Walleye & eggs forever

Restaurant reviewer Jerry Minnich samples a handful of small-town cafes within an hour's drive of Madison. At the Marina in McFarland, he finds a bait shop/tavern/ cafe/gas station where he enjoys a Saturday breakfast of walleye and eggs for $4.75, including a panoramic view of Lake Waubesa. Venturing to Sauk Prairie, he stops at the Eagle Inn and tucks into the Eagle Inn Breakfast ' one egg with a spicy sausage patty on an English muffin, topped with melted cheese in a manner that 'was kind of like eating an Egg McMuffin without having Ronald McDonald for a companion,' but with onions, green peppers and cheese mixed into the hash browns and a 'fresh and light' slice of banana cream pie to finish. At Lodi's Downtown CafÃ, Minnich opts for the lunch special: seafood macaroni salad 'loaded with nice plump macaroni,' followed by 'a perfectly fine piece of Boston cream pie' for dessert. Prices and other things change in the span of 20 years, but some things don't. Lodi's Downtown Cafe is still in business, and so is Sauk City's Eagle Inn, but McFarland's Marina is now the Beach House Restaurant, which still serves a great plate of walleye and eggs.