Big 10 Football Tour

When you're discussing Wisconsin foods, you can pretty much show a bratwurst and throw in a pint of beer and you're covered.  Rather than stuff ourselves with encased meat and beer all weekend, we checked out some other joints as well.

The first place we started on Friday evening was Ella's Deli.  Now any time that "deli" is part of a food establishment's name, it is usally pretty average.  This place however is far from average.  When you walk in, there is all kinds of things going on all around you.  The are dozens of things moving back and forth above you, including Batman flying overhead.

Upon sitting down, we noticed that all of the tables had something rather interesting beneath the glass top.  Ours had a bunch of baseball rookie cards.  Others included one with magnetic shavings and a wand to "give a mustache or beard," a Monoply board, the old marble-in-labrynth and more! 

There were so many "not-average" items on the menu that I had a difficult time choosing what to get.  Ultimately I went with the world's-best-diet-pepsi-fountain-soda (nerd), the reuben soup (think of the reuben sandwich of saurkraut, corned beef, etc in soup-form), and a burger that came with some sort of spicy mayo and fried pickle spears on the top.

The biggest appeal of Ella's is probably the Merry-Go-Round that is open even in the colder climates.  For less than $1.00, you can take a few laps on a ride that has been around for more than 70 years.

Another big time spot is Ian's Pizza.  There are at least two locations in Madison, one in Wrigleyville, and one coming to Milwaukee.  It's basically a pizza joint that makes all kinds of "pizza" with out-of-the-ordinary toppings on it.  For example, there's Chicken Cordon Bleu, Barbeque Chicken, Philly Cheese Steak, Steak & Fries, and Macaroni & Cheese Pizza.

If you arrive after the bars close, expect a long wait.

A few other places to try:

Mickie's Dairy Bar - great for breakfast, but make sure you get there early because more likely than not, you'll be waiting in line.

TeddyWedgers - they serve cornish pastries inside this tiny little shop near the capitol building.  Think of a massive hot pocket with more bread than you can handle.  Some interesting ingredients come inside.

Clary's Gourmet Popcorn - popcorn in more ways than you can handle.  A nice snack to take home with you.