Brats will be putting out a buffet to make your heart beat faster for Super Sunday on February 3 -- this year a "Double Feature" with the Badger basketball game, running from 2 p.m. until the Super Bowl post game.
Anyway, what you may not know is that Brats has a modestly priced lunch special menu Monday through Friday. It is (mysteriously, to my mind) 100% brat-free.
Every day features a different take on poultry. Monday's the chipotle chicken wrap; Tuesday's grilled turkey and cheddar on ciabatta; Wednesday features a buffalo chicken or BBQ chicken sandwich; Thursday means it's chicken club day and Friday's star is the Cajun bleu chicken salad.
The good news is that State Street Brats does just fine with chicken. For $5.25, each daily special comes with "pub chips" -- a crispy hot potato chip -- and a side, which might be coleslaw, or steamed or roasted veggies. On a recent visit, the veggie side was a generous portion of steamed broccoli and roasted baby carrots. The carrots were delicious, and tarted up with a little lemon butter.
The help-yourself fixin's bar was well stocked with everything from onions and sauerkraut to neatly arranged tomato slices and bun-sized lettuce leaves, plus a bunch of salad dressings in squeeze bottles to allow you to doctor up your entree to your satisfaction.
I couldn't find any bleu cheese dressing, though, to classically top off the broiled chicken filet in Wednesday's buffalo chicken sandwich, although lettuce, tomato and some jalapeno slices worked just fine.
Altogether, for $5.25, this is a good deal for lunch in downtown Madison. If the idea of going to the home of the brat and not ordering one makes you shed tears inside, a brat basket with an upgrade to a side salad will run you $6...still not a bad deal.
Vegetarian options are few at State Street Brats -- there's a Farmer's Market salad ($5.50), a grilled cheese sandwich featuring cheddar, Swiss and mozzarella (price varies due to which bread you choose, but runs between $5 and $6.50) or the same cheese blend as a quesadilla ($4.75).
Why no veggie brat or veggie burger? If even the World's Largest Bratfest can put veggie brats on the menu.... Just sayin'.
