erin says: this was my choice.  This is a new pasta and pizza place by the owner of Tutto Pasta & Trattoria on Cayuga St. in Middleton.  I wondered if it was a good idea to open another pasta place so close to the other one, but they are significantly different.  I really like the Middleton Tutto Pasta.  The inside is beautiful and the food is always good.  We’ve had some servers with quirky personalities, but that’s not a problem.  I’m not sure if I’m remembering correctly, but it seems like the prices are almost the same between the two restaurants.  Tutto Pasta seems fancier, Bucatini seems like it’s trying to be more casual but doesn’t quite succeed.

Bucatini looks almost exactly like the old Macaroni Grill inside.  There were only two things I didn’t like about the atmosphere:  the fact that my bench was about a mile away from the table (and neither of them seemed like they could move) and the really loud ladies sitting behind us.  I am glad that there are no singing servers.  I love the fact that they gave us water in a carafe at the table.  The bread was soft white Italian bread, which was good but nothing spectacular.  The olive spread was olivey.  It was nice to have something other than butter on the plain Italian bread.  The service was good, although it was hard to hear our server at times (no doubt the cackling ladies didn’t help that).  Drinks were refilled promptly, food was brought out in a timely manner, and we were generally well looked after.

Unless you know Italian, the names of things might be intimidating.  The menu is huge.  I didn’t even get a chance to think about pizzas since I was so mezmerized by the pastas.  We had a good laugh over the typos on the beer list.  I ordered something like Paglia e Fieno Boscaiola (I hope I got that close - I do not know Italian beyond “allegro, meno mosso, con fuoco” etc.), which was spinach and regular fettucine with ham and mushrooms in white wine cream sauce.  It was REALLY good.  The pasta itself was cooked to perfection:  slightly chewy.  The portion size was perfect for me.  It was generous, but not gigantic.  Looking around, I think the dishes with more spaghetti-like pasta were coming out in gigantic piles.  I had two bites of Pat’s lasagna, and while I would have wished for more sauce, I still thought it tasted excellent.  All of the ingredients tasted very fresh.  I will definitely be going back.  I believe my dinner was somewhere in the $13-$15 range.  I was mourning the loss of Macaroni Grill, but not any more!  9 out of 10.

Pat says: This was Brian’s choice, it’s the restaurant that used to be Casa de Lara on Fish Hatchery.  Expecting food similar to Casa de Lara, I ordered the chicken quesadilla and a side of beans.  The tortilla just wasn’t as fresh tasting as I’d like, but the beans were good.  Based on the cost, the other Madison options for Mexican food, and the lack of great flavor, I’ll put Casa del Sol low on my list of places to go.  I’ll give Casa del Sol a 5 out of 10.

Brian says: Things just didn’t seem the same at the former Casa de Lara.  I used to search the basket for the chips with the most seasoning, but the chips didn’t seem to have as much flavor or freshness, and the chimichanga was just average as far as taste.  Casa de Lara/del Sol has always fallen in a weird place for us- if we want quick Mexican food we go to Laredo’s, and for some different Mexican choices, we go to Abuelo’s.  The service was decent and I can’t really say anything negative, but I plan to check out some of the other local Mexican restaurants and enjoy our other usual favorites over Casa del Sol.  6 out of 10.

erin says: I actually thought my dinner was good.  I had enchiladas verdes with chicken.  I thought the beans tasted really good, which is not something I remembered from Casa de Lara.  I was not thrilled by the chips and salsa, but I thought the enchiladas were very good.  I thought the service was good too. 7 out of 10.

This was Pat’s choice, Kevin had been there already, but it was new to the rest of us.

