The Contingent will invade MadCity on May 2, 2010!

Okay folks, it's time to kick this thread into high gear!  May 2nd is less than a month away.  If we're serious about making this tour happen we need to get some input from the members as to where we're going to visit.

Remember, past experience has taught us that four eating stops is a good, manageable number so we aren't bloated all the way home and into the next day.  A cultural stop or two to break things up and we've got ourselves a tour.

I posted a number of suggestions on the first page of this thread.  Other members have also put down suggestions.  Also, there is at least one link to the Madison A to Z Restaurant guide embedded in this thread.

Now we need to make some decisions and lay out our itinerary.  Who wants to go first?

Buddy

With Doug's Soul Food out of the picture , I don't have any very pressing preferences.  I can see us doing: (1) a BBQ place; (2) an Asian restaurant (the Himalayan or Southeast Asian place); (3) a greasy spoon (such as Curve) or an "a la trunk" place (the Corner Store); and (4) whatever happens with the A-Z contingent (it would be fun to do something random). But my knowledge of Madtown is pretty thin, so I don't know how these options may coalesce with each other.  If timing and geography are an issue, perhaps we should pick a section of town, then isolate some options, and then map out a feasible plan. I don't know if the options I mentioned would have us zigzagging hither and yon....

For cultural stops in between, the Caterpillar idea sounds fun, but sitting inside heavy machinery puts "butterflies" in my stomach. (*ugh--joke is over--you can laugh now*)

If our choices lean away from the compact university districts, perhaps a whirl around the Arboretum area would be nice. But if we do more stuff in the densely packed (and walkable) part of the city, we can visit some shops perhaps....

I'm always down for BBQ and Asian food.
I, too, would rather not do a Mexican place (although Central or South American would be interesting) nor a bagel place. No offense, but I'm really no longer allowed to eat them, and a stop there would be torture.
As far as the "in-between" stops go, I'm also open, as I don't know too much about Madison, either. 

Stand back.  I've got a plan.

I dropped a note to Nichole at Madison AtoZ and based on her suggestions have the start of an itinerary for the the Madison tour.

Nichole & JM are due to review Pan & Pan, a new Mexican bakery and Taqueria, for their website in early May and offered to let us join them.  The restaurant is on Madison's far East side, convenient to I-90/94, and is located adjacent to Woodman's.   Pan & Pan could be the start of our meals for the day; this location also offers a good place for people to meet and has a lot of free parking.  If you want, you could also do a Woodman's grocery tour before leaving for home.

The cultural* attraction that I envision, is also the prime dining opportunity in Madison.  I propose that after congregating at P&P, we caravan to State Street, park, and then take a leisurely walk down State Street from the Capitol to the UW Memorial Union.  A tour of the Capitol is always worth the time.

State Street offers a variety of shopping, the most diverse ethnic dining choices in Madison, as well as the Stern-Approved Plaza Tavern & Grill.  A stop at the Plaza for lunch, and then my plan.

With all the ethnic choices on State, I suggest an Ethnic Scavenger Hunt.  We either pick or are assigned a cuisine, go out and grab some carry-out.  Then we dine ala trunk, without the trunk. It will have to be ala park bench, as State Street is sans automobiles.  Scanning MadisonAtoZ I saw the following suitable possibilities - Kabul, Himal Chuli, Chacutera, and Bureka all within a few blocks on State.

At the end of State Street is the Daily Scoop, the retail outlet for UW Dairy Farm ice creams, inside the Memorial Union and also the Memorial Terrace on Lake Mendota.

Perhaps we can add one more stop after State Street to complete our meals before heading home.

* I define "cultural" loosely.

I think JRP has got it just right.  A little fine tuning vis a vis the scavenger hunt part of the day and we're there.  Jim, if you want to take the helm here, I'm ready to put my Roadfood life into your hands.

Buddy

Yes Buddy, I'll put forward some more suggestions.  I looked at the map and there are several more Asian and Middle Eastern restaurants in the area.  I need to check hours of operation on Sundays.  We still have to figure out where to eat, but I've got an idea.

I also got the following from Buddy in a PM.

BuddyRoadhouse


A walk up State Street would be fine with me.  Of course, the whole downtown area is worth exploring, but obviously we've got time and stamina restraints to consider.

I had to inform him that State Street is pretty much all of Madison's downtown.  I believe that the rest of the city has no concentrated commercial areas, outside of the 'burbs. 

The walk from the State Capitol to the Student Union is just short of 1 mile.  If that presents a physical challenge to anyone, please send me a PM and we'll arrange some accommodation.

Sounds like a great plan to me. With the Cinco de Mayo coming up, Pan and Pan sounds like a wonderful start to the day. The rest of the plan sounds excellent, too. I'm all for walking around and/or a tour of the Capitol. The ethnic idea sounds fun; isn't there a place around State St. that sells pasties? It seems like we'll have no lack of options to try out. Great ideas!

John,

Miles Teddywedgers is the pasty place right across from the Capitol.  There are also bunches of cart sell food, but they may not be around on Sunday.

Jim

Do we have an idea of a start time for this? 

