
1344 East Washington Avenue has been home to a number of restaurants, most recently a Pasqual’s, but Turn Key manages to combine old and new in a way that may fit in better than the Tex-Mex mini-chain.
View ArticleItaru Nagano, Andrew Kroeger of Madison’s Fairchild claim Beard award for...
Nagano and Kroeger’s victory marks the third Beard win for a Madison restaurant. Chefs Odessa Piper and Tory Miller each won for their work at L’Etoile, in 2001 and 2012 respectively.
View ArticleThe Borough Beer Co. & Kitchen’s comfort food menu
Borough’s cautious start with its brewing program seems to have given them license to really put the kitchen to the test, and with more than a few clear successes.
View ArticleSultan offers a Punjab-focused experience
A kitchen focusing on Punjabi dishes in Madison is news. Punjab is the name of both a state in northwestern India and a province in northeastern Pakistan. You may find familiar dishes on the Sultan...
View ArticleA Seven Acre Dairy staycation
Seven Acre is a small hotel, a local food dining destination, a top-notch creamery and more.
View ArticleLallande on Monroe Street highlights the cuisine of the French countryside
This new Monroe Street kitchen, run by the founders of Bloom Bake Shop, clearly doesn’t want you to think of “provincial” as anything close to dull or simple.
View ArticleTurkish Kitchen and Silk Road are outstanding Central Asian restaurants
It’s been just over a decade since Hüsnü’s closed. Its departure from the scene left Madison without a Turkish restaurant for years. But recently, Madison has been fortunate to see Central Asian menus...
View ArticleHank’s Burgers & Fish Fry takes indulgence to different areas
The focus is on what some call guilty pleasure food: hamburgers, cheesesteaks, fried chicken sandwiches, and Wisconsin fish fry.
View ArticleComfort begins at home
Lola’s co-owner and chef Evan Dannells says he’s been having “a lot of fun” unleashing “the more playful side” of his creativity at the new lounge and vinyl hangout.
View ArticleRare-to-Madison Indian dishes?
Rajni’s menu is so deeply South Indian that you have to work to find familiar North Indian dishes.
View ArticleIt’s complicated
La Choza del Viejo means “the old man’s hut,” and its parenthetical subtitle on Google is “The Best Chinese Food.” If there’s confusion, the restaurant seems set on immediately resolving it.
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