Picasso's Urban Gourmet Cuisine

Update: Picasso's is closed.

In a word: Makes us realize the truth.

The specs: #0481  
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, Madison Fish Fry, Hot Dog Chicago Style, EatDrinkMadison, Associated Content, Pop Will Eat Me; McFarland location on Madison Dining.com, Yelp, and Madison Fish Fry; links collected at del.icio.us; official web site.

Latest Picasso's Urban Gourmet Cuisine news and reviews

JM and Nichole ate the Caesar salad, BBQ chicken pizza, and ribeye-gorgonzola pizza.
The bill was $32, or $16/person, plus tip (thanks, Bucky Book!).
JM gave Picasso's Urban Gourmet Cuisine a B; Nichole gave Picasso's Urban Gourmet Cuisine a B- (see our grading rubric).

The Picasso's on the road to Verona may look a bit run-down, outside and in. Our one visit wasn't enough to clue us into whether Picasso's is on the upswing or heading down, but it seems to be bobbing along fairly well, having opened a McFarland location and been a stepping stone for at least one local chef (David Heide of Liliana's, according to the Fitchburg Star as quoted on Picasso's website.)

The menu is somewhat ambitious, going beyond pizza to fish fry, sandwiches, pasta and more, but we stuck to some fairly simple dishes and feel they were a decent value.

The Romaine in our Caesar salad was just the other side of fresh; its dressing was just this side of ranch. Good croutons and ample cheese helped, though.

We went with some specialty pies. The crust choices were thin, hand tossed, or Chicago-style, and the thin crust proved a but too insubstantial to hold up to the heavy toppings and we had to resort to cutlery. That said, the ribeye and gorgonzola pizza was good and the flavors well-balanced, with a not-too-aggressive choice of cheese. The beef was a tad chewy, however, and we thought the tomato sauce was redundant. We really liked that the BBQ chicken pizza used smoked gouda and the tomatoes were ripe.

Picasso's seems like a good concept in the abstract, though in execution, we felt it was middle of the road.

Comments

[Laura]

Ugh, we went to Picasso's a few years back when hotdogchicagostyle.com rated them as having some of the best Chicago Style hot dogs in town. The hot dogs were fine, but we waited 45 minutes for our hot dogs and another 45 minutes for our waitress to come back and ask if we were ready for our bill. I hear their pizzas are good though...

[Kathy]

I used to work near Picasso's and took advantage of their take-out now and then. Their food was always very good, I thought, so I'm a little surprised to hear you had a less-than-great experience.

[Doug]

Been awhile since having gone, as we moved to Sun Prairie. Best pizza in town, bar none. Carnivore, Roman Ruler for traditional, BBQ chicken if want something different. More real toppings than anyone else in town. Chicken and wild mushroom fettucine, among the best pastas you can find and among the most reasonably priced. Service can be choppy, but food has always made up for that. Hope to enjoy soon again.

[Indu]

yummy. piece of art like a picasso?

[Doug]

Went back to Picasso's friday night, and the food was better than ever. Top notch Fish Fry, Outstanding garlic cheese bread, and the best thin and crispy crust pizza in the area. Top quality ingredients and a nice amount of great tasting sauce. The food will not dissapoint you.

[kat]

We occasionally have Picasso's delivered, and it's usually decent, but tonight disappointed me - I got the meatball sub, which had almost no sauce on top of vaguely meat-flavored sponges that I'd bet money were pre-made. Italian restaurant using pre-made meatballs? Really?