East side commercial spine along Atwood Avenue. Mint Mark on East Washington, Tex Tubb's Taco Palace, Glass Nickel Pizza's original location and the Schenk-Atwood farmers market scene.
Banzo on Sherman Avenue near east side, the Israeli falafel spot from Netalee Sheinman and Aaron Collins, serves chickpea falafel and hummus plates.
Signature: Falafel, Hummus
Order: A falafel sandwich with hummus on the side.
Tip: Closed Sundays; the food cart history shows in the quick lunch turnover at the counter.
Mint Mark on East Washington Avenue, a produce-forward small-plates dining room with an open kitchen, runs Wisconsin farm ingredients with strong cocktails.
Signature: Wisconsin produce-driven small plates, Cocktails
Order: Whichever Wisconsin-farm small plate the kitchen is featuring that week.
Tip: Dinner runs daily from 16:30; Saturday and Sunday brunch from 09:30 to 14:00 is reservable in advance on the operator's site.
Tex Tubb's Taco Palace on Atwood Avenue, Kevin Tubb's Austin-style taqueria since 2006, serves tacos and burritos plus house-made limeade and horchata.
Signature: Austin-style tacos, House-made horchata
Order: An Austin-style taco plate with house-made horchata.
Tip: Happy hour brings Mexican beer specials; weekend dinner is the busiest, weeknight lunch the calmest.
Glass Nickel Pizza on Atwood Avenue, the operator's original Madison east-side location since 2002, runs specialty pies and by-the-slice on Schenk-Atwood.
Signature: Specialty pizza, Pizza by the slice
Order: The Spicy Sicilian specialty pizza, or a slice of a daily-changing house creation.
Tip: Closed Wednesday and Thursday at the Atwood location; Friday and Saturday run until midnight.
Monty's Blue Plate Diner on Atwood, the Schenk-Atwood Food Fight diner, runs all-day breakfast, blue-plate specials and house-baked pies in a retro room.
Signature: Meatloaf, Hot turkey plate
Order: A blue-plate meatloaf or hot turkey plate with one of the house-baked pies for dessert.
Tip: All-day breakfast and bakery menu run side by side; weekend mornings are the busiest.
Glass Nickel Pizza on Atwood Avenue, the operator's original Madison east-side location, runs specialty pies and by-the-slice on the Schenk-Atwood spine.
Signature: Specialty pizza, Pizza by the slice
Order: The Spicy Sicilian specialty pizza or a slice of a daily-changing house creation.
Tip: Closed Wednesday and Thursday at the Atwood location; Friday and Saturday run until midnight.
Tex Tubb's Taco Palace on Atwood, Kevin Tubb's Austin-style taqueria since 2006, runs tacos and burritos plus house-made limeade and horchata east side.
Signature: Austin-style tacos, House-made horchata
Order: An Austin-style taco plate with house-made horchata.
Tip: Happy hour runs Mexican beer specials; weekend dinner is the busiest, weeknight lunch the calmest.
Banzo on Sherman Avenue near east side, the Israeli falafel spot from Netalee Sheinman and Aaron Collins, serves chickpea falafel and hummus plates.
Signature: Falafel sandwich, Hummus plate
Order: A falafel sandwich with hummus on the side.
Tip: Closed Sundays; the food-cart history shows in the quick counter turnover at lunch.