I’ve always had a dream of taking a year off from college and doing my own food television tour accross the country. As delectably delicious as that sounds, I’ll have to save this trip for a future time in my life (perhaps sometime after I can find a larger stomach). The good news is, Madison hosts many featured restaurants and I can’t think of a better place to start. Here are five of Madison’s most famous eaterys:
1. Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream
Photo courtesy of oleandlenakaffehus.webs.com
Anyone who has gotten ice cream from the Chocolate Shoppe can attest to the fact that Madisons known as “the dairy state” for a reason. The Chocolate Shoppe was featured on the T.V. show Crave in 2011 on the episoide “Ice Cream- Socially Acceptable Lick Food.” Not only is The Chocolate Shoppe known for it’s creative flavors and creamy consistency, their humor is also imeasurable, boasting slogans such as “you want nutrtion, eat carrots.”
Address: 468 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Hours of operation: Mon-Sat: 9am-10pm, Sun: 10am-10pm
2. Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier
Photo courtesy of gailambrosius.com
Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier was featured on “America’s Best” in 2010 for making the “best little box of chocolates.” Each chocolate is made by hand by Gail and her staff, ranging in flavors from caramel sprinkled with grey salt to sweet curry with saffron.
Address: 2086 Atwood Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Hours of operation: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 10am-4pm, closed Sundays
3. Graze/ L’Etoile
Photo courtesy of grazemadison.com
Both owned by James Beard Award winner Tory Miller, Graze and L’Etoile were part of Andrew Zimmern’s Wisconsin centered episoide of his famed show “Bizzare Foods America.” On the show, Miller prepares chicken and lettuce mayonaise soup with 15 year cheddar. Zimmern comments on the dish saying that the highlight is “that cheddar, because it makes it taste a little turned. In a good way.”
Address: 1 South Pickney Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Hours of operation: lunch Mon-Fri: 11am-2:30pm, off hours menu Mon-Fri: 2:30pm-5pm, Sat: 3pm-5pm, dinner Mon-Thurs: 5pm-10pm, Fri-Sat: 5pm-11pm
4. The Old Fashioned
Photo courtesy of simplegirlathome.blogspot.com
The Old Fashioned was featured on both Best Thing I Ever Ate (All American Episoide) and Crave for it’s world famous beer battered cheese curds. The Old Fashioned is well known for it’s classic Wisconsin cusine, but plan ahead, it’s always packed.
Address: 23 North Pickney Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Hours of operation: Mon-Tues: 7:30am-10:30pm, Wed-Fri : 7:30am-2am, Sat 9am-2am, Sun: 9am-10pm
5. The Village Bar
Photo courtesy of travelchannel.com
The Village Bar was featured on The Travel Channel’s “Burger Land”. George Motz commended The Village Bar for their practice of steam-melting cheese atop their juicy burgers.
Address: 3081 Mineral Point Road, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Hours of operation: Mon-Thurs 10am-2am, Fri-Sat: 10am-2:30am, Sun 12pm-7pm