The best part of the Willy Street Fair is the people watching - pure old school Madison funky vibe…read more It was a lovely September afternoon that was perfect for a festival and it brought out the crowds. Many great food options (should have tried the apple pieces with caramel and bacon bits - next time!) and good music and street performers. Most of the other vendors were of little interest. I was surprised that it was only a few blocks long - I expected bigger. A fun time for sure.

Just a mere half a block from my house, Willy Street Fair is something I will look forward to for…read moreyears to come! Two days of sheer shenanigans. Expect costumes, great music, beer, delicious local food, amazing local artists, and an all around good time. This event is the epitome of what makes Willy Street unique!

Possibly the best group ride all year. It's not the longest by far though it does have…read moresemi-challenging terrain. The draw here is the delicious food! There are stops around every 10 miles and special meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The routes are pretty well organized and they seem to have plenty of sag support. Did I mention the food? The Underground Food Collective were the ones behind the lunch and dinner and Cafe Soleil catered the breakfast. Plus the farm tour was really interesting. Support your local farmers and have fun while doing it.

Amazing neighborhood festival that made it through the pandemic better and bigger. The music is…read morealways top notch. Great food and beer options. The spirit of the event is incredible and it brings the east side together! Make sure to check out the night performances with the group that performs from the trees! One of a kind festival!

Often my favorite festival of the summer. Great bands and people. A terrific way to end the summer.read more

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." - George Carlin (1937-2008)…read more I'll give people credit but not this one. The people who tore down this statue were idiots. Hans Christian Heg was a Norwegian American abolitionist, journalist, anti-slavery activist, politician and soldier. He settled in Wisconsin and is best known as the colonel who commanded the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment on the Union side in the American Civil War. He died of the wounds he received at the Battle of Chickamauga. The Battle of Chickamauga was fought on September 19-20, 1863. It was the first major battle of the war fought in Georgia, the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater, and involved the second-highest number of casualties after the Battle of Gettysburg. The Union suffered 17,170 casualties and losses, the Confederates had 18,454. Heg died fighting for the Union against slavery. Yet the rioters in June 2020 tore down the statue and threw it into a lake. Some people. Thankfully, the Wisconsin state government restored and reinstalled the original in September 2021. As well, someone was charged with the tcrime and sentenced to two years in prison. [Review 17182 overall - 193 in Wisconsin - 699 of 2022.]

Absolutely terrific. Generally I kinda shy away from Italian unless it's 'old school' fare. Went…read moreout of my comfort zone and wasn't upset.

To paraphrase Our Experience: Applebees is a much better choice for dinner than Osteria Papavero…read more The restaurant is too dark to even read the menu. The lights in the entire restaurant kept flickering all throughout dinner like the establishment was experiencing some sort of overload of circuits. When we inquired about the issue, the waiter simply rolled his eyes and said "this has been an issue for a long time, we keep telling them that they need to get this looked at" The food was mediocre at best, lacking any true flavor. They spend more effort trying to give their dishes cute Italian names than trying to make a decent meal. The so-called "Hi-Top" seating had about the same feel as sitting at a bar. You and your guest were seated directly next to each other, and you had to physically turn completely around to speak with the wait staff that was taking your order. Bottom line: There are MUCH better choices in the greater Madison area to eat and spend the kind of money that they are asking. I wouldn't recommend this establishment for any occasion.

Solid Italian food in Madison, Wisconsin. I thought the Rigatoni ala Bolognese was the best dish…read moreI've eaten in Wisconsin and if you served me that in the West Village I'd be impressed with it as well. Pasta cooked very nicely and a fantastic flavor profile on the sauce & meat. Pizza is also decent; I'd get it again although I I much prefer the Novanta in the area. I didn't like sauce on the pizza and the cheese & crust were only okay. I'd come back again.

Excellent food, service and atmosphere. It is a very cozy Italian restaurant setting with an open…read morekitchen concept, where you can also see them cooking the personal pizzas in a brick oven. I also love being in restaurants where they really bring in the traditions of the cuisine. For apps, we shared the eggplant fritters (which were amazing!), burrata and salad. Must get the eggplant fritters, they were little balls of eggplant delight! And I am a huge eggplant parm fan so this was right up my alley. For my main, I opted for the shrimp scampi with homemade pasta! I loved the homemade pasta! However, I felt the sauce was very light. I wish I could've ordered this pasta dish with the san marzano sauce. I think that would've made the flavor pop more for me. And for desserts, they were also incredible. Tiramisu, cannoli and the lemon sorbet! Highly recommend the lemon sorbet, was such a strong lemon flavor. Overall, definitely recommend in the Madison area, one of my favs so far!

Salvatore the owner is the best. Naples 15 is amazing food and makes you feel like you're in Tony…read moreBennett's home kitchen. Make sure you stop here in Madison.

