Milio's

In a word: See Big Mike's.

The specs: #0387
Official web site,

Latest Milio's news and reviews at del.icio.us

Amanda, Carlos, John, John Sams, and Rose ate the Godfather.
JM ate the gourmet ham and cheese combo.
Nichole ate the turkey classic.
Sabi and Emo split the skinny pride.
The bill was $47, or $5.22/person.
JM and John Sams gave Milio's a B; Nichole gave Milio's a B-; Carlos gave Milio's a 7 out of 10; Amanda gave Milio's a C (see our grading rubric).

Latest Milio's news and reviews

As the "In a Word" indicates, we've essentially been to Milio's before. The resident library cataloger-wannabe thought about writing a lesson on syndetic structure (see also: semantic relations), but instead we've decided to give you a step-by-step, "behind-the-scenes" look at how to write an A to Z post.* Ready?

Try to start the review with some pithy observation about where the restaurant fits in the Madison dining scene. Make sure to note its location, how the sky looked that day or perhaps whether or not there were good smells as you walked in. When you forget the details, say something short and pat yourself on the back for being concise.

Give an overview of the menu. Make sure to list a few things you didn't eat in case the thing you do eat is not so great. Arrange some pictures according to a certain combination of artistic design and capriciousness. (If they're blurry, just make them smaller.)

Describe what JM ate. Say it was good but not great. (If it's a ham and cheese sandwich, don't forget to count it towards the ham and cheese total). Something in his meal is always either "too dry," "not so great," or "just OK."  He will have gotten a lemonade if he was thirsty but only comment on it half the time. JM's part of the review will always be suspiciously shorter than Nichole's and will have been her best attempt to either a) decipher his handwriting or b) pry thoughts out of his head from weeks earlier because he refused to feel bad about the fact that she couldn't read his handwriting and thus he didn't write anything.

Describe what Nichole ate. Look up any weird ingredients (and if it's a halfway decent restaurant, there should be a couple) so you don't look totally ignorant. Dig out the thesaurus and fret over a better word for "sweet." Spend a lot of time describing things that may only be tangentially related, like what it was like to eat beets as a child or perhaps the comfort that comes from soup generally. (Use a lot of parentheses.) Do not mention that Nichole finished eating a solid ten minutes after everyone else.  

Make a feeble attempt to remember salient facts about the clientele, ambiance and service. (When describing service always be a little nicer than you actually feel, because it is tough to work in a restaurant.) Here's where you can mention Madison-y things like "thanks be for the smoking ban" or "we wish there were more vegetarian choices" or "why are there so many chain restaurants?" or "another Food Fight venture?" or JM's favorite, "Why can't there be a place like this on the East/West side?" Having thrown a bone to the base, you can safely conclude with a line about whether or not you'd like to return. Leave summing it up to JM as well as the "In a word" which is usually written last. 

Before posting, include every link you can find and don't forget to add a pin to the map. Oh and update the Table of Contents. And the grades list. Right, and the Recent Posts. OK, now the Coke or Pepsi list. And don't forget the Special Guests. And for goodness' sake make the Flickr pictures public or you'll look like a n00b if someone clicks on one of them, but no one probably will, so you're good.

Now that you know how easy it is, you can go forth and start your own Madison food blog! If you have and it's not already in our sidebar, drop us a line. If you're interested in joining our online empire (and are willing to be all OCD about it) and want to author a blog along the lines of drinking.madisonatoz.com, let's talk.

*Since our guests did take the time to give their opinions on their Milio's sub sandwich experience, it's only fair we include them:

• Amanda's opinion is that they're just kinda plain, and the selection of veggies is too small.
• Carlos thinks Milio's is good for those days when no one wants to do anything. "Satisface la necesidad para mi estomago."
• JM's ham and cheese was dry, but predictable.
• John Sams observed that main attraction for him lies in the thin-sliced meats. Milio's is reliable, and he should know, since in 8 years he has only ever eaten the Godfather minus onions and it's always been good.
• Nichole was just glad we ate at home so she could add her own mustard and Sriracha. Otherwise the sandwich would have been too boring for her taste.
• Sabi and Emo's skinny was not so good, mostly because they forgot the cheese. (Judging by the number of voids on the receipt, the ordering process wasn't so smooth. Thanks, Amanda, for dealing with that hassle for us.)

Comments

[Kyle]

You've gone meta! I wanted to make a joke about how you could rearrange the initials of this site (EiMAtZ) to read "iZ MEtA!", but that would be SO nerdy.

Eating through Madison results in early graying and a simmering anger towards the ever-changing scene. Replace the graying with alcoholism and cirrhosis, and you've got drinking.madisonatoz.com!

[JmSR]

Oh, Kyle... I thought your first comment would say:

"Yeah, and Kyle usually leaves the first comment."

[Jim H]

I highly recommend the "Milios Classic" with the "East Coast Hots". (sandwich-style, 2 pieces of bread, of course)

... but everytime I order it I think of how much better it would be if it were called "The Big Mike's Classic"

[Kyle]

Crap! It should have said that!

[Timmy]

Good, cheap, fast food subs. A couple notches better than the other chain sandwich shops.

[Timmy]

forgot to add, for some reason they don't put mustard on most of the sandwiches and then they charge you for it. terrible business decision. i could understand charging for additional ingredients, but mustard?

[meg]

They do have "hots" which arent' as good as banana peppers, but will do. Not that I really have that much to say about Milos subs. I wanted to comment to say how much I enjoy your blog and still cannot believe you are doing this. Eat on!

[Kovalic]

No comment on the weird mirror relationship between the menu of Milio's and Jimmy John's?

[malvin]

For what it's worth, the skinny pride doesn't come with cheese.

[Amanda Postel]

I love the do-it-yourself food blog instructions!