What’s for breakfast? In Madison, we have a dizzying array of options for the most important meal of the day. We could line up for brunch at a buzzed-about place, belly up to the counter for a classic diner staple, or kick back and have an elegant locally-sourced breakfast at one of Madison’s finest restaurants.
On the City Cast Madison podcast today, executive producer Hayley Sperling talks to Cap Times food and culture editor about how Madison does breakfast.
One of my favorite ways to start the day in Madison is with a breakfast sandwich, whether it’s a quick grab-and-go option or a big, messy, cheesy creation you have to wrap both hands around. Here are a few of my favorites.
Did I miss your favorite Madison breakfast sammie? Drop me a line at madison@citycast.fm and let me know and I’ll collect them for a future article!
My Saturday morning tradition is to pick up this somewhat unorthodox take on the breakfast sandwich, which includes egg, bacon, Wisconsin-aged cheddar, spinach, and a tomato-sriracha spread on a rosemary cheddar scone.
There’s nothing that can’t be improved by the addition of a doughnut, and a breakfast sandwich is no exception. As she says on the podcast, Hayley is a big fan of Zippy Lube’s sandwich, which features a hot ‘n’ fresh donut with egg, cheese, and bacon, sausage or veggie sausage.
You can’t go wrong with anything at this Willy Street institution, but my go-to is the Drew, with an Italian sausage patty, fried egg, cheddar, and chili-maple aioli on the bakery’s in-house Italian bread.
There’s a reason why there’s a line out the door every weekend. It’s worth it even for Lazy Jane’s affordable no-frills classic, featuring a sunny-side up egg, sausage patty, and cheddar on a toasted English muffin.
By far the cheapest option in town, the University Avenue bagel factory makes a great little sandwich to order when you’re commuting in or out of town. And the bagels of course cannot be beat.
This sandwich lives up to its acronym, with Nashville fried chicken added to the traditional egg-cheese-bacon combination, with a little calabrian chili aioli for added heat.
Check the daily specials menu at this Monona Drive. favorite for something really cool, but I also love this beauty, featuring ham and tomato jam along with a fried egg, horseradish mayo, red onions, and goat cheese on wholegrain bread.
The fact that this sandwich comes on a housemade Bloom biscuit alone should be enough to get you in the door. But inside the biscuit comes savory sweet potato, caramelized onions, arugula, cheese, and curried vegan cream cheese. Add an egg or bacon for protein.
I’m a little surprised that an iconic breakfast institution like Marigold only has one breakfast sandwich on its menu, but it’s a doozy. Nestled within a ciabatta roll is a fried over hard egg, cheddar-spiked boursin cheese, bacon, tomato, and green onion.
