Taste of Madison

Excellent time around the square during Labor Day weekend. We always go on Sunday at 11:00 when vendors open. It is a family fun day and pets allowed to walk around. Being a blanket to enjoy all the vendors food while relaxing.

I am a big fan of all festivals, specially when there are great foods and music to enjoy. Taste of Madison fits this bill very well.I haven't attended for a number of years, and I was excited to be back once again. This year we got there early on opening day. The weather was clearing, but there was a little rain still coming down. We decided to take one "lap" around the square to make a plan of attack for the many food choices.Fortunately, within that 30-45 mins, the weather cleared.... But it also brought a mass of humanity! The lines at all of the "blue ribbon" winning stands where extremely long. Pretty much a 15 min wait, which was a bit of a let down because we were heading to the Badger Game and just didn't have the time to wait that long at all the stands we wanted to try. I was also let down by the prices. Like everything, I know things have gone up. But $4.29 for a bottle of water? Come on... I'm used to these prices at many events, but why at Taste of Madison? Not sure if I'll be back. With each dish being $5-6 and drinks being the price they are, I'd rather just read the web sight and just go to the businesses that look most intriguing, without waiting in line and standing while I eat with a plastic fork. Maybe it was the day and time that I attended that led to the longer lines than I remember. This event is still something I'd recommend. The capital square is an awesome location for this event, and it IS fun to listen to the great music, and if you are going to make a whole day out it, the lines may not bother you.

It'd been many years since I last went to the Taste of Madison (the last I can recall is 2012, thanks to a quick internet search for Sophie B. Hawkins + Taste of Madison). I'm happy to report the number of chains involved seem to have lessened. I appreciate that there are no tickets involved like many "Taste" events in other cities (as I am inevitably left with extras), and dishes range from $2 to $4. This year we lucked out and it was chilly and overcast, which in general isn't ideal but led to a more manageable crowd. Living a few blocks away is also a plus - I was able to break up my sampling between the afternoon and evening when I returned to see Naughty by Nature. The TOM always manages to bring random nostalgia acts that entertain me far more than they should (what up, Lisa Loeb? I miss you.), and Naughty by Nature was no exception. As for the food, I ended up with mac & cheese dumplings from SoHo, a lemon curd crepe from La Kitchenette, a raspberry cream smoothie from Natural Juice, a pabellon arepa from La Taguara, and a plantain and garlic empanada from Caracas Empanadas. My boyfriend enjoyed the steak sliders from Rare, the bacon & egg fried rice from Tavernakaya, sesame chicken from Wah Kee, mac & cheese bites from World of Beer, and at least one other thing I'm blanking out on. I wanted to try the fried cookie dough from Leia's Lunchbox, but after NBN I had to jet on over to see The Prince Experience and didn't have time to battle the post-concert line. Something to look forward to next year!

I really dont get the concept of T.o.M. I guess for those people that a) either don't live in Madison or b) don't go out to dinner much, maybe it provides them a chance to try out several different restaurants in one shot. For me, as a Madisonian who probably goes out too much, it falls short. I find the food never to be as good as it is when served in their respective restaurants and the lines for some can be painfully long. Sure, there are music stages showing B list bands but you get what you pay for (It doesn't cost anything to attend the Taste). Sure, if I find myself down on the Square, I may check it out again but it is not something I would put on my calendar as a "must go"

