Eating in Madison A to Z

Pedro's Mexican Restaurante

2009-10-03T17:30:00-05:00

In a word: A Mexican't restaurant.

The specs: #0477
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, , EatDrinkMadison; official web site.

JM ate the wet cheese burrito with a pink lemonade.
John ate the seafood enchilada with an horchata.
Nichole ate the taco/enchilada/tamale combo plate with a margarita.
The bill was about $40 ($30 with coupon) plus tip (thanks, John!)
John and JM gave Pedro's Mexican Restaurante a C+; Nichole gave Pedro's Mexican Restaurante a D.

People's most common reaction to "We're going to Pedro's" was "Get a margarita. Don't bother with the food." We have to agree.

The food was pretty much school-lunch quality (and we mean before edible schoolyards were a twinkle in anyone's eye). The best bit was probably the complimentary, baked-on-a-press-before-your-very-eyes flatbread - gimmicky, but simple and hard to mess up. The tamale and sauteed squash on Nichole's combo plate were surprisingly not bad. John's seafood enchilada was amply sauced and had a good enough flavor. And we all indulged in the guilty pleasure of the corn "cake," that scoop of mushy, sweet carbs.

JM's wet burrito was indeed wet and overall was tasty and firm, though his side of guacamole was an industrial accident served as a side dish. To him it tasted of nothing so much as solvents. Nichole didn't believe JM's alarm at first, but when she tasted the guac for herself, instinct trumped manners and that mouthful ended up in a napkin.

The beverages didn't disappoint. John's horchata was a bit too watery but that problem was offset by whipped cream. The margarita (served with not-so-happy lime wedge) was tingly and did the trick of making dinner seem better.

Our service was good and we appreciated having a coupon. That said it's doubtful you could drag us back to Pedro's.

Pat O'Malley's Jet Room

2009-10-03T10:00:00-05:00

In a word: Golf Romeo echo alfa tango foxtrot India November delta.

The specs: #0476
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, ; official web site.

Constance ate the scrambled eggs and biscuit with coffee.
JM ate the French toast with lemonade.
Josh ate the DEN omelet.
Kurt ate the veggie casserole with rye toast.
Nichole ate the DEN sandwich with coffee.
Stef ate the strawberry French toast.
Walt ate the French toast sticks and scrambled egg.
The bill was about $50 plus tip.
Nichole gave Pat O'Malley's Jet Room an A; JM gave Pat O'Malley's Jet Room an A- ; Kurt gave Pat O'Malley's Jet Room an A-/B+.

Pat O'Malley's Jet Room is the kind of place we'd been looking for when we started this project: a little-known, friendly, locally-run restaurant, and we'll be back after the List is done. While 10AM on a Saturday might spell a long wait at most breakfast places, here it was busy without feeling rushed. Outside, the view of the landing field was beautiful; inside, the decor surprised us with its kitschy yet uncluttered approach. The menu even lived up to our hopes with aviation puns.

Breakfast started with decent diner coffee for most of us. Before long the food arrived. The DEN omelet was Josh's ideal diner Denver: nice chunks of ham and peppers and not overly cheesy. The marble rye toast was really good and buttery.

Nichole's DEN sandwich was a thoughtful variation on that theme. A scrambled egg bound together sauteed peppers and onions with thin slices of juicy ham, set between buttered toast, and a ripe melon slice on the side.

The three iterations of French toast we tried were all delightful, too. Walt's we can only assume was good because it disappeared so fast. JM and Stef agreed the toast was fluffy and not too eggy, thought it may have been a little underqualified on the syrup absorption front. JM's was dusted lightly with powdered sugar, and Stef's fresh strawberries had a perfect texture. The whipped cream was a surprise but wasn't overwhelming.

Constance got the scrambled eggs and biscuit, which were good on both counts. Of the biscuit, she commented:

Biscuits are a good measure of a breakfast menu (hard to do, often from mix or freezer). The biscuits here are homemade and have just the right texture. Very satisfying.

Kurt's vegetable casserole was probably the most balanced meal, and while each dish was pretty, his was the most vibrant with lightly sauteed broccoli and fresh tomatoes. It was good, not too greasy, not heavy but very filling.

The north side may boast few restaurants, but the ones it does seem way above average. Even if you don't have a meal here, you really should stop in to enjoy the cushy couches in the lobby and watch some little private planes come and go.

Pasqual's

2009-09-27T18:00:00-05:00

In a word: Trying.

The specs: #0475
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, Dane 101, , Althouse, Quomodocumque; official web site.

Ann ate the shrimp fajitas.
JM ate the jerk chicken burrito with a lemonade.
Meade ate the chicken mole with a Guiness.
Nichole ate the chorizo tacos.
We split some chips and salsa.
The bill was about $55 plus tip.
We all gave Pasqual's a B.

We've heard that Pasqual's has a solid pedigree as one of the oldest ethnic restaurants in Madison, from back when tacos were exotic. The folks who run it have been credited with being the first to bring Southwestern-style food to the city. We figured we'd try the newer Hilldale Mall location. As Ann pointed out, one of the most obvious benefits is that this one has table service.

Nichole opted for tacos. There must be a thousand permutations of toppings and tortillas, but her choice was the quite-greasy chorizo on blue corn tortillas that held up amazingly well. Tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream and black olives topped things off in a very Midwestern-home-table kind of way. The black beans with cheese were hard to stop eating, but the heavily-augmented rice was missable.

JM's burrito plate was staunch and minimalist, again, and none of us could figure out why the white sauce on the side was some sort of cucumber-infused yogurt. It had a few too many beans but was very spicy but, upon further inspection, the flavor was all at the surface with no latent heat. It was good, all right, but nothing much to write about on the internet.

Ann's shrimp fajitas, by contrast, had way more style than substance. Or, if we're being frank, they were annoying: not brought sizzling hot; fussy to assemble, which delayed the eating further; and accompanied by more offbeat toppings (which is to say, traditional fajita toppings that belong nowhere when the meat moves to shrimp). The shrimp themselves had just a whisper of lime flavor, so that was nice. Ann's take on her meal was fun and led to good comments over on her blog, which would be a good place to learn more.

Meade's choice of chicken mole enchiladas was a good bet, with a very dark, chocolatey mole sauce over flavorful chicken. He and Ann ended up trading plates to even out their luck, which was awfully nice of him.

We asked ourselves whether it seemed like Pasqual's was achieving its apparent goal to be a slightly more upscale yet funky outlet of their Southwest/Mexican fare, and the answer was "not really." Which is too bad, since their original Monroe St. location seems to be carrying the tradition on quite well. We're glad to see that Pasqual's in Verona has added Circolo, because this place could be resting a little heavily on its laurels, especially now that Madison has a surfeit of SouthWestern, TexMex and Mexican restaurants.