Sharon Vanorny
Duck wings at Madison Tap: fancy bar food at its best.
Halfway through a delicious and unintentionally private breakfast at Black Locust Cafe, my date paused to reflect on an existential question about the restaurant: “Why is this place so empty?”
Located in the Robinia Courtyard complex, Black Locust is within walking distance of several luxury high-rise apartment building, whose affluent tenants presumably enjoy dining out. It’s on one of Madison’s busiest thoroughfares, which also happens to be going through a major development boom. The building houses three restaurants — Black Locust, a coffee shop and diner; Madison Tap, a beer bar serving small plates; and Jardin, an upscale locavore joint that opened quietly earlier this month.
Despite the prominent location, beautifully designed interiors, excellent food and quite possibly the best patio in town, Robinia Courtyard has struggled — and in response, has tried to reinvent itself. Black Locust was formerly known as A-OK, Madison Tap was Barolo, a wine and tapas bar, and Jardin replaced Julep, a high-end Southern restaurant.
Black Locust, like A-OK before it, is a favorite of mine for its ambience, strong coffee and reasonably priced, reliably good food. Offering “all-day breakfast” served 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., the menu features a variety of egg dishes, grain bowls, fancy toasts, sweet and savory crepes, and crepe sandwiches called bings. I’d compare it to a scaled-down version of the trendy Bassett Street Brunch Club, and I’d wager that if Black Locust were near campus, it would be similarly overrun with students.
A breakfast bowl made with Anson Mills grits comes topped with sausage, pepper jack cheese, sautéed bell peppers and a sunny-side up egg. The kitchen was out of the promised Andouille, so the cook substituted a breakfast sausage patty which was perfectly fine after I upped the spice with hot sauce. The grits themselves were flawless — cheesy, savory, cooked to a perfect al dente — and the runny egg added richness.
Sharon Vanorny
Black Locust Café toasts its sourdough to perfection.
A classic breakfast, called the Basic B, also hit the mark with crisp fried potatoes, perfectly cooked eggs, high-quality bacon and a truly amazing buttermilk biscuit. The same biscuits are served with sausage gravy and two eggs in another entree, which I can’t wait to try next time I’m back. Black Locust also tackles the “stuff on toast” trend. At $7 per slice it’s a bit spendy, but the toasts are fairly deluxe. There’s the ubiquitous avocado on offer plus another with ham, cheese and egg that resembles a croque madame, but I opted for the whipped ricotta with stone fruit jam and a drizzle of honey. The bread itself was stellar — a thick slice of tangy sourdough, toasted to perfection — but the ricotta was tasteless and the jam didn’t do much to save it.
On a return trip to Robinia Courtyard I visited Madison Tap, where I had another semi-private dining experience. I had been to Barolo a few times for drinks, but was curious to see the new concept, particularly after a positive review from the Wisconsin State Journal. But despite it being an unseasonably warm weekend night, the place was empty save a few employees relaxing after their shift. The bar features taps from a different local brewery each month. September was Capital Brewery; this month is The Lone Girl Brewing Company.
One of the workers recommended the lamb sliders, which were fantastic. The patties came perfectly seasoned and cooked medium-rare, topped with olive tapenade and arugula. The bun was equally good, buttered and toasted to a crisp. Fried duck wings were similarly successful. Served four to an order, they’re big and meaty, crisp on the outside and tender within. Glazed with a spicy-sweet chili plum sauce and served with an outstanding arugula salad with ginger vinaigrette, this is fancy bar food at its best.
A plate of shishito peppers was big enough to share, but the ginger-soy glaze was thick, viscous and infuriatingly sticky. A duck confit taco was much better — rich and meaty with a smooth butternut squash puree, arugula and scallions plus the absolutely ingenious addition of pickled blueberries. I look forward to coming back to try the chilled pad thai salad, the truffle fry poutine and the ramen bowl.
In many ways, the Robinia restaurants still feel like hidden gems — even though they’ve been operating in some form since 2015. Despite a few minor stumbles, Black Locust and Madison Tap are undeniably solid restaurants with unique menus and great staff. Here’s hoping that Jardin will be the magic ingredient to make the courtyard come alive.
Madison Tap
829 E. Washington Ave., 608-478-0188, food service 4:30-11 pm, bar 4 pm-2 am daily, $8-$12
Black Locust Cafe
829 E. Washington Ave., 608-478-0110, 7 am-9 pm Mon.-Fri., 8 am-9 pm Sat., 8 am-8 pm Sun., $5-$12
