Right in the heart of campus, just a block off State Street, sits a restaurant with a gorgeous view of the city, an outdoor rooftop sitting area and appealing cocktail menu. It’s The Madison Blind, located inside the Graduate Hotel, and it’s easy to miss.
For those in the know, you’re quaffing some outstanding concoctions, such as the Apple Cinnamon Old Fashioned ($8) and the Bourbonic Plague ($8; bourbon, mint, lemon and soda) while glancing at Lake Mendota.
Dinner is served every day. Your first course may come from the Snacks section of the menu. The crispy shrimp ($9) is addicting with its blanket of sweet chili glaze. That contrasts with the very dry and dense turkey meatballs ($9), which didn’t get any help in flavor from the thin sauce in which they were resting.
I tried two of the four items from the Small Plates section. The roasted butternut squash puree ($7) is livened by the sweetness of the pieces of maple bacon walnut brittle and bits of apple swimming about. But it seems for every hit, there’s a miss, and in this round it’s the crispy chicken ($12), which was bland chicken in a thin and non-crispy breading. It was simply dying for either crispier breading or some honey mustard sauce to make it palatable.
The Blind Burger ($14) really activates your taste buds, as it’s topped with bacon, onion, jalapeno jam and smoked gouda on a pretzel bun. It also comes with a side of duck-fat fries. Other Large Plates items include the quinoa veggie burger ($10) and the winter whitefish ($14).
The Madison Blind opens at 4:30 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 3 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. Look for street/meter parking on Langdon Street or park in the ramp on Frances Street.