erin says: For whatever reason, I found this place a little intimidating up front.  I stared at the menu for quite a while before I could decide what to order.  It’s not complicated…  I guess it’s just that there are quite a few pizzas which sound the same but have one or two ingredients that differ.  I had a Caprino pizza, which I thought was very good.  It had goat cheese, proscuitto, red onions, red pepper flakes, and arugula.  The arugula leaves were not baked on, so it was like a salad and a pizza in one.  I really liked the goat cheese.  It was creamy and yummy, and made a surprisingly good combination with red pepper flakes.  I had a bite of Brian’s Margherita pizza with pepperoni, and I definitely think I’ll get a pizza with red sauce next time - it was so good!  We also shared some of the artichoke dip.  That was very good.  There were some flavors in there that I couldn’t identify, but I really liked it.  The atmosphere seemed pretty casual, but somehow the pizza choices seemed kind of fancy.  I guess I would have expected more classic pizzeria type combinations, but you can also create your own pizza if you don’t feel like goat cheese, arugula, and proscuitto.  I wish I lived closer.  I admire this place for doing one thing (brick oven cooking) and doing it well.  Again, I’m stuck in a place where I’d give it a 10 out of 10 compared to other restaurants that I’d call “fast casual”, but in comparison with all the places we’ve been I think I have to give it a 9 out of 10.  I don’t know what I’m reserving 10 for…

Pat says: Once we figured out the ordering process, this turned out to be a very good restaurant.   Walk in, go up to the cash register, choose a house pizza or a combination of the ingredients you like, pay, sit down and wait for your pizza to be delivered to your table.  You can watch the chefs tossing the dough and adding the ingredients if you like, and from start through baking it only takes about 15 minutes.  I had the goat cheese, artichoke heart and olive pizza and I loved this pizza - just the right thickness of crust, tasty toppings, and seasoned oil as a base.  Very good.  I’m looking forward to going back, especially if we stop there on a night when they have the baked artichoke dip, which would make a nice dinner on it’s own.  It looks like this is a popular place with folks in the neighborhood.  Even on a Wednesday night, it was bustling with families and students.  Using my basic criteria - can’t get this at home, tastes as good or better than home cooking, the restaurant pays attention to doing one thing well, not too expensive for what you get, comfortable atmosphere, and looking forward to going back, I’m going to give Pizza Brutta my first 10 out of 10.

Pat says: We’ve all been to Parthenon a zillion times, but I just had to put a note in here.  We’ve been questioning why there are so many restaurants that offer food, or an atmosphere, or the whole shebang that’s just okay.  Nothing special, even when it’s the restaurant’s signature dish.  While I understand that it’s not the same thing, it reminds me of the Paul Newman quote - why go out for hamburger when you can have steak at home?  Erin and Brian are great cooks - and it shouldn’t be too much to expect that a food business owner will hire someone who can cook as well, if not (hopefully) better than what we can get at their house.

That said, Parthenon is a good reason for going out.  This isn’t food we can get in our own kitchen.  Crispy fries, and lots of ‘em.  A basket full of gyro - pita, lamb, veggies and cucumber sauce.  So good.  It’s not something we do too often, but it always lives up to my expectations.  Not too expensive, fills us up, and we reek of garlic the rest of the day.  I love the Parthenon, even the Greek music videos that play over and over.  I do not love the seating arrangement, though, since the tables and booths are remarkably small, and there’s not nearly enough room to put everybody’s food out without crowding.

So that’s what I’m looking for in a restaurant………good food, with some sort of restaurant individual style that makes it worth coming in, even if I order the signature dish over and over every time we come in.  Nothing on the menu that’s just so-so, as if thrown on just to fill up space.  Based on that , the Parthenon gets a 9 out of 10. Would have been a 10, except for those terrible tables.

erin says: thank you for the compliment, Pat.  I have been thinking about why we go out to eat, and why we settle for bad food.  I guess for me it’s a matter of effort.  I can go out and get mediocre food in 30 minutes while I sit and talk with friends, or I can spend 30 minutes chopping vegetables and standing over the stove.  Maybe I’m just lazy.  I do think that I should stop eating out as much (especially for lunch) because so much of what I purchase is really bad food.

I do like the Parthenon.  I think we go there once or twice a year.

Pat says: This was Kevin’s choice.  I hadn’t heard anything at all about this restaurant, and they have no web presence that I could find.  It’s in the space formerly occupied by Fitch’s Chop House on PD.   We ordered onion straws before dinner - this was by far the best thing we had.  Love those onion straws.  I had a pulled pork sandwich with fries, and it was okay.  Nothing great, but not bad.   Maybe we should stick to restaurants with foreign food, and have burgers at home.  Good Times gets a 6 out of 10.

