Posts Tagged ‘far west’

Chick-Fil-A

Saturday, January 31st, 2015

My goodness, the crazy popularity of Madison’s first Chick-Fil-A reminds me of when Sonic first opened and cars would be backed up on University Avenue. At one point in December, I counted at least 14 cars in a row in the drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A, plus others in the adjacent lot waiting for their order.

I’ve had Chick-Fil-A before in Florida, but I thought I’d go over some of the items for those who aren’t familiar with the menu.

Breakfast is served until 10:30 a.m. every day and includes items such as the sausage, egg and cheese biscuit and the chicken breakfast burrito. While I like the biscuits, I was intrigued by the chicken, egg and cheese on sunflower multigrain bagel ($3.55). There’s nothing like fried chicken to get your day started. The bagel was good but too crumbly; I may as well have just eaten a biscuit.

The rest of the menu is served all day, even during breakfast.  If you’ve never eaten here, you should probably start with the classic chicken sandwich. For me, I wanted to try the Spicy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich ($4.05), which comes with pepperjack cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. I liked this a lot, and despite it not being that spicy, the sandwich was still spicier than Wendy’s version.

I also enjoyed the Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich ($5.95), topped with bacon and Colby-Jack cheese. The chicken was moist and well-seasoned. I was actually surprised Chick-Fil-A could do grilled chicken as well as it does fried chicken.

On that thought, let’s talk about the chicken nuggets. My 12-piece order ($4.69) was a mixed batch of mega-dry pieces and tender pieces. Plus, they didn’t carry the flavor of the fried chicken, and for those reasons, I wouldn’t order the nuggets again. Note: you also may order the nuggets in grilled form.

The rest of the menu is comprised of salads, wraps, desserts and even soups.

Chick-Fil-A is open Monday-Saturday. It has a big indoor playground and free wifi.

Chick-Fil-A on Urbanspoon

Jason’s Deli

Sunday, January 25th, 2015

Jason’s Deli opened in December next door to Bonefish Grill in essentially the parking lot of Shopko at West Towne Mall. The chain restaurant has most of its locations in the south; Madison is the first in Wisconsin. The menu is massive, but the good news is it’s hard to go wrong: Basically everything is satisfying, and it’s easy to find something specific to your individual tastes.

Like meat? Any of the “Famous Favorites” is the way to go. For example, the Beefeater ($7.99) is a hearty French dip sandwich. The shaved beef is bursting with flavor, and I’m not convinced it requires the au jus. On my next visit, I’ll probably order the New York Yankee ($9.09), which comes with corned beef and pastrami.

Heading over to the specialty sandwiches, I picked out the Meataballa ($6.99), which is stocked full of small, tasty meatballs. I appreciate that it wasn’t drowned in marinara sauce, as you typically find at other restaurants. The specialty sandwiches, clubs, paninis and Famous Favorites all come with a bag of chips and a pickle.

Of course, a deli is going to have wraps. The turkey wrap ($6.59) didn’t have much turkey in it, but it did include a welcomed combination of guacamole and ranch dressing. You can get fruit, steamed vegetables, chips and salsa or chips and guacamole along with your wrap.

The rest of the menu is comprised of “Meatless Eats,” muffalettas, pasta dishes, soups and salads (I told you the menu was huge!). The Mighty Salmon Salad ($9.69) scared me at first, as it was so full of beans, beets and nuts that I didn’t initially see any salmon (a big chunk was indeed there). The whole ensemble was a bit bland for me, but it is a supremely healthy salad.

Jason’s Deli is open every day for lunch, dinner and carryout. It offers catering and delivery, and it has a drive-thru.

Jason's Deli on Urbanspoon

Brews Brothers Pub

Sunday, February 16th, 2014

Before I walked into Brews Brothers Pub located on the far west side on Junction Road, I was envisioning a huge space, a comprehensive menu and walls filled with TVs. I was wrong on all accounts.

However, sitting in the recently opened establishment, I realized it’s similar to many strip-mall restaurants/bars I’ve visited in smaller cities and suburbs, and if you keep that in mind, the place meets all expectations.

Capacity is only 80, the bar only serves beer and wine and really the only items on the two-sided menu are burgers. Let’s start with the Brothers’ Original Burger ($5.39). It’s pretty plain, but the nice thing is you can add some “extras,”  such a fried egg (49 cents), a brat patty ($1.79) or even pulled pork ($1.29).

The other 11 burgers, all made with 4.5-oz patties, have more excitement to them. The Weston Burger ($6.89) comes with bacon, cheese and BBQ sauce. The bacon was some of the best I’ve had on a burger, but the sauce was too tangy. Next time, I think I’ll try the Philly Cheese Burger ($6.39), which includes grilled peppers, onions and provolone cheese.

The special of the day was too tempting to resist. Called the Bourbon Burger ($6.39), it was topped with bacon, cheese, onion straws and a bourbon mayo. Again, the bacon was awesome, and I adored the slightly sweet mayo on this overall satisfying sandwich.

All burgers are served a la carte (hence the empty-looking basket in the photo above). Side choices are fries, chips, shoestring fries and sweet potato fries. I had an order of hand-cut fries ($2.39), which were a little soggy. I would have enjoyed dipping them into bourbon mayo if that was available.

A larger side item is Pub Grub ($5.29), consisting of hand-cut chips topped with beer cheese, chopped bacon and chives. Super delicious, but the cheese could have been more melty to make it easier to spread around the plate; instead, the cheese had solidified into several large clumps.

Regarding the beer, you have two pages of beers on tap, available in pints and 20-oz glasses, from which to choose. The beers come from all over the country. For reference, I had the New Belgium Snapshot ($6 pint), the Boulder Nitro Shake ($5) and the 3 Sheeps Baaad Boy ($6).

Brews Brothers is open every day for lunch and dinner, and it has happy hour from 4-7 p.m.

***

See more photos on our Brews Brothers Flickr set.

Brews Brothers Pub on Urbanspoon

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