It 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.
The 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.
It’s hard to disagree with Food Fight’s description of 
I mentioned in a previous blog post that because of the prevalence of brunch in Madison, restaurants need to make their offerings more and more unique. Here, what’s unique is the time in which brunch is served: Saturday, Sunday and Friday. This menu has just five items. The brisket burnt ends hash ($11) wasn’t perfect: the brisket was a bit chewy, the poached eggs were overcooked, and the mix of potatoes, bell peppers and cojita cheese was bland enough that I relied heavily on the hot sauces (especially the mango) on the table.
Koi Sushi
As previously mentioned, the rest of the menu presents a robust selection from which to choose.