Brian says: I had a cheese burger.  The burger and fries were pretty run of the mill.. I can’t really complain at all about it, but nothing about it excited me too much.  I agree that the onion straws were OK, but I’ve enjoyed them better at other establishments (I really miss the ones at Damon’s).  Perhaps if I had kids it would be fun to let them hang around in the game room while we wait for our dinner, but with no kids, it was just an average dining experience.  The service was good, but it just wasn’t my kind of place, so my personal rating is 5 out of 10.

erin says: Guess what I had.  Just guess….. yeah, bacon cheeseburger.  I appreciate that the burger tasted like burger.  I liked the haystack onions.  My drink wasn’t refilled.  The place was ok, but nothing special.  We did not go in the game room, but it seemed kind of small.  I had a hard time finding anything I really wanted to eat on the menu.  I guess bacon cheeseburger is kind of my default in that situation.  5 out of 10.

This was Erin’s choice even though she’d been there before.

erin says: I had Chicken Karee (which I love) and chicken spring rolls.  Even though the Chicken Karee only had one star, it was still very spicy.  I had a taste of Brian’s Chicken Tikka Masala, and I think I liked mine better (but he liked his better, so there you go…).  The decor is somewhat like Noodles & Co.  The service was friendly.  We got one dish before the others (mine), and I had an uncomfortable decision to make about eating before my companions got their food.  It took more than a few minutes for the others to get their food.  There were a couple of other tables, and quite a few carryout customers while we were there.  I will definitely go back.  I’m withholding a rating because I’ve been there twice before.

brian says: I had the Chicken Tikka Masala.  It was listed as 3 stars (Very Spicy) but it was a tolerable level of spiciness for me, even though I’m not a big spicy food guy.  It came with steamed rice and a cucumber sauce.

Pat says: Not sure where to begin.  This is a restaurant that doesn’t know quite what it wants to be and ends up being a sort of casual food, hamburger and salad place with formal white tablecloths.  Bob and I got there earlier than the rest of the group, so we had an order of chips with guacamole - really good guacamole.  I ordered a salmon salad and thought it was well done - crispy , well seasoned salmon in mixed greens with a creamy dressing.  I’m not sure why this place didn’t appeal to me.  The waitress was friendly, the food was good, they gave Bob and I a table while we waited for everyone else.  It was moderately priced.  I’m putting this in the category “places I’d go if it was someone else’s choice”.  7 out of 10

Brian says: I had a blackened burger.  The most interesting feature was the cheese - thinly grated instead of the usual slice.  It added an interesting texture to the burger, which came on a good ciabatta bun.  The atmosphere in the place is a bit unusual, but as long as you’re not too worried about the decor, Talula seems like a decent place to stop in once in a while.  7 out of 10.

erin says: I had a bacon cheeseburger.  This was one of the only places I’ve been where the burger was medium when I asked for medium.  The guacamole with the chips was good.  I don’t think the chips were anything special.  The fries were very good.  I would go here again, but I agree that the atmosphere is strange.  They have lights that look like the generic kind you find in hotels, and they also still have the wrought iron chandelier that was there before.  The art is different everywhere you look with no coherent theme (that I could tell).  I love that they kept the blue LEDs in the trees out front from when it was Mexicali Rose.  7 out of 10.

erin says: Brian and I have been trying Indian buffets for lunch on the weekends.  Swagat had a very good buffet.  We also tried Maharaja.  We found there was more food on Swagat’s buffet that appealed to us.  We’re not sure how consistent they are on what dishes they serve on the buffet, so it might not always be that way.  I still want to try a Taste of India, and I know there are others…

This week it was Pat’s choice, and she was craving Mexican food.

Pat says: After our trip to Dragon City, we were a bit tentative about trying another restaurant that has primarily carry out, but not to worry, Marimar has table service and dishware. Plus, terrific food. It’s a sort of strange atmosphere, with a bunch of windows in almost random places and really bright green walls. Kevin pointed out that the syrup boxes and the CO2 container for the pop machine are on shelves right out in the dining room. The pre-dinner chips weren’t too good - much thicker and less crispy than I like, and the salsa was pretty spicy - no bland jalapeno-free stuff here. We ordered an order of nachos regular to start - same thick chips, but covered in melted cheese, beans and slices of avocado. MMMMM. For dinner, I ordered the house specialty - a chicken torta. Since I’ve never had one before, didn’t know what to expect, but this is a big sandwich on a homemade roll (about 6 inches across), filled with wonderful pulled spicy chicken meat, peppers, cheese, lettuce, avocado and tomatoes. Kevin had a steak burrito topped with stripes of salsa, sour cream and guacamole - he said it was very good, but so big that he could only eat 1/2 of it. We’ve been complaining lately that our fall back Mexican restaurant has lost it’s original charm for us, so I’m very happy that we’ve found an excellent alternative. We’ll definitely visit Taqueria Marimar again. I’ll give it 8 out of 10, with small deductions for the chips and the atmosphere.

