Just like under the palapa: a whole grilled fish at Las Islas Del Mar (Giovanny Lopez); Swad is Monona’s first Indian restaurant (Paulius Musteikis); Rossi’s Pizza has an extensive side room of vintage arcade games (Linda Falkenstein).
Of Madison’s restaurant clusters, none may be so unjustly overlooked than Monona Drive. Can you call it the South Park Street of the east side? Sort of! Recent improvements in the roadway have made it more pedestrian-friendly and added touches of “Main Street”-style charm with industrial-chic light poles, community-branded banners and new plantings. Still, undeniably, Monona Drive is a drivers’ street, and there’s virtually no restaurant that lacks spacious parking.
While there are plenty of chain franchises in Monona, both on Monona Drive and in the Pier 37 shopping center, on balance home-grown restaurants dominate. These range from world cuisine to family restaurant fare.
First off, you might be confused about which Monona Drive restaurants are actually in Monona. Michael’s Frozen Custard, Crema Cafe, Paradise Island, Monona Bakery and Eatery, Rosie’s — these are all in Madison. Nonetheless, they are “in Monona in spirit,” as a Mononan friend of mine puts it.
A trip down Mo D is like a trip around the world’s cuisines. David’s Jamaican Cuisine, 5734 Monona Drive, has been located in an old Taco Bell since 2002. One of only two Jamaican restaurants in the Madison area, it has a wide-ranging menu. Sample much of it during the Friday night all-you-can-eat buffet. While you may well find goat curry, there are more American-sounding dishes like jerk steak and jerk tofu, great examples of hybrid dishes.
Las Islas Del Mar, 5696 Monona Drive, focuses on Mexican seafood dishes. It’s been operating out of a former Burger King (sensing a theme here?) since 2012. Suffice it to say, no one is missing their Whopper Juniors, with ceviche as well as salsa accompanying tortilla chips. This is the place to grab a crunchy ceviche tostada.
La Rosita, a large Mexican grocery at 6005 Monona Drive, also cooks outstanding Mexican food. Inside the grocery itself, a taqueria counter serves what are quite possibly the best carnitas in town. Tacos come on two soft corn tortillas and topped with onions and cilantro. Try the green tomatillo salsa, also available to-go from a cooler case. La Rosita also operates an all-you-can-eat Mexican buffet next door.
Swad, 6007 Monona Dr., is one of the best Indian restaurants in the Madison area. The only problem is that it’s in the same strip mall as La Rosita. After you’ve made the trip, choosing between them is difficult. Of course, if you live in Monona, you could just alternate.
It is perhaps worth noting for those of you obsessed with the Potato Olé that the area’s only Taco John’s is located at 6305 Monona Drive.
Angelo’s, 5802 Monona Drive, has been around, it seems, forever. But once upon a time this was the Colonial Inn, a supper club of sorts. If you look closely, you see the building is an old colonial house. The space is divided just as it was back in the ‘60s: hostess stand as you come in the front door, horseshoe-shaped bar to the right, dining room to the left. Angelo’s makes fine, old-school Italian-American pizza. Friday’s fish fry also is quite a draw. Cod comes beer-battered or plain, plus there’s ocean perch. Other varieties (grouper, walleye, blue gill) might also show up as specials. Don’t skip the cheesy hash browns.
Pizza? Oh wait, there’s more. And pinball and Pac-Man: Monona has a lock on pizza paired with vintage arcade games. Rossi’s, 4503 Monona Drive, and The Pizza Oven, 5511 Monona Drive, both offer this amenity. By the way, The Pizza Oven’s been baking pies on Monona Drive since 1961.
The exterior of Snick’s Sportsman’s Bar, 4605 Monona Drive, is painted green and gold, which gives you a fair idea of where its allegiances lie. Inside, there’s an old wood bar, reportedly made from a single piece of wood. Bar memorabilia, Christmas lights and no-nonsense drinks provide that true, non-replicable Wisconsin touch. Food runs to frozen pizza, pickled eggs and pickled pork hocks.
A bar with a more contemporary pub fare is the Silver Eagle, 5805 Monona Drive, named after the high school’s sports teams.
But Monona Drive isn’t the only thoroughfare in Monona with restaurants. Along Broadway (which, if you can imagine it, was once the Beltline!) look for family restaurants the Green Forest, 909 E. Broadway, and Monona Garden, 6501 Bridge Road. The Tower Inn, 1008 E. Broadway, has something of the spirit of the original Avenue Bar, if not its size. Its lauded Reuben features corned beef from Ken’s Meats & Deli, the Monona butcher shop. Tower’s Friday fish fry features cod, shrimp or blue gill.
Speaking of fish fries, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the ones from Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 4913 Schofield St. Sorry, they’re held only during Lent, but held often during Lent — five or six times. Mark your calendars.
The Original Pancake House, 518 River Place, is a popular breakfast joint, although it is not original to Monona or even Madison. It’s a chain. This doesn’t seem to keep anyone from lusting after the pancakes.
For a city that has a quite a bit of real estate parked on Lake Monona, Monona mirrors Madison in its mind-boggling scarcity of lakefront dining. But outdoor patios at the Breakwater, 6308 Metropolitan Lane, and the Waypoint Public House, 320 W. Broadway, let diners watch boats cruise by on the Yahara River on their way from Lake Monona to Lake Waubesa.
Perhaps best of all is the fabled Monona Bait and Ice Cream, 4516 Winnequah Road, across from Schluter Beach. This stop on the Lake Monona bike path fulfills many people’s yearnings for the beachside root beer stands of years past. Located in what looks like a painted log cabin, this former grocery sports a porch panelled cozily with knotty pine and a soda counter that sells Babcock Hall ice cream. Upgrade from a cone and choose from one of several sundaes, including “dirt and worms” style gussied up with gummi worms, or a good old Rennebohm’s-inspired hot fudge Mary Jane (a brownie topped with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge). Malts made with real malt powder are also on the menu, as are hamburgers and other grill favorites of summer. There’s also a full roster of bait for sale. Two dozen dillyworms, $5.20.
But we’ve only just gotten started. The fact we couldn’t fit other Monona favorites, like Tully’s II, Edo Garden, Fat Jacks BBQ, China Star, Mr. Brews Taphouse, a second location for Fraboni’s, and more, only speaks to what a great restaurant town Monona is.
