Laura Zastrow
The wood-fired pizzas, like this mushroom and black garlic pie, are flying out the door.
It can be harder than you’d think to get a pizza at Lucille, nominally a pizzeria. The building, beautifully remodeled from its former lives as a bank and, more recently, Isthmus headquarters, is now host to one of the bigger scenes the Madison restaurant community has witnessed lately. And when I say “scene,” I mean standing room only and bouncers at the door during the weekend late-night shift.
Like its similarly clubby big brother, Merchant, Lucille is owned by Joshua Berkson and Patrick Sweeney and helmed in the kitchen by executive chef Evan Dannells. Daily drink specials, a live music stage, DJ nights and acoustics that’ll stomp on even a casual weeknight dinner conversation might convince you that this was never meant to be a restaurant at all, were it not for the fact that there’s some exceptional food to be had.
The “tavern snacks” section snazzes up bar food with shareable plates. Fried mozzarella curds do not say “cheese curds” to me, but the seasoned breading is crunchy, and there’s a ton of sweet marinara for dunking. Similarly, crisp fried asparagus has a pleasant tempura thing going on, and tender meatballs use even more marinara than the curds (though they’re good enough that they don’t need much sauce).
Tavern wings, on the other hand, are aggressively breaded, not nearly as meaty as they look, and what’s there is tough.
If you’re looking for an easy bar meal, proceed directly to the tavern burger (or its Sunday night special variant, the cheese-stuffed Juicy Lucy). The twin patties are modest, with both frizzled edges and a flavorful, yes, juicy interior. This burger excels even without condiments, though the pickle slices are lovely. It’s one of the best burgers on the Square, of the many found there.
The sleeper hit of the Lucille menu is the steel pan pizza. It’s a hybrid of Sicilian-style (popularized locally by Rocky Rococo) and Detroit-style deep dish, which Little Caesars is currently trying to bring to national prominence. At Lucille, it’s available only from 5 to 10 p.m., or as a lunch special, when it’s served in a smaller pan.
The Tiki is a fine example of what the steel pan offers. Sweet tomato sauce, a crave-inducing ring of darkly caramelized cheese around the exterior of the crust, savory ham and ripe pineapple, plus a scattering of tiny edible flowers — an adorable lei reference. Unnecessary pickled jalapeños were, at least, not of the nuclear variety that obliterate any other subtler flavors.
This kind of pizza is fairly novel in Madison, certainly more so than the wood-fired variety also served here. If Lucille scaled back some of its entertainment elements and devoted more resources to offering the full steel pan menu throughout the day, it could inhabit a unique place of pizza prominence in Madison.
But quality wood-fired pies are also flying out of the oven from late morning to nearly midnight. Lucille trumpets the length of its dough’s fermentation, a 36-hour slow rise, and the crust certainly has a nice structure and chew.
I liked the simplicity of the Fontina, with Underground Food Collective culatello and ample cheese. The Primavera is a fine spring pie, with sliced green beans and fresh shelled peas and a little too much chili flake. Spicy pizzas are trendy now, and half of the wood-fired pies feature a pepper hotter than bell. Three of the seven steel pan pies include banana peppers — which I love, but still.
The Mushroom and Black Garlic pie turns down the heat, presenting instead the darkest white pie I’ve encountered, not the delicate affair you might expect. Its diverse cast of ingredients register salty, funky, creamy, smoky and sweet notes, and I want this to be on the permanent menu.
The late-night takeout operation struggles to succeed alongside the weekend dance party. My two simple pizzas took three tries to get right. And there’s often a wait for a table; parties of two may find themselves seated with another couple at a four-top.
But clearly, Lucille has hit on the right mix for Capitol Square excitement. For the customer, this means Lucille can be a challenging, but ultimately tasty, experience.
Lucille
101 King St., 608-283-0000, lucillemadison.com
Full menu served 11 am-10 pm daily; late-night slices until 1 am.
$4-$22, First floor only is wheelchair accessible.
