Archive for August, 2017

Hail Mary Sports Grill

Sunday, August 27th, 2017

20170824_162406It remains to be seen if Hail Mary Sports Grill, which in May took over the church that Bellini had occupied, can attract enough customers to make it.

Whereas Bellini was cozy and inviting, Hail Mary is too spacious. With mostly high tops and a few tables that are only a step above a card table, Hail Mary resembles a townie bar instead of a sports bar. Plus, the TVs aren’t positioned well for easy viewing.

At least Hail Mary doesn’t have a cookie-cutter menu. For example, among the appetizers (listed as “invocation”), you can find fried green beans ($5.99). They are deep-fried and a decent snack good because you don’t actually taste any green beans, just the onion ring-like breading. The ranch sauce helps, too.

The steak sandwich ($12.99) is unique for having bleu cheese plus blueberry compote. You end up getting some savory and sweet in every bite. The flank steak comes in big chunks and was a little underseasoned, but that didn’t matter much with all the other ingredients.

Other sandwiches (“scripture”) include a spicy burger ($7.99) and a Wisconsin grilled cheese ($8.99), which for some reason is priced higher than both burgers and the veggie wrap.

20170825_120344The menu has flatbread (“sermon”), too. The deluxe ($9.99), which was loaded with pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, mushrooms and onions, would have been more palatable had the cracker-thin crust not been incredibly dry. Other variations include Greek ($9.99) and BBQ chicken ($9.99).

Friday means fish fry (“postlude”). I probably should have ordered the perch ($15.99) baked instead of deep-fried. That’s because the fish was over-fried, making each bite too crunchy instead of crispy and sucking out all the moisture from the perch. You also can order fried and baked cod.

Hail Mary Sports Grill is open every day for lunch and dinner.

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See more photos in our Hail Mary Sports Grill Flickr album.

Hail Mary Sports Grill Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Gus’s Diner

Sunday, August 20th, 2017

20170819_120210Following its Sun Prairie location, Gus’s Diner opened a second restaurant this past May in Verona in a rapidly growing commercial section along East Verona Avenue.

In other reviews, I’ve negatively described some foods as diner-quality. That’s because many times diners sacrifice quality for speed and price. Fortunately, that’s not the case here. One example is the delightful crispy chicken wrap ($9.99). It’s stuffed with crispy, juicy chicken instead of filler ingredients, plus the wrap wasn’t soggy nor had it been sitting in a fridge all day.

Except for the waffles, breakfast is served all day. You’ll find classics such as steak (ribeye, country-fried, sirloin) and eggs, French toast, scramblers and skillets. I tried the waffle combo ($9.29), which comes with two eggs and either three strips of bacon or sausage links. The large waffle had a gentle touch of sweetness to it, and it was quite filling. By the way, 3 p.m. is the cut-off time to order waffles.

Two pages of the large menu are dedicated to sandwiches, burgers and wraps. A new item is the Wisconsin cheese curd burger ($10.49), which doesn’t need any explanation. On a future visit, I’ll probably get the Brooklyn ($11.99), a burger topped with corned beef, sauerkraut and swiss cheese inside grilled marble rye.

20170819_121637Our server said dinner entrees also are served all day, which was somewhat surprising, as I doubt many people want to eat salmon or chicken alfredo in the morning. I couldn’t resist ordering the chicken fried chicken ($10.99), and it didn’t disappoint. The breading had a tasty seasoning, the chicken was moist and the gravy was a perfect complement.

What’s a diner without sweets? The Oreo cookie shake ($4.49) was well-crafted; other flavors include mocha, butterscotch and root beer. Meanwhile, you’ll find an assortment of pies. The one that caught my eye was the M&M cream pie ($2.99), which was fluffy and decadent.

Gus’s Diner serves breakfast and lunch every day and dinner Tuesday-Sunday.

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See more photos in our Gus’s Diner Flickr album.

Gus's Diner Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Pizza Di Roma

Sunday, August 13th, 2017

20170731_121605New York-style pizza-by-the-slice is available outside of downtown, now that Pizza Di Roma has opened a location where Legends used to be.

The space is much brighter than Legends ever was but has an awkward set-up, primarily because it’s a counter-service restaurant integrated into a former sports bar.

In all the years I’ve eaten at the downtown location of Pizza Di Roma, I’ve never ordered anything but pizza, so in recent visits to the west side location, I explored the rest of the menu, which turned out to be bigger than expected.

A few appetizers lead off. The breaded cheese ravioli ($6.95) is massively breaded, but at least a lot of ricotta cheese greets you inside. You also can order chicken wings ($8.95) and fried calamari ($9.95).

You have lots of pasta dishes, including staples such as lasagna and tortellini, from which to choose. Among the more unique was the spaghetti putanesca ($9.95; should be spelled with two Ts). The black olive flavor is most prevalent, while the carrot shavings added an unwelcome texture. There were just a few pieces of anchovies, which were not overly salty.

Similar to the pasta dishes, the entrees will take 5-10 min. to prepare. The chicken arrabbiata ($10.95) sports an assortment of peppers, including jalapenos. The marinara sauce was average, the noodles were similar to sub-par ones found in a diner and the two thin chicken breasts were pretty tough.

20170804_115545Other entrees include shrimp marinara ($12.95) and eggplant parmesan ($11.95).

Among the subs, I got the sausage and peppers ($7.95). The slices of Italian sausage and strips of green peppers are topped with marinara sauce and cheese, then stuffed inside a huge roll. It’s a lot of bread, which turned out to be necessary to hold all the ingredients together.

The west side location of Pizza Di Roma is open for lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday.

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See more photos in our Pizza Di Roma Flickr album.

Pizza Di Roma Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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