I still don’t understand the resistance residents of the Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood had when Freiburg Gastropub was first proposed. It’s a restaurant, not a bar, and patrons won’t be puking outside of it like they do at the Essen Haus. In other words, Freiburg is a nice addition to Monroe Street, and other than its lack of parking, it’s a great restaurant all-around.
But first, let’s talk about the bar, which is somewhat segregated from the main dining area. You’ll find a large tap selection, including Krombacher Pils ($5) and Schneider Aventinus ($5), plus specials like the Reissdorf Kolsch. Most beers range from $5-$7.50. There is a requisite TV on both ends of the bar, but in no way is this a sports bar.
Like most restaurants, Freiburg focuses on sandwiches at lunch and entrees at dinner. A similarity between the two menus is the appetizers. Give strong consideration to starting your meal with the creative brat stickers, which is bratwurst inside a potsticker ($8.95). You can easily knock back the entire plate by yourself.
Another appetizer worth ordering is the schweinebacken ($10.95). Don’t be afraid that it’s pork cheeks. These are super tender with a slight beefy flavor, and the accompanying lentil salad combines well multiple flavors and textures.
For a less adventurous eater, try the schweinbraten ($11.95). It’s a juicy pulled pork (shoulder) sandwich sans BBQ sauce and topped with cole slaw inside a toasted bun. You can really taste each component of this sandwich equally.
Other items I look forward to trying on subsequent visits are the rinderbraten ($17.95), which is mustard roast beef with mashed potatoes and apples, and the Friday night trout schnitzel ($15.95).
Brunch is served on the weekends. The potato cakes ($12.95) consisted of crispy hash browns–not potato pancakes as I had thought–a pretty flower-like structure of lox and poached eggs … yum! I also enjoyed the hopple popple ($10.95), which was a hearty serving of scrambled eggs and fluff, apple pancakes.
Freiburg Gastropub is open every day, with lunch and dinner daily and brunch on the weekends. After 5 p.m., you can park for free in the nearby dentist office, but otherwise, you may have to circle for a while to find street parking, which can be time-consuming.
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See more photos in our Freiburg Gastropub Flickr album.
I still can’t understand why it’s so hard to find flavored Lay’s chips in grocery stores in Madison. Thus, when I saw those new chips–Kettle Cooked Greek Town Gyro, Wavy West Coast Truffle Fries, New York Reuben and Southern Biscuits and Gravy–at Subway at a recent visit, I had to grab a few.
It’s been about two years since McDonald’s added the Buffalo Ranch McChicken sandwich ($1.29) to its “Dollar Menu & More” list. I usually stick with burgers at McDonald’s, but I could see this sandwich making it into the rotation. Basically, the plain, boring McChicken now has buffalo sauce on it, and that alone significantly improves its flavor.
A typical weekday breakfast for me is two cups of coffee and a protein shake. As a result, you can imagine my excitement when Starbucks rolled out 11-oz cans of Doubleshot Coffee & Protein ($2.78) a few months ago.
