madison
i don’t intend to ONLY share madison restaurants on this page, but my husband and i love food. and we love trying new restaurants together. so, we came up with this list of places that we plan to try in madison. as we check off restaurants from the list, i’ll post a recap of our experiences and link to them here.
here’s the list in no particular order:
- med cafe on state street (i’ve been there and loved it. brad’s never been)
- l’etoile (this is a super fancy/expensive one, so it will be saved for a special occasion)
- greenbush (a mostly unknown bar with AMAZING pizza – or so i’ve heard)
- dardanelles (greek food)
- swagat (indian)
- ha long bay (thai food)
- sa-bai thong (thai food)
- graze (thank to amy for this suggestion!)
- eno vino (thanks to kelly for this suggestion!)
restaurants that we’ve checked off our list:
- la brioche
- pasqual’s
- rising sons deli
- cafe samba
- bandung
- samba
- eddie’s alehouse and eatery
- gus’s diner
- quaker steak & lube
- buck & honey’s
- aranda’s
- bluephies (and again during restaurant week 2012)
- lazy jane’s
- maharani
- harvest – madison restaurant week winter 2012
- capitol chophouse - madison restaurant week winter 2012
- osteria papavero - madison restaurant week winter 2012
- the cannery grill (sun prairie)
- capital tap haus (and again)
- alchemy
- envoy (milwaukee)
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Great suggestions! I really like Graze, which is the less-fancy sister restaurant of L’Etoile. I also like La Brioche (on University Ave) for brunch – really great omelets, and you can find lots of healthy options (as well as not-so-healthy but delicious options). I had dinner there a few nights ago and it was also quite good. I will see if I can think of some others!
that’s so funny that you suggested la brioche! brad and i decided to go out for brunch and we were trying to think of breakfast places that we’ve wanted to try, and i remembered that his cousin recommended la brioche to us a while ago, so we just went! it was AH-MAZING!
thanks for the other suggestion, too! i can’t wait to try more of these restaurants.
Eno Vino! We went there for the first time last fall. It is SO good. Pricey, but worth it.
thanks, kelly! i’ll add it to the list!
You need to add Greenbush bakery to the list. It’s next to Rocky’s on Regent St. Best donuts ever!!
please, i practically LIVED at greenbush bakery my first year of grad school (ok that’s a bit of an exaggeration). i lived right next to meriter, so greenbush was right on my walk home from campus. i stopped in there WAAAAY too often for my own good!
Oh man, I miss Greenbush. Other donuts just don’t compare!
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrwl.
that was my tummy.
heather recently posted…PB Bliss Cake
You have to go to Bluephies! It was always one of our favorites. They have some really creative dishes, and if nothing else, you need to go for dessert and get the chocolate chip cookie dough egg rolls. We love them so much, we had them instead of cake at our wedding!
Oh! And osteria papavero–our favorite date restaurant!
i’ve never heard of that one, but i’ll add it to the list. thanks for the recommendation!
oh wow! ok, i’ll definitely move bluephies up to the top of the list! brad is coming to visit next weekend, so hopefully i can convince him to go then!
You should try Buraka on State St: It is ethiopian food. Their dishes are also vegetarian. Very good.
My hubby and I go to the Brasserie V for lunch often. They are very good.
I like your list. There are many great places to eat in Madison, which is often times not great if you are trying to keep on budget or on plan. : )
thanks so much for the recommendation!
i have been told by some friends to try buraka too – i’ll definitely add it to my list.
Cute blog! Marigold Kitchen has great breakfast and I love the Old Fashioned for drinks and Friday night fish.
thanks, cm!
i’ve had lunch & dinner at marigold before, but i’ve never made it for breakfast. and i’ve never actually eaten at the old fashioned – just had drinks! 
thanks for the suggestions.
omgomgomg are you serious right now?! I live in madison too!!!!!!!!! ahh that’s so awesome!
I think the Dardanelle’s went out of business
I’ll grab pizza at the Greenbush with you!! Blogger meet-up!!
I’d like to second Jessica’s suggestion of blogger meetup for pizza at Greenbush….and yes I realize this comment is from last fall
Kelly recently posted…Music Monday {2/27/12}
yes yes yes! now we just need to get jessica to madison!
Merchant!! My very soon to be hubby and I had our first date there and it truly holds a special place in my heartl. So much so, that we are having our reception there. I read your blog every single day and love it! From one Sarah to another: Try this place!
I meant…heart! Ugh, I guess I have a case of the Mondays