Michael Braun's Blog

Yesterday, Lauren and I once again attempted to take advantage of a Madison tradition: Taste of Madison, held on Capitol Square. Taste of Madison brings together many restaurants from the city together at one event. All offer a sampling of their fare, at reduced portions and reduced prices (nothing over $4). It allows you, in theory, to taste food from a lot of restaurants you may not have frequented, as well as a chance to socialize, listen to music, and have fun.

For the second year in a row, we found it exceedingly disappointing. First, the food was not very good. Partly this has to do with the selection of restaurants. Yes, I could go get a soft pretzel from Auntie Anne’s, but I can also do that any time I am in a mall in North America. According to their website, they have 1000 locations worldwide. Similarly, I could get food from Chili’s tent, or I could shoot myself. Most great Madison restaurants were NOT at Taste of Madison, meaning I couldn’t sample Scandinavian cuisine from Magnus, pizza from Pizza Brutta, or sushi from Muramoto.

The other issue with the food is that it seems crafted to please the most base patron. Meat, meat, meat! Fried food and other junk! That’s what was available. Now, I understand that many people will be drawn to steak sandwiches and the like, but it makes most of the restaurants look the same. What makes fried cheese curds from one stand different from another? I have no idea, but surely the fact that they are offered at multiple places means they are nothing special or unique. There was very little that we wanted to eat, and sadly, what we did eat was deep fried.

Second, the crowds are annoying. There is no structure setup to get in line for food. You find yourself fighting through the crowd to buy some food, or worse, giving up because you think there is a massive line. Most likely there is no line, just dozens of people stopping in front to gape at the deep fryer. There should be some barriers set up so you know where to go to get food and aren’t jostled when doing so.

Third, the music was abhorrent. Hard rock on one stage, a lone African drummer on the Hip-Hop stage when we went by (okay, so that wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t drawing a crowd either), and country/honky-tonk on the third stage. It was loud, obnoxious, and generally made the experience unpleasant. Can’t we do better?

Lauren said she went to Taste of Madison a few years back and it wasn’t any better. Based on two years of experience now, we won’t be back next year. The food, atmosphere, and music all say – if you want to a nice, culinary experience, STAY AWAY!!