The Curve

Well, stop looking at Yelp & just go to The Curve. Oldest of old-school Madison: huge portions, classic food, cash prices, and (yes) only-cash. Hasn't been remodeled since your grandpa ate here and probably the same menu. Food is outstanding - go elsewhere for crab cakes & eggs Benny. Service is awesome, three member teams with similar prodigious output include Rush and the Police. Ambiance: old school awesome. There were some incognito Badgers players here with their families *after* the big Purdue win. Nobody bothered them, why would they ;)

I am guessing nothing about the interior of this place has changed in the decades since it has opened. Lots of character but not really any charm of a dive diner. I have heard about and driven by this place for years but never stopped until last week.We grabbed a couple stools at the counter for a very late breakfast. The food is solid diner food, though the menu selection is not big. I got the breakfast sandwich with egg, sausage and cheese. The prices are low. Bring cash, no credit cards here and certainly no Apple Pay!

feels like this diner opened in the 60/70s - kinda giving dilapidated energy from the outside but reminds me of mickey's dairy bar on the inside. personally i didn't love the ambiance inside there. you seat yourself and then the servers will come over to take your order. seems like they were understaffed so the service was a bit slow but they were trying their best! we got a blueberry pancake & omelette special to share and it was a crazy amount of food that even the 2 of us couldn't finish. i liked that the hash browns were crispy but the omelette felt a bit too oily for me liking. the blueberry pancake was MASSIVE. but for 5 people the total was only $40 which is crazy. cash only btw!!!!

We had a great breakfast on Wednesday. The server was simply amazing and the food delicious. We all had versions of the omelets which were served with hash browns and wheat toast. I will definitely return and bring more friends to experience this bastion of American diner culture. Great work!

Great breakfast spot . old style blue plate special. Cash only though had an omelet and hash browns very good.

Essential, affordable, friendly, greasy spoon. Good crispy home-fries. Cash only! Whats the difference between home-fries and hash-browns? I like what they do here as opposed to the cubes potato stuff.

Unprofessional staff, very rude make sure you don't take your kids to the restaurant because they will throw a fit if the child cries.

sit down and EATclassic american breakfast placeso so affordable and sweet staff cash only tho

I hate to call this a "greasy spoon" (though y'all know what I'm talking about if I say it). Let's call it an old-timey diner-type establishment. It's a throwback, to be sure.I took my mom here for breakfast after an appointment downtown. Nothing impressive from the outside. In side, you can sit at the counter, or one of a few tables in front or in back. It's not the biggest place in the world. We went around 10:30am - in time for breakfast, but before the lunch rush. It was perfect.The food is excellent. This isn't your Perkins-style plastic-model-looking food. It's real. And it's delicious! I had the sausage/cheese omelette and was very tasty. The sausage didn't seem to be sage-heavy (which I like), but it was, as I said, tasty. The potato side (they call them "American fries", I say they're hash browns) was plentiful and flavorful. Mom enjoyed her veggie omelette and 'taters as well.Service was quite pleasant. I don't know if she's the owner or has worked there forever, but her table-side manor was awesome. She was on top of coffee/soda refills, and timing with the bill and carry-out containers was spot on. She was exactly what I want for service - nice, attentive, but not over the top. Perfect. We'll be back!

Great staffSausage patties swimming in greaseDirty dishesBathroom was well equipped but dim lighting.