Absolutely top of the line service in every regard. Amazing food. Servers were courteous and…read moreseriously knowledgeable. Honestly incredible. Sal is also a great guy. Pricey but you pay for premium. 10/10 service and atmosphere

My husband and I went on the lake to lake tour with guide Stanley. We we super excited to eat and…read moretour our way through Madison!! We've done 3 walking food tours prior to this one and were excited to add it to our list. There were many things we loved about this tour; Stanley's enthusiasm, the beautiful day and great walking weather, the folks we chatted with on the tour and *most* of the food. The tour was extremely slow to get going. We were all very hungry; eating small breakfasts and no morning snacks in anticipation of a heavy food afternoon. The tour began promptly at 12:30. We spent a very long time in the Convention Center talking about Frank Lloyd Wright. And then when we left the history part of the tour continued for an hour. The first tasting of any food did not happen until a little after 1:30. First stop was Merchant, a funky restaurant/bar, where we were served a Small quarter of a cuban sandwich and a tiny arugula salad dressed in vinaigrette. The Cubano was very good but the serving we seriously tiny. Then we lingered waaaay too long (in my opinion) at the Merchant sitting at the table even though everyone had been done for a while. After the merchant we made Lots of little stops to look at landmarks around the capital area. And we did a little walk through of the capital building, which was very beautiful, but my tummy was still rumbling!!!! 2:22 was our second stop at Fromagination Cheese Shop. This was an absolutely adorable shop with oodles of cheese as well as other gormete food stuffs like cookies, pastries, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard, jams and jellies and other gift stuff . 3 small pieces of cheese and 2 crackers. There were also a few samples around the store for tasting but really it was a very small food sampling. Shortly after that around 2:44 we made it to Ian's Pizza for a half-slice of Mac and cheese pizza. Ehhh. Did not like it. They had some really cool other kinds and just an awesome menu in general. Just was not into the Mac and Cheese slice. Ick Next up was a little after 3:00 and we stopped at Himal Chuli which was a Nepalese eatery for a Mango Lassi. I was disappointed that we did not get to go inside the restaurant. We just grabbed-and-go our drinks and walked to our next stop. At around 3:17 we stopped into State Street Brats where we were served half to a third of a brat and A half pint of Spotted Cow beer from New Glarus Brewery. Good tasting. But again, a very small sample Lastly we walked to UW campus to the student union for a vanilla malt. It was good. Wish we had gotten to try the ice cream. I'm sure they have some great flavors there. The union was amazing however, right on the lake. Lucky students. The tour ran over, ending around 3:45. My husband and I left still feeling kind of hungry which has NEVER happened to us after a food tour. So, we had a fun time but left with mixed feelings about the tour. Not sure how much we will recommend this one to ours friends. Would rather send them down to the zerve.com food tours in Chicago.

Monroe street tour was wonderful!!, great food all in walking distance!…read moreguide was well educated in Madison history. The food was excellent choices. went to many places I did not know were there! pizza, salad, beligum beer, mussels, so fun! enoyed every moment, if you live in madison or visiting this tour is a must!!

Had a late dinner at Cento and it did not disappoint! I ordered the Tuscan kale Cesar salad and the…read morescallops entree. Both were impeccable! My server, Prasad, was really the highlight! He was so sweet and informative. Went through the menu and described everything in such detail. My friend and I were visiting Madison for work and he offered us so many options to fill our free time. He takes so much pride in everything and it shows. The ambiance of the restaurant is a little on the nicer side, but they do allow casual attire. 10/10 recommend and can't wait to come back for the wine flight with the in house Somm.

First time at Cento for a friend's birthday today and spoiler, will be back! We all went ahead with…read morethe Boozy Brunch for $35 a person, which comes with 2 cocktails, unlimited coffee, a pastry of your choice, and any entree on the menu. Drip coffee was delicious to start. I had the lobster fettuccine and there was PLENTY of lobster in it. Pasta tasted fresh and it hit the spot! Some of our party got the French toast which looked amazing and I'll probably try next time-- peaches and pecans with it! A few of them ordered bacon on the side too and it came with plenty of it, 3-4 long strips. Cannoli was the pastry I chose and it was the perfect sweet treat. Filling had cinnamon and was dipped in pistachios, which I will be back for! Ella was our server-- simply amazing! Super attentive, knows the menu like the back of her hand, and went above and beyond for us many times. Michael was one of the hosts who went out of his way to practically give us a photo shoot to capture my friend's special day. Beautiful restaurant with an elevated feel. Open environment while still making the table feel private. They were piping pastries while we were there which was fun to see. Went on a summer Saturday around 11, and if you're from Madison, you know that means the farmer's market (aka, make a plan A/B/C for parking, plan plenty of time to get there and be patient with the crowd outdoors).