I am in Madison and while I don't think I'll be joining in, if any of you are arriving Friday or early Saturday (are any of you making a weeknd of it?), don't miss the Farmers Market on Saturday morning (bright and early), right on the capitol square. I think it goes until noonish and while there won't be a lot of fresh produce this early in the year, there will be plenty of pastries, cheeses, syrups, honey, landjaegers, beef jerky, etc... Also plenty of plants (flowers and veggies) for your gardens.

I haven't eaten at any of the places mentioned in the last few posts, except for Teddywedgers. They have great pasties!!
For BBQ, I would put in a vote for Smokey Jon's, although that may be off your path. He has fabulous BBQ, he does smoke his own meat (not on site, but in a small warehouse about a mile or so down the road). I used to work for him.

I am too new here, thus more than a bit shy to meet anybody but I am excited to hear your reports and opinions on the dining in my lovely city. Have fun all!

If you're new, then you should meet up with us!
We love newcomers, and I promise, we won't bite. It's hard to be shy or feel awkward for very long around The Contingent. 
Please join us!

Cheezy, it's true what X1 says. I'm new too and have only gone to a couple Contingent events. These people are very easy to be around. The only bite I ever received didn't even leave a scar

Thanks for the input on locations.

Okay, beer and spaetzle is out, I gathered that much....one lousy review, and you guys bail. I don't go by reviews, I go by health dept reports...

What about Porta Bella??? Been there with clients.  The food was very good Italian.  (of course, my boss, who is a Madison alum, was probably just choosing this place so he could relive his youth...he kept telling me how that was the spot all the guys took girls they were really interested in back in college)  Here's a link:

Okay, so I'm "link-challenged". 

Here you go:

http://www.portabellarestaurant.biz/

I haven't been to Porta Bella for probably 15 years but I remember eating cheese at the wine bar...

Brad

abe_froeman


Do we have an idea of a start time for this? 

We can shoot for when the Illinois end of the Contingent can make it there. 

Oh wait, Buddy closes Burt's on Saturday ...

Shouldn't be too bad.  Why don't we go for a lunch time arrival.  Is 1:00pm too late?

Buddy

BuddyRoadhouse


Shouldn't be too bad.  Why don't we go for a lunch time arrival.  Is 1:00pm too late?

Buddy

As I said ...

JRPfeff


Oh wait, Buddy closes Burt's on Saturday ...

1:00, depends on how much you want to do? 

I would like to be on State Street by 1:00.  How about the early birds joining MadisonAtoZ for an early lunch at Pan & Pan, then we all leave from the Woodman's parking lot by 12:30 to be at the Capitol by 1:00?

Jim

I'll meet you at Woodman's (location?). I'll see if my mom wants to join us.
She lives two blocks from the Capitol and about 3 blocks from State Street.
She'd love it plus she likes Mr. & Mrs. Roadhouse among others in our group.

MFL,

The eastside Woodman's Food Market is at 3817 Milwaukee Street, Madison, WI 53714.

Jim

Sounds like a good plan. Would we be starting to walk at 1:00, or will we be settling down into a restaurant (the Plaza?) around that time?

quijote,

I'm going to have the itinerary planned out to the millisecond, but haven't gotten there yet.  Please stand by while I work it out ...

Not really, tell us what you prefer.

jrp

No preference on my part, really, but if we're all going to rendez-vous somewhere near the Capitol before we make our walk toward the Plaza, the Great Dane is always good for a quick post-lunch beer.... Otherwise, we can all meet at the Capitol somewhere, I suppose.

quijote


For cultural stops in between, the Caterpillar idea sounds fun, but sitting inside heavy machinery puts "butterflies" in my stomach. (*ugh--joke is over--you can laugh now*)

Too bad...I was going to let you ride along while I do this:
 
9-minute YouTube video
 
Brad

Brad_Olson

quijote


For cultural stops in between, the Caterpillar idea sounds fun, but sitting inside heavy machinery puts "butterflies" in my stomach. (*ugh--joke is over--you can laugh now*)

Too bad...I was going to let you ride along while I do this:
 
9-minute YouTube video
 
Brad

The operator in that video is insane; there's not enough gold in Fort Knox to get me to risk my life like that. Apparently there's no limit to what people ( and corporations ) will do for a little publicity.

Brad_Olson


Here you go:



I haven't been to Porta Bella for probably 15 years but I remember eating cheese at the wine bar...

Brad

 
Brad... Thanks for posting the link. 
 

As long as you don't make me wake up too early (for me that is 9-10ish) I'm happy. Not a morning person! Although for a special occasion such as this I may actually be willing to set my alarm on a Sunday to get there in time to check out that Pan & Pan place

MilwFoodlovers


I'll meet you at Woodman's (location?). I'll see if my mom wants to join us.
She lives two blocks from the Capitol and about 3 blocks from State Street.
She'd love it plus she likes Mr. & Mrs. Roadhouse among others in our group.

Can't wait to meet your mom! Hope she joins us.

I'm new to this, even though I drove down to New Orleans for the Roadfood Festival.  Is there some place to meet & identify myself to the touring group?  Sounds like a good tour in Mad City May 2.  Thanks....

Hiya, yellodeere! 
I remember meeting you at the Roadfood Festival information booth!

Keep watching the thread, but most of the details about where/when seem to be posted. It'll be finalized as the date gets closer.