erin says: I’ll definitely go back to Marimar. I agree that the atmosphere is a little dingy, but the food is really good. I had a wet burrito filled with chicken. The burrito was “wet” because it was covered in Chihuahua cheese and red sauce. I think next time I’d get whatever Kevin got so that I could get some guacamole too. I had an instant pang of regret when I saw his dinner, but he did let me take a scoop of the guacamole, which was chunky and had a good level of spice to it. I loved the chicken in my burrito. So many times I go to tex-mex or Mexican restaurants where the chicken tastes like nothing. This chicken was flavorful and moist. I’m not a big fan of the thick style tortilla chips. The salsa was ok. Thick style tortilla chips do stand up well as nachos, though. The nachos had jalepenos and carrots in addition to the toppings Pat mentioned. They also came with a vat of sour cream on the side (which came in handy when I ate one of those spicy carrots). I’m not sure, but I suspect that the burrito was the grande size - which is enough for at least two meals. I had the rest of mine for lunch over the weekend and it microwaved really well. There was a loud refrigerator running during most of our visit, but once that calmed down we could enjoy the music and even the staff singing a little in the back. The atmosphere may take a way some points, but the place SMELLED delicious, and that’s always a big plus. I had a bite of Pat’s torta, and I definitely think I’d eat one of those if I wanted a change from the burrito/taco/enchilada routine. We were there fairly early for dinner, and there were at least two other families in the little dining room, with other people coming and going. It’s pretty close to my office, so I may even stop by for lunch. I really want to go back on the weekend because that’s the only time they do barbacoa and carnitas. 8 out of 10.

erin says: Brian has really been neglecting his reviewing duties lately.  He ordered steak fajitas, but then was told they were out of them.  We all wondered exactly what part of the steak fajitas they were missing, but he decided to order a steak chimichangas platter instead.  I think he received three and was only able to eat two along with the rice and beans, which he said were really tasty.  He ate the left over third chimi for lunch over the weekend and said microwaving made it soggy.  He’ll try the toaster oven next time.

Helpful Hint: don’t overlook the back of the menu - at least two of us missed the platters on the back of the menu, but it’s not like we needed the extra food!

This was Kevin’s choice, on the basis that he’s got a VAHS discount card.

Pat says: This is a carry out place with a few tables on the side, not a restaurant that has carry out.  We ate in, anyway.  If you’re looking for good service and a pleasant dining experience, never mind about Dragon City.  If you plan to eat in, I”d suggest bringing your own tableware and glasses.  I had shrimp egg foo yung and Kevin had sweet & sour chicken with fried rice and egg roll.  We all split an order of crab rangoon.  These were terrific - really good filling with a nice crab flavor.  The egg foo yung was also very good - thick patties with a crispy outside and lots of shrimp.  Not too greasy.  It’s too bad that this restaurant doesn’t have a little bit nicer place to sit and eat.  I’ll give Dragon City a 6 out of 10, but with an actual dining room and waitstaff, that would be much higher.

erin says: I knew this place was probably not a sit-down restaurant when I couldn’t find any info on it online.  If your’e tired of Chang Jiang and you live somewhere near Verona, give it a try.  It’s got the same “Chinese restaurant in a box” decor and menu as all of the other area Chinese takeout places.  The food seemed better than average, so I might elect to order from Dragon City next time Brian is craving takeout Chinese.  I had a chicken with cashew nuts combination plate.  I enjoyed the crab rangoon, which seemed to have more onion flavor and less cream cheese filling than most (somehow that wasn’t a bad thing).  5 out of 10, but I’m starting to think we need a takeout or fast food category, because I’d rate it pretty high for takeout.