Ok kids, we need to talk about Four Lakes Cafe (aka the UW Hospital cafeteria). As someone who works in one of the surrounding buildings, I find myself getting cafeteria food for lunch most days. And honestly some of it is pretty darn ok. For $5-7 you can get yourself a tasty hearty lunch. Monday through Friday there is a salad bar with rotating theme (Southwest, Mediterranean, Taco, Greek and Asian) There are made to order sandwiches, both hot and cold. There is a daily hot Asian foods line and a daily "homestyle comfort foods" line. And so much more. While the dining room ambience is very much a hospital cafeteria, the space is clean and well managed by the friendly and competent staff. Some standout items: The gouda mac & cheese, baked fish, beef pot roast, tofu curry and any of the pie or cake slices from the fridge. The next time you find yourself in the UW Hospital / VA Hospital / Children's Hospital complex, stop in the cafeteria on the first floor level. You may be pleasantly surprised. read more

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For years as a graduate student at UW, I have studied at the health sciences library. It's inside the UW Hospital structure, and when you're hungry, there's not much within walking distance you can do but grab a bite at the hospital cafeteria/dining services. Get a half plate of Chinese food at Waubesa Wok, or a healthy sandwich and salad. I've always adored the bread pudding sold by the pound. And Andres chocolate mints for 10cents. Speaking of prices, they must not adjust for inflation, because my lunch of Chinese food plus bread pudding was under $6! read more

Four Lakes Cafe - half plate of General Tso Chicken and fried rice. Actually pretty tasty and fresh. Bottom: bread pudding sold by the ounce. - Cafes Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

The salad bar can be improved. Also, the fact that they are still enforcing "no self serve" is deterring me to get salad because I am never satisfied with the amount or the way they add things in my container. The previous hospitals I was at have already let people get their own salad a loooong time ago. read more

The salad bar is great and for an excellent price! $4.99 per pound and it has about anything you want. I especially enjoy the micro greens available. For the 500 calorie station, I'm a sucker for the mango curry rice - a little spicy but it very flavorful and I'm not really sure if it's really 500 calories... Workers are super nice even during rush hour when check out lines are crowded. read more

Good food for a hospital! They get their ingredients, meat and produce for local Wisconsin farms. They have a wide range of food styles from American comfort, Asian, Mexican and more. They have a great salads bar that changes themes per day of the week. They make all their breads on site and desserts also. All food is made on site and the staff are so nice! ALSO prices are crazy cheap! You can get a whole meal for less than $7. read more

The Four Lakes is sad. They are definitely barrel scrapers when it comes to hospital food-- the salad bar and sandwich shop are on par but everything else is just miserable. Honestly, the best thing here is the soups. The SOUPS. It makes me sad to realize that I just honestly wrote that. The asian section tastes like dirty shame and the "home style foods" section is designed to make you fat. Also, the fried grill section was recently discontinued. I want to cry. The mexican food isn't half bad either; we can give them that. But otherwise-- its a wallowing hole of uninspired meat-sadness that will make you want to go on a hunger strike. read more

Yeah, it's a hospital cafeteria, but my undying love for their bread pudding made me feel obligated to share. Maybe the best dessert I've ever eaten (and I hate using superlatives), it sits in one of the dessert steam trays directly across the main entrance to the cafeteria. Made from whatever happens to be going stale, my favorite is the brioche version, although the blueberry, banana-nut & zucchini incarnationss are all serviceable. I usually spoon out a corner slice that's browned on top with a ~tbsp of caramel. I add a dollup of plain yogurt to cut the sweetness & sliced almonds for added texture. It's amazing, delicious, and easily the best thing I've eaten since moving to Madison, all for $0.20/lb (usually $1-1.50). The rest of the food in the cafeteria is average to above average, not transcendent. read more

I actually quite like this place! In all my years here I have heard that there is a cafe at the hospital but had never actually made my way over. Since my bf started working nearby, I found myself joining him on several occasions for meals. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. I wish they open a little later for dinner. In theory they close around 7 pm, but if you go after 6 pm the selections dropped widely. And ~5:30 pm seems kind of early for dinner. In terms of food options they do have about 7 or so stalls and a full salad bar. There is also a wide range of coffee and even soft serve ice-cream. There is a 'daily lunch special' being offered, and one of the most popular dishes I've seen is their make-your-own tacos. As the name implies you get to create your tacos in whatever ways you like, and they charge by the weight. That is one of my favs, but the line for that does get long during regular lunch hours. Breakfast wise you get bakery items, omelet (optional side of meat), oatmeal and the usual milk, coffee etc. Not bad at all for a hospital cafe. That said, if you are the occasional diner like me, you will find this place enjoyable. I especially like the weekly fish at the asian food store. They serve that every Thursday. For those who work here and come here daily or frequent enough for your meals, I can see why people get tired of the options eventually. If you work/visit the hospital, or take classes there, stop by and give it a try. It's hard to find something similar that is priced so competitively. read more

Salad bar is great. The hot food is hit or miss. But I will say, these people know how to make a muffin! Get one of their carrot muffins... SOOO GOOD. read more

Once you figure out what's what, you can find some fine choices. What looks like chaos is actually very well ordered. Prices are very reasonable. read more

Low prices and wide selection. Cafeteria style, easy access from Ebling Library.

Wanting a hot meal while visiting I picked out the baked 1/4 chicken, dressing & corn with a soda. The soda wad almost the hottest item. Honestly the chicken was the coldest of the items and I would guess it to about room temp. I think I will visit an area restaurant for the rest of meals! read more