Argus Food and Spirits

In a word: Good things come in small packages.

The specs: #0011
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Ultimate Madison Bar Tour, Isthmus, Isthmus again, EatDrinkMadison, Madison Fish Fry, 77 Square, collected at del.icio.us;

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JM ate the "Exploding pig" (ham and cheese) and fries with a lemonade and worked the November 1981 Atlantic Monthly cryptic crossword.
Nichole ate the "Yankee" (grilled turkey, bacon, swiss on marbled rye, hold the dressing) and a cup of potato soup with a Pepsi.
The bill was $14, or $7/person, plus change for parking.
JM gave Argus an A-; Nichole gave Argus an A (see our grading rubric).

We learned that Argus is in the oldest commercial building in Madison. It's got a slightly crowded serving area, a shady patio sheltered from traffic, and what looks like a gorgeous tin ceiling. The building has a challenging layout, but apparently management has found a way to speed up orders by using wireless point-of-sale technology - pretty slick, and we did get our food fast.

JM's sandwich and lemonade were good. He gave it an A minus only because they aren't open for dinner and we had to make a midday field trip. Nichole's sandwich was superb: warm, toasted perfectly, and very tasty even sans the 1000 Island dressing. The soup was also excellent and almost certainly from scratch. It arrived a bit cold on top, but that could be attributed to the efficiency of the server. The pickles were crunchy.

The menu is short, with few or no vegetarian options, but what they did they did really well. If you're a government cube monkey, it's definitely a good spot for the occasional sublime pub sandwich.

Comments

[stu]

I lay a curse upon them when they served me a skunked spotted cow...
Seems they've closed!
Sorry everybody...

[Kyle]

Not according to some

[Elizabeth]

I went to the Argus last night. The place has been redone since you visited. The name is slightly different...it's the Argus Bar Grille now.

The place has many different sandwiches, 61 according to the Isthmus. I think they are all under $7. They also have many different vegetarian and vegan options.

I have the tempeh burger and my boyfriend had a hamburger. They were quite good. We spent $27 + tip for two burgers, two fries and 4 local brews. It's a great bargain.

[tom]

You guys really should review the new Argus. It's so much better than the one that was there before.