Zuzu Cafe
In a word: It's a long way, but it's worth it.
The specs: #0779
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, Brownies and Zucchini; official web site, 
Latest Zuzu Cafe news and reviews
JM ate the Jefferson breakfast sandwich with a lemonade while working Todd McClary's Cryptic #1 in the April 2012 issue of GAMES magazine. The lid of his Nantucket Nectars said "The most famous of Nantucket's hidden forests is off of Polpi's Road."
Nichole ate the lablabi with a coffee while reading Studs Terkel's Working: a graphic adaptation by Harvey Pekar et al.
The bill was $10, or $5/person, plus tip.
JM gave Zuzu Cafe an A-; Nichole gave Zuzu Cafe an A (see our grading rubric).
So this is it! Wow. We ended like we started, just us. And one of Nichole's oldest "friends."
Outside, Zuzu Cafe is a cornershop with ample bike racks and a tiny parking lot full of out-of-state license plates (good news gets around?). Inside, it's relaxed, funky, and clean, and very kid-friendly. We played with the plastic gear table and Duplos for as long as we thought we could get away with in public.
Coffee at Zuzu is Alterra. Today they had Sumatran dark and a lighter roast on, and the dark roast was poifect. There's also wine and beer galore, and Nantucket Nectars for lemonade.
It was a breakfasty/brunchy day (a Friday, we were fortunate to be able to take the day off work to properly comemmorate and send off ~eight years of this) so, of course, JM got a beef sandwich and Nichole got a spicy bean stew. With an egg on it = brunch.
The sandwiches are named for presidents and other neighborhood heroes: for example, JM's "Jefferson" was roast beef, Italian relish, and mozzarella on a grill-pressed pita. It was probably as good a deal as the Louisiana Purchase.
The lablabi special was described as a North African stew of chickpeas, carrots, cumin, caraway, coriander, and olive oil, with a gently fried egg on top. It was so filling, so fresh, so tasty, and so unexpected - so wonderful.
Our last advice to ourselves: keep learning. Keep growing.
Congratulations! Can't weight to get back to Madison and try some new places!
Posted by: JDC | February 26, 2012 at 12:40 PM
Congratulations! I love this project and have enjoyed reading your reviews over the years. I hope you both are well!
Posted by: Kari | February 26, 2012 at 01:19 PM
Congrats. Great Blog - fun, informative.
Posted by: david carlson | February 26, 2012 at 01:57 PM
Congratulations on getting through it! Hope to read more from you all. P.S. Lablabi is one of my favorite foods ever - now I know where to get it in Madison!
Posted by: Reem Tara | February 26, 2012 at 06:10 PM
Wow! In some ways, it seems like you just started this project. (Probably because I didn't have to do any writing or organizing or whatnot, just read.) Glad your "last meal" was a good one!
Posted by: Áine | February 26, 2012 at 08:09 PM
Thank you both! I have been a loyal reader for some time and feel a poignant sense of completion. Congratulations on the accomplishment, seeing this project through is truly something of which to be proud!
Posted by: Bobby B | February 27, 2012 at 12:23 AM
Congrats on finishing the blog! It's been a treat to read - thank you so much.
Posted by: Sara H | February 27, 2012 at 08:53 AM
Congratulations on coming to the end of this road! Your reviews have helped steer me and my group of dining friends to some great meals for our monthly excursions. I wish you nothing but success in where ever life leads you next - I only hope you will take us along for the ride.
Posted by: Fran S | February 27, 2012 at 09:34 AM
Congratulations on finishing the list! Your blog has been a treat to read (and a great set of suggestions for the next interesting restaurant to try). Thanks!
Posted by: Ashley | February 27, 2012 at 10:04 AM
Congratulations! What a fun feat of accomplishment. *blows horn*
Posted by: Marlena | February 