Dear Freshmen, During the next four (or five, or six or seven) years, you’re going to realize Madison has a lot to offer as a city, not the least of which is great food. As a recent University of Wisconsin graduate, I have many friends well-versed in Madison cuisine. So… Read more »

Happy March Madness, everyone! This time of year, we begin to see a plethora of spin-off brackets come out, ranging in theme from restaurants to bands to clothes. The majority of these brackets, however, focus on food and drink. This year, my friends and I decided to jump on the… Read more »

Since most of you reading this column probably don’t have cars and can’t travel very far outside of campus limits without suffering through needlessly long, loud and sometimes disturbing bus rides, I typically like to keep my restaurant exploration close to downtown Madison. But today is an exception. This week,… Read more »

Okay, guys. We got over the awkward, painful Valentine’s Day hurdle. We partied our way through Mardi Gras, and St. Patrick’s Day seems ages away. So what do we celebrate now? For Christians, it’s time for the long Lenten track to Easter. If you’re not, but really love fish, it’s… Read more »

As much as I hate to play into the “starving college student” stereotype, I have to admit I’m a little strapped for cash these days. And if you have any self-respect for your college student identity, so are you. But truthfully, being low on funds doesn’t mean you have to… Read more »

For any Packer fan, mere mention of the upcoming big game probably induces a cringe. But the respect Wisconsin lost in football can be gained back in food. Let’s look at the regional cuisine of the two competing teams in Super Bowl XLVI: New England Patriots: Clam Chowder Wisconsinites naturally love… Read more »

What? Didn’t think you had any assumptions about pie? Think again. For many of us, pies are a sweet dish synonymous with the holiday season. Think of your family’s traditional Thanksgiving or (insert religious holiday here) spread, and often a pie or two will be part of that picture. Golden… Read more »

When you think of ramen, what do you picture? Fragile squares of dried noodles? Tin foil packets of powdered flavoring? A Styrofoam cup, perhaps? Well, clear your assumptions, because the laid-back Umami Ramen & Dumpling Bar at 923 Williamson St. is out to revise ramen’s “cheap-but-questionable” reputation. Built into an… Read more »

Maybe it’s a cold cut at Subway. Maybe it’s a double cheeseburger from McDonald’s, or a cinnamon raisin bagel from Einstein Bros. When we’re on the go and we need something to eat — quick — we often end up choosing the same meal from the same place every time… Read more »

Having lived in this town for three years now, I’ll be the first to tell you Madison is not lacking in great food. The local produce and epicurean sensibilities surrounding the University of Wisconsin make it a nesting ground for myriad eclectic, excellent, individually-owned restaurants. These establishments cover a wide… Read more »

“This is no mere sandwich of grilled meat and toasted bread, Robin. This is God, speaking to us in food.” — Marshall, “How I Met Your Mother” Americans’ love affair with hamburgers goes back almost as far as our love affair with unhealthy eating. Ever since the 1880s, when Fletcher… Read more »

Start walking southwest from Camp Randall and you’ll notice the pavement beneath your feet is uneven and rustic, as though it arose organically out of the ground. Your mind will wander over the decorative shop fronts of a locally-owned Oriental rug store and a stately wine cave…wait, is that a… Read more »

Chew On This: Eat Your Heart Out, Quaker Oats Greetings, Herald readers. Your food columnists, Sam and Allegra, would like to introduce the new title for Thursday’s food column. Don’t worry, the column will still appear on Thursdays and will still be composed of pretty much the best food writing… Read more »

“Just a burger? Just a burger. Robin, it’s so much more than ‘just a burger.’ I mean… that first bite — oh, what heaven that first bite is. The bun, like a sesame freckled breast of an angel, resting gently on the ketchup and mustard below, flavors mingling in a… Read more »

What is it with gyros? Maybe it’s their cosmopolitan appeal. Maybe it’s the name. Maybe they’re just plain tasty. Whatever the reason, the oft-mispronounced (it’s a food, people, not a movement you do with your hips) Greek staple has become wildly popular with Americans in the past half-century. In Madison,… Read more »

Everyone needs a place they can go to be alone. A place where the rest of the world is shut out and new and better realities arise out of one’s imagination. Anyone who has ever had a place like this will understand the Theatre for Youth Program’s most recent production,… Read more »

Imagine there was a machine that could somehow convert words to melodies, and someone had transcribed the entire dictionary over to music. Now imagine you turned to the page with the word “drift” on it. Under the definition, you would find a recording of Kings of Leon’s newest album, Come… Read more »

Strobe lights flicker white hot on your skin. Ample bass beats consume your chest. You move your limbs in time with the hundreds of bodies that crowd around you, overcome by the intoxicating rhythms and melodies emanating from the stage up front. No, you’re not at a basement rave in… Read more »

Ah, Jimmy Eat World. You’ve taken your listeners on quite a journey over the past few years, from head-banging defiantly with Bleed American in 2001, to raking us over the coals of emotional struggle with Futures in 2004, to sweeping us up in your dreams of grandeur with Chase This… Read more »

There comes a time in every food lover’s (and by that, I mean everyone’s) life when they must ask themselves, “Have I ever been to Flat Top Grill?” If the answer is no, I suggest you apologize to the food gods and get to the Hilldale Mall, where there exists… Read more »

There is no denying the Zac Brown Band has made significant headway in the country music world. In eight years, according to Billboard.com, the six-piece group has managed to put out four albums and four number one singles, not to mention landing performance spots with a wide-ranging collection of prominent… Read more »

Welcome back to Tasty Thursday, Badgers! For those new to the column, Elin and Sam will bring you bi-weekly accounts of their successes and misadventures as they tackle our treasured Madison food scene. So put that Ramen away and read on. Madison is a town known for, among many other… Read more »

All Hail…Hurley? Oh yes, they did. From sticking a flying, Marmaduke-like dog on the cover of their last album Raditude, to creating a music video cast almost entirely out of YouTube stars, to inviting local fans to come jam with them at their “Hootenanny,” alternative rock band, Weezer always seems… Read more »

This week, the theater scene in Madison will get a little taste of pioneering spirit as “Little House on the Prairie” stakes its claim at the Overture Center. For most Americans, “Little House on the Prairie” is an instantly recognizable title. Whether derived from the original books written by Laura… Read more »

When presented with a tangible copy of their new album, Before the Frost…Until the Freeze, no one can say the Black Crowes don’t have style. The album cover is a carefree watercolor painting of rolling green hills and blue sky, with the band’s name and album title scrawled in… Read more »

Some of us only know 11:11 as the time of day you’re supposed to make a wish. The Mexican acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela, however, chose it as the title of their new album. With their humble beginnings as street performers in Dublin, Ireland, slow construction of a… Read more »

It takes a bold band to put out a winning self-titled album and then, 14 years later, have the backbone to do it again. Collective Soul is one such band. With their new self-titled album (unofficially called Rabbit by the band), this fun-loving, guitar-based group has done it once… Read more »

When fans queue up for a new Pet Shop Boys album, they expect to be delivered to an ethereal netherworld of spiraling synthesizers and pounding bass. They will not be disappointed by the English pop duo’s latest album, Yes. Every track is a new candy, fresh from the box… Read more »

The speakers at the Overture Center took an unaccustomed pounding Friday as electric guitars wailed, drums thundered and fans screamed at the 2009 Badger Blowout Concert, which featured the band OK Go. Hosted by the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board and a number of other sponsors, the event marked the… Read more »

Similar to their namesake, Pomegranates are a pleasing and fruity band, if somewhat undiscovered. They are ambassadors of the light and refreshing side of the world of indie rock, here to assure us that not all indie music is too marginalized, experimental or scary for most of us. Their… Read more »

Every good rock band needs a live album. The album A Positive Rage by The Hold Steady shows that every bad rock band needs one, too. Recorded Halloween 2007 at the Metro in Chicago, Illinois, the album also includes two previously unreleased tracks from this Brooklyn-based band, “Spectres” and… Read more »

With 22 years of experience under their belts, one would expect the Indigo Girls’ new album Poseidon and the Bitter Bug to reflect the group’s experience in musical quality and eloquent lyrics. And the notoriously diametric duo has once again impressed and lived up to every expectation. Their style… Read more »

For the past few years, the indie rock world has curiously settled its gaze on the alternative singer/songwriter group, Company of Thieves. Fans marvel at their somewhat revolutionary sound, which juxtaposes classic rock with a wry, Regina Spektor-ish, stereo-girl-type voice. Cynics predicted they would never move beyond the local… Read more »

Where have all the good bands gone? In a new world of pop music, where the sounds of artists are becoming alarmingly manufactured, we often find ourselves asking this question. Never fear, though — The Last Vegas is here to save the day with their incredible ability to grind out… Read more »

If there’s one thing the up-and-coming girl-pop star Lenka Kripac can do, it’s expertly craft an image. The catchy tunes, varied tapestry of instruments and her clear-as-a-bell voice on her recently released album Lenka exude and personify the qualities of childlike innocence and enthusiasm for life. Not only does the… Read more »

Coffee and cocoa drinkers alike, take heart. Not many alternative rock bands can craft an album that both energizes and soothes, but Anberlin’s New Surrender does just that. Although the hard-driving guitar playing from Joseph Milligan and Stephen Christian’s earnest vocals keep this dichotomy interesting, percussionist Nathan Young’s laid-back… Read more »