Peter O'Toole
Among the many stereotypes of Madisonians, one near the top is that we’re all a bunch of organic, farm-to-table, local-sourcing foodies. People actually don’t seem to mind this stereotype, and what’s the harm? That it makes someone feel too guilty to eat at Arby’s? Besides, sometimes it’s even true.
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Favorite Restaurant: The Old Fashioned
“Local” is the name of the game at The Old Fashioned, where the menu is an homage to the cuisine of Wisconsin, and whose name pays honor to the state cocktail. Wisconsin cheese plates, beer cheese soup, Door County cherries, bratwurst from Sheboygan, of course a Friday fish fry and a superb Scandinavian-style chicken dinner on Sunday—each one is simply better than the last. No wonder this forward-looking but backward-glancing tavern/supper club on the Capitol Square takes top honors in our first-ever “Favorite Restaurant” category. There’s so much to love (the list of items above is just the tip of the iceberg), plus, there’s a dynamite local tap list. Considering all that, it’s a no-brainer that the Old Fashioned is also our readers’ favorite locavore/Midwestern-focused restaurant, as well as our readers' favorite restaurant to take out-of-town guests.
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Mike Rebholz
Favorite New Restaurant: Lucille
The favorite new restaurant to open in Madison in the last year was Lucille, the three-story cocktail hangout/wood-fired pizza juggernaut at the top of King Street on the Capitol Square. Though finding a table has been difficult since the place opened in May, enough people have experienced the convivial vibe, stylish interior and craveable food to put it over the top in this year’s poll.
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Favorite Steakhouse: Tornado Room
There’s nothing new about the top pick for steakhouse in the area. The Tornado Room opened 20 years ago in a building that was already longtime home to Crandall’s restaurant. The menu took on the air of an upscale supper club, and the formula still works.
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Favorite Pizzeria: Salvatore's Tomato Pies (2 locations)
Top pizza honors go to Salvatore’s Tomato Pies. Both of Sal’s locations (East Johnson Street in Madison and Sun Prairie) specialize in something called the Trenton pie, where the sauce arrives on top of the cheese, not under it. But it’s really the specialty pies that wow at Sal’s — the sweet fig and bacon, for instance, or the Forestiere, which features local Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese. Local sourcing is one of the draws here, but the vibrant flavors are the enduring lure.
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Favorite Italian Restaurant: Lombardino's Restaurant
Lombardino’s Restaurant combines a loveable Italian-American 1950s-era interior with a contemporary Italian menu to win patrons’ hearts year after year. Local sourcing brings Italian classics home, with dishes using Fraboni’s sausage, Jordandal Farm pork and Pinn Oak Ridge farm lamb, paired with San Marzano tomatoes from the old country.
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Favorite Middle Eastern Restaurant: Banzo (2 locations; 2 food carts)
Banzo is a true Madison success story, having risen in just five years from a food cart to boasting two brick-and-mortar restaurants and a second food cart. It’s also the city’s favorite Middle Eastern restaurant. People are obsessed with the crispy falafel, but also the schnitzel pita, delectable hummus, kebabs and hand-cut potato chips. Banzo also took top place in the “Favorite Food Cart” category.
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Favorite Chinese Restaurant: Imperial Garden
“Going out for Chinese” can mean storefront takeout, places with an “authentic” menu written in Chinese characters, or a nice-looking dining room that’s basically the supper club of Chinese classics. The latter might best describe Imperial Garden, where the large menu and spacious surroundings make it a good place to take a group, or grab dependable takeout.
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Favorite Japanese Restaurant: Red Sushi
Favorite Japanese restaurant Red Sushi began as a small restaurant in a narrow space on King Street. Its reputation for stellar sushi and a few select Japanese dishes grew. This fall, Red makes a big move to new digs in the revamped AT&T building on West Washington Avenue.
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Favorite Southeast Asian Restaurant: Ha Long Bay
For Southeast Asian dishes, readers like the Thai, Vietnamese and Laotian options from Willy Street’s Ha Long Bay. The AP10 appetizer—a Vietnamese eggroll wrapped in a spring roll—is another longtime reader favorite.
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Favorite Indian Restaurant: Maharani
For a while, Madison’s Indian restaurants were difficult to untangle (two Maharajahs, a Maharani and a Maharana, plus a Swad and a Swagat). We’re now absent two Maharajahs, which simplifies matters somewhat. The favorite is Maharani—that’s the one on the corner of West Washington and Broom, with its delectable dishes and a big, big spread at the lunch buffet.
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Favorite Mexican/Southwestern Restaurant: Taqueria Guadalajara
Taqueria Guadalajara remains true to its Mexican roots even after a remodeling upgrade a few summers back. Street food like sopes, huaraches, flautas and tamales round out a menu filled with platillos típicos, like lengua de res en salsa verde.
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Favorite Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurant: Monty's Blue Plate Diner
Despite Madison’s reputation as a town full of tree-hugging vegetarian/vegan locavores, it still has only one dedicated vegetarian restaurant (third-placer the Green Owl). But vegetarian-friendly restaurants, now you’re talking. Vegetarians and omnivores share booths at favorite Monty’s Blue Plate Diner. The Meatless Loaf of the Gods, vegetarian hash, “The Sheldon” (a meatless Reuben) make skipping the meat a pleasure. The kitchen also provides a special page of options for vegans.
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Favorite Restaurant for Brunch: Sardine
Brunch is a special time. The best brunches rise above both breakfast and lunch, and Sardine makes that happen. It approaches the meal brasserie style, with moules frites, croque monsieur (and madames), a duck confit salad and pastries as only the French know how to make them.
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Favorite Outdoor Patio Dining: The Great Dane-Downtown
The favorite outdoor patio in town is at the Great Dane-downtown, a leafy garden respite in the rear of the historic building, quite invisible from the street.
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Favorite Too-Busy-to-Cook Go-To Restaurant: Glass Nickel Pizza (4 locations)
Are you too busy to cook but too lazy/tired to go out? Glass Nickel Pizza delivers as your Too-Busy-to-Cook Go-To spot, and not just for pizza. The pastas are a great alternative, and you can mix and match noodle shapes and add-ons. Shake open a tablecloth, light candles, open a bottle of wine and you’re not having takeout— you’re dining in.
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