The Avenue

Tonight we kicked off the Fish Fry Taste Test at the Avenue. 

Here is the judging criteria:
Sides
Atmosphere/service
Flavor
Tartar Sauce


Check out the Comments section for the Buds' opinions...

HARMONY BAR

tonight we visited the harmony bar...
http://www.myspace.com/theharmonybar

check out the comments section for our opinions...

Mickey's Tavern

This week, we're checking out Mickey's Tavern on Atwood. 

Check out the comment posts for our opinions. 

The Blue Moon

The Blue Moon on University was our spot tonight and holy hamburger was it good!  See the comment posts for the rating!

Beerfest - The Official Report

Raise a glass to another successful beerfest!  I'm sure that this year's attendance broke records, if we kept track of that sort of thing! 

 

The Hoppie Award

So, here is how beerfest works. Everyone shows up with a unique six pack to share.  We provide the little tasting glasses, the voting slips and the location.   At about 1.5 - 2 hours in, we all vote on what we liked and didn't like. 

New this year was the introduction of the Hoppie Awards.

We judged the beers against three categories:   
 Best Wisconsin Beer, Worst Beer and Best Overall Beer

The Results

Best Wisconsin Beer:  Bunch-a-People-on-a-Patio Ale

Winner & Brewer - Gary

Worst Overall Beer:  Raging Bitch (the beer not the person who brought it!) :)

"Winner" - Jeff

Best Overall Beer:  Wisdom Ale

Grand Champion - Carrie

Thoughts:

Amazingly with all of the people who attended this year,  we only had 2 beers that were duplicates: Scurvy and Petosi's Cave Ale.

In years past we had a category for Best Beer Name and we caught a lot of flack for not awarding a Hoppie for it this year.  So, next year we will make sure to reward the witty.

Last year the number of completely UNDRINKABLE beers was fairly high...Sweaty Betty anyone?  This year, multiple people commented on how good most of the beer was.  We're all either getting better at picking out good beers, or our tastes have declined.  Either way, we win.  

Next year will be our 5th annual BeerFest, so look forward to something bigger and better...
Thanks to all who attended.  

HH - The Paza Tavern

This week we will be visiting The Plaza Tavern for our Hamburger Taste Test.  We chose this location prior to finding out that Wednesday's special is $2 Micro Bottles.... all Capital Brewery beers (as well as Blue Moon) are only $2.  It's like the cherry on top... or maybe the plaza sauce on top??

The Plaza was one of the first places we ate after moving to Madison 11 years ago, based on many recommendations.   Since leaving the UW, I haven't been back.  I'm looking forward to the reunion...

The very straight-forward menu can be found here - http://www.theplazatavern.com/menu.html

Check back after Wednesday in the comments section to the post to read the diner's feedback.

HH - The Old Fashioned

Up this week is the Old Fashioned in downtown Madison...

The O.F. lists two burgers on their menu:

No. 30
The Old Fashioned House Burger-grilled over a live fire and topped with fried onions, Bavaria's hickory-smoked bacon, aged Cheddar, garlic sauce and a soft-cooked egg on a buttered and toasted roll..........................................................$8.95

No. 31
Build Your Own Burger-with lettuce, fried or raw onions, pickles and choice of spread: mayo, smoked Spanish paprika, roasted garlic, ranch, tiger or tiger blue sauce.............................$5.95 Add Cheddar, Swiss, Colby, Muenster, Blue or Pepperjack cheese....................................$1.00 Add fried egg, bacon or Braunschweiger.......$1.25

Both burgers are served with  choice of fries, tossed green salad or substitute
Haystack onion strings $1.00
Herbed potato salad from Porchlight $2.00
House-made fresh Wisconsin beer-battered cheese curds $3.00

The plan is for the group to order carry-out and have the taste test out on the cap. lawn during Concerts on the Square.  Two attendees already say O.F. serves the best burger they have ever had in their entire life...so...expectations are high.  

Check back in on Wednesday night / Thursday morning to see the results posted in the comments thread of this post.  

Hamburger Heaven - The rules

The idea - visit multiple hamburger joints in and around Madison.  Compare notes...Choose winners.

The judging criteria -
a.  The Patty
b.  The Toppings
c.  The Atmosphere
d.  The Sides

The Scoring -
1 - McDonalds is a step up from this
2 - Could be good hangover food
3 - Just right
4 - I would definitely come back
5 - I will dream about this hamburger

Look for later posts on each new location.