I didn't exactly plan on being at Madison during the Taste of Madison. But, it was super sweet that Labor Day weekend coincides with it. My girlfriend and I did Monona Terrace tour followed by Capitol tour then got hungry at around 4ish. We scoped out the usual suspects. I felt kinda bummed not being able to try deep fried cheese curds at the Mn State Fair. So, she treated me to some curds and it was really good especially with some ranch dip. Afterwards, we tried some unagi (eel, rice, and some sponge-like fish stick. Next, we tried a samosa which was good. Then, we got a fried halibut fillet which in my opinion was the best. Afterwards, we finished up with some macaroons- lavender and rosemary. In my humble opinion, this far exceeds the Mn State Fair in terms of price and portion. Mn State Fair costs $13 just to enter the fairgrounds. Plus, you got to dish out more for those large portion sizes. Unless you are traveling with a group of teenage boys, you have no chance to try everything and need to be very selective. This is unless you are my colleague at work who carries in a bag with tupperware and wax paper plus cold packs to ice down the chocolate dipped bacon and also keep all the Martha's cookies separated. On the other side, you have the Taste of Madison which has no entrance fee/admission. Plus, all food is $5 or under which is what was advertised. And, you get to taste pretty much everything without going into a food coma with the large portion sizes. Yeah, it's 4 hours away but the crowd here in Madison was not bad. Plus, we stayed at a super sweet location at Hilton Monona Terrace which was right on the lake and got lakeside room. Hands down, the closest to a state fair without dealing with the crowds. A few weeks ago, I could only count a few items I had at the fair- Martha's chocolate cookies, corn on the cob, and honey ice cream with sunflower seeds. So, I would totally come back here again. The only thing I would say would have made Mn State Fair a better choice would be the free things since I did score a sweet insulated lunch bag. Plus, you do have more shows and exhibits- loved the agriculture and forestry bldgs (not so much with the barnyard animals since it was smelly).

The Taste is a great time. It is an easy way to explore the food of Madison by walking the block. Though there are tons of people and typically, this is the same reason why I try to avoid the Farmer's Market. I did end up choosing to have a pretzel, one of the longer lines, of course, but it was great. No more of the plastic-like cheese! We also had a bacon wrapped jalapeno popper...for $3.00. One popper. I thought they got the order wrong at first. Yes, it was good but that was pretty steep. The beer was also rather overpriced but I was not surprised.Madison does do a great job at having a variety of ethnic foods. A great variety in items as well. Smoothies, to cup cakes, to jambalaya, to deep fried cheese curds. Who could expect less from Madison?Bands were also entertaining! I was happy to be given the opportunity to let my tummy settle so I can make more room for another round of food!

Awesome experience! I have been to a couple of other Taste of _____ events but this was superior to them. I attended on Saturday, August 30 amidst threat of thundershowers. There is a wide variety of food options - even vegetarian, gluten-free and organic. Prices are reasonable for the portion sizes. Organizers have done a great job of sprinkling in beverage stands among the food. Area is clean in spite of the crowds. Overall, a great experience for the family - young and old.

I want to start this off with this little fun fact: I am OVER 9 months pregnant and could only stand this place for 25ish minutes. The taste of Madison was super packed today. However, there were plenty of places to sit or to set up camp in front of the capitol building. The variety of food was pretty impressive as well. There were everything from cupcakes, to Indonesian, to Greek, to Jamaican food. I had some awesome Greek food and I had some taco tater tots which were HORRENDOUS. There was also some smoothie tents that I wish I could have tried out. The prices were very, very reasonable. The portions were a lot bigger than I thought they were going to be. I am looking forward to next year where I won't be super pregnant, it (hopefully ) won't be 92 degrees, and I'll have my little baby.:D

Id say I go to the Taste more to walk around, drink and watch bands than eat. Ive been to most of these restaurants so its nothing new and exciting. My big gripe with the food here is most of it is not easy to eat with one hand(as the other holds a beer..or water if you are so inclined). I like street food but it needs to be easy to eat on the go. I love your mango chicken curry with jasmin rice but it is so not pedestrian friendly!That not withholding the event is fun for kids and adults. I enjoy walking around and seeing all the different stages, most of which pull in some decent names. The event is easy to navigate and sitting on the lawn watching a band is something not to be missed.;My request of the organizers is to start dis-culding national names or places not specific to Madison. Toppers, Famous Daves, Hu-HOT! im looking at you! This is the Taste of Madison right!? Not the Taste of America.

Sorry but having this at Breese Stevens and charging admission is a big no. Also, no entertainment that is of interest.