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Thursday, September 2, 2010 |  Madison, WI: 74.0° F  
Eats

MADISON RESTAURANT NEWS & REVIEWS

FOOD AND DRINK

Take 'em down to Tex's Cadillac Ranch
A revamped Tex Tubb's west revs its engine

Even before the west-side Tex Tubb's Taco Palace changed its name, recently, to the more upscale Tex's Cadillac Ranch, I was a regular. Three tacos for $9.99 is a bargain, and these aren't slapdash tacos. The white corn tortillas come packed with red cabbage, guacamole, black bean puree, chipotle mayonnaise, pickles and onions, which make for a nice blend of crunchy pickled texture and seamless seasoning even before you add your choice of main ingredients. >More Brooklyn, N.Y.-founded Victory Cafe opens Atwood branch
Victory is ours

The new Victory Cafe, 2710 Atwood Ave., is having a very, very soft opening. Owner Patrick Downey says he was just too excited to stay at home while finishing touches were being put on the space, so he figured he might as well hang out at the shop and start serving people coffee. The espresso machine is in, the coffee is stocked, but the baked goods are still somewhat scarce, and the menu, for panini and the like, is still to be finalized. >More

FOOD AND DRINK

Yola's Café brings a touch of family to Madison's far west side
Charms include secret waffle recipe and Belleville-based Viamo coffee

Traveling through Madison's west side, you'll see many national restaurants and chain coffee shops. A search for a locally-owned place to enjoy a meal or meet a friend can end in frustration -- or, if you're lucky, at Yola's Café. >More Madison southwest bike path cafe brouhaha
Pedal-power meets people-power in archetypal Madison battle of wills

These days, chefs and restaurateurs are rebelling against being tethered to the four-walls-bricks-and-mortar model of an eatery. Locavores are out dining in fields. In Austin, Texas, yummies are being dispensed from vintage travel trailers parked in vacant lots. And in Madison, Christopher Berge wants to build a cafe accessible only by bike or foot next to the southwest bike path. >More

LOCAL FLAVOR

How do you solve a problem like an eggplant? (recipe)
New uses for the big purple veggie

The topic of eggplant came up in a recent exchange I had with a colleague. "Of all the things I buy at the farmers' market, eggplant is the item that is most likely to go bad in the fridge," she said. "I never really know what to do with it." The inventory of familiar eggplant preparations is indeed a short list; think eggplant Parmesan, ratatouille and baba ganoush, and you're pretty much there. >More Dane County Farmers' Market: Weston's Antique Apple Orchard

Today, Weston's Antique Apple Orchard boasts well over 100 varieties of apples on 16 acres of land. Some 98% of the apples are heirloom varieties not commercially grown on a large scale. >More

LOCAL FLAVOR

Dane County Farmers' Market: Carandale Farm

Carandale is the longest-established pick-your-own farm in Dane County. Strawberry season, which typically runs for three weeks in June, is their busiest time. The farm attracts pickers of every kind, from locavores looking to freeze or preserve enough berries to last through the winter, to hungry people on a budget, to families eager to spend an afternoon outdoors. >More Cookbook cues: Canal House Cooking No. 4 by Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer

A while back, my friend Sue started wearing peasant blouses and long gauzy skirts. "I'm hoping if I start dressing like a hippie chick, I'll start feeling more like a hippie chick," she told me, eager to jettison what she thought of as a provincial, suburban Milwaukee value system. Eventually she quit her job teaching English and became a full-time potter. So I guess it worked. >More

LOCAL FLAVOR

Cookbook cues: In the Green Kitchen by Alice Waters

Alice Waters wrote her newest book with the primal relationship between humans and their food in mind. She envisions the "green kitchen" not just as an eco- and economy-friendly space, but one in which simple, time-tested kitchen tools (think mortar and pestle, not Cuisinart) and a bastion of basic techniques learned by heart make for heartfelt cooking and eating. >More Dane County Farmers' Market: Flyte Family Farm

While the Flyte Family Farm has been in operation for decades, it began a new era when one of the Flyte children, Adam Flyte, married his wife Carrie. Adam was raised on the farm, and grew up with plenty of traditional agricultural experience. Carrie's training, however, was rather unorthodox. While a student at UW–Platteville, she received an internship with Walt Disney World. >More

READER REVIEWS:

Continental, The
on 07/28/10
  • Currently 1.00/5
My wife and I went there for restaurant week and were disappointed. We both ordered the tenderloin, ...
 Weary Traveler
on 07/16/10
  • Currently 5.00/5
Really good food (the Tom Ka Tofu is a stand-out for those of us who don't eat meat and/or can't hav ...
 Continental, The
on 07/02/10
  • Currently 1.00/5
While I have always enjoyed their food, I sadly discovered they allow smoking in the outdoor dining ...
 Fiesta 38
on 06/18/10
  • Currently 4.00/5
We weren't sure what to expect when we went in for dinner, but were very happy with our dishes. The ...
 Cannery Grill, Sun Prairie
on 06/11/10
  • Currently 3.00/5
I err on the side of 3 stars rather than 4 because it appears, with every additional review and comm ...
 Big Ten Pub
on 06/10/10
  • Currently 5.00/5
Great place to eat and drink. The food is not your typical bar fare--much better than greasy burgers ...
 Texas Roadhouse
on 06/02/10
  • Currently 3.00/5
It is what it is, but what it is as a chain is not too bad. The steaks are seasoned pretty good and ...
 King & Mane
on 06/02/10
  • Currently 4.00/5
Excellent step up from what it had been as The Local! The beet salad was flavorful, plentiful and i ...

THE DAILY / EATS

Cookbook cues: Fiesta at Rick's by Rick Bayless with Deann Groen Bayless

Remembering the fact that chef Rick Bayless is riding a career crest in the last couple of years -- first winner of Top Chef Masters, honorary chef at a White House state dinner -- you might understand why the man is in the mood for a party. Happily for us, we're invited. >More Fringe Foods: Cuitlacoche from Las Cazuelas
For everything, there is a season -- including corn smut

This is another one of those foods that forces you to wonder what exactly the first daring eater was thinking; infected ears of corn puff up, turn purplish-black, and grow fuzz. The Aztec name for this freaky-looking cob is cuitlacoche (also frequently spelled "huitlacoche"), which likely meant "sleeping shit." Wrapped in the husk, cuitlacoche does look a bit like a swaddled turd. So, naturally, it’s what’s for dinner. >More Beer Here: Devil's Lake Red Lager from the Great Dane Downtown

I've hit that point in the summer where I start looking for a beer that will act as a transition into the fall brews. I'm not quite ready for Oktoberfests or the fresh hop-harvested beers that are just beginning to turn up. For me, the red and amber lagers offer unequaled session beer qualities for late summer, and the Great Dane's Devil's Lake Red Lager is my current session beer of choice. >More
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BEER

New Glarus Brewing invites fans to weigh in on its 2011 beer schedule

Remember that seasonal beer New Glarus Brewing Company made a couple of years ago? You know, the one you really liked, but can't find anymore? Well, the brewery remembers it too, and is giving you a chance to help bring it back via its third annual Beer Vote. >More Great Taste of the Midwest 2010 brings the beer faithful back to Madison
View photos from the brewing festival at Olin-Turville Park

With so many brews at the Great Taste of the Midwest, finding a favorite is difficult. However, for local beer fans, the fest can be a chance to sample the first sip of a seasonal that won't be officially out until later in the year, or even a small limited-release creation that can’t easily be found on the shelves. >More

BEER

Lead Feather Brewing does not pass Go, heads directly to Applebees

Starting a microbrewery is difficult, but an exclusive distribution channel through Wisconsin Hospitality Group -- owners and operators of all Applebee's restaurants in Wisconsin -- may help the newly formed Lead Feather Brewing Company outpour its competition. Incorporated in November 2009, and founded by three business partners, including a brewmaster with over 30 years of experience, the brewery is a new entrant to the Wisconsin scene. >More Beer Here: Illumination Double IPA from Central Waters Brewing

Central Waters is lighting up the summer scene with a new brew made especially for those who enjoy extreme bitterness in their beer. Illumination is the latest from the Amherst-based brewery, offering a forceful bitterness that lives up to the title of "hop bomb." >More

DINING

Pizza partisans
The revolution will be artisanal

Pizza has never gone out of favor with the American public, but in the past few years, the country has fallen in love with pizza all over again. The key word is, as with so many foods these days, "artisanal." Think small-scale production, fresh ingredients, chefs who really know what they're doing. >More My year of meats
Steak is one approach. There are many more

I like meat. I like vegetables, too, and I try to eat a lot of them. Hooray for omnivores. But although I do like eating meat -- and by that I mean all sorts, beef, lamb, pork and veal -- I have never much enjoyed the steakhouse slab o' meat experience. >More
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