Hmong New Year

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Viet Town

Viet Town

One of the most delicious Vietnamese dishes I've had recently came from a little strip mall restaurant near East Towne called Viet Town ...
Brett Goldstein

The Weekend Ahead Oct. 23-25, 2026

Here's a curated list of some of the major Madison, WI events happening this weekend ...
Halloween

Halloween in Madison 2026

Here's a list of major Halloween-related events in the Madison, WI area. Of note, State Street remains a popular place to congregate, even without an official event like Freakfest. Also keep in mind that many bars, such as Madison's and ...

JB’s Eat-A-Bite BBQ

July 6th, 2013

The south end of Park Street has been seeing some new businesses sprout up recently, including JB’s Eat-A-Bite BBQ, which opened in the winter. It took over for the space once occupied by Mario’s Pizza and is adjacent to 7-Eleven.

The menu is full of wonderful southern items, from chicken gizzards to frog legs to candied yams. Of course, it has the staples, many of which are found in the sandwich section.

The BBQ pork shoulder ($5.99) was my favorite. It was tangy, tender and had just the right amount of fat. That made the BBQ beef brisket ($5.99) surprising, as it didn’t have any gristle and was a bit tougher than I would expect. Even without the right texture, the right flavor was still there. I also had the chopped steak burger ($6.99; it’s actually in patty form) and adored it. I was pleasantly surprised how tasty this was–it was a  like super soft sirloin steak.

From the “single orders” section I had the macaroni & cheese ($2.49), which was fairly ho-hum, and the alligator bites, which were fine on their own but needed some kind of dipping sauce.

The catfish fillets ($9.99), found on the dinner menu, were crispy yet moist. They were good straight up, though I added some hot sauce. The accompanying cornbread was disappointing, however, as it was dry and didn’t taste like or resemble cornbread.

Last but not least, the ribs ($17.99 for a full rack). You could taste the smokiness of the ribs through the tangy sauce. I appreciated that there was plenty of meat on the bones. It wasn’t fall-of-the-bone good, but these are still worth a try.

JB’s Eat-a-Bite is open Tuesday-Sunday for dine-in or carryout. I recommend calling ahead, as sometimes they are out of ribs.

JB's Eat-A-Bite BBQ on Urbanspoon

Welcome back, Twinkies!

June 30th, 2013

If you visit the Hostess website, you’ll see a countdown for the return of Twinkies, slated for July 15. Here’s some food for thought:

The first Twinkies were made with banana cream but later replaced with vanilla cream. After a 2005 tie-in with the movie “King Kong,” the flavor was brought back in 2007.

Make your own Twinkies with this Cream Canoe Pan.

Twinkies aren’t the only Hostess treats making a comeback–so are CupCakes and Donettes.

Twinkies have many imitators, including Golden Creme Cakes, Dreamies and Bingles.

Summers in Wisconsin means city/county/state fairs and of course, deep-fried Twinkies.

In the movie “UHF,” Weird “Al” Yankovic’s character eats a Twinkie stuffed with a hot dog.

Jordandal Cookhouse

June 23rd, 2013

I was familiar with the meats of Jordandal Farms through its stand at the Dane County Farmers’ Market, so I was intrigued by the restaurant the farm’s owners opened late last year in Verona. Called The Cookhouse, it’s take-out only, although there is one table outside, and all meats come directly from the farm while other products are locally sourced (e.g. ice cream from Sassy Cow Creamery).

There are about a dozen items on the menu, plus daily specials, which range from pizza to tacos to Banh Mi. I was a fan of the Patty Melt ($9) for its bacon mayo and raw milk cheddar. A juicy quarter-pound beef patty centered two buttery pieces of rye bread. You certainly don’t need to add ketchup to this flavorful sandwich.

The Braised Lamb Pita ($10) grew on me. At first, I was thrown off  by the shredded pieces of lamb since I’m used to the sliced variety in a typical gyro, but the creamy cucumber sauce and hummus made me realize I was eating an upgraded gyro. Another standard item, the Cubano ($9.50), was just fine save for the slow roasted pork, which was a bit dry. At least the ham and Swiss were stellar.

If you don’t like kimchi, you could learn to like it via the Korean Beef ($8.50). It’s miso chili-braised beef chuck topped with Ssamjang mayo and a much milder (re: less pungent) version of kimchi. It was a creative sandwich, but I probably wouldn’t order it again.

On other hand, the White Cheddar Mac ($8.50) is something that I would recommend. It had just the right amount of creaminess, and you can add bacon or polish sausage for a small fee.

All the sandwiches I ordered came with a side. I had the quinoa salad (good), the salami and cheese (tasty), the sweet potato salad with bacon (I may never get regular potato salad again) and the coleslaw (too dry).

As for desserts, I enjoyed the M&M cookie and loved the decadent caramel cheesecake.

Jordandal Cookhouse is open Tuesday-Saturday. You can find its daily specials on its Facebook page.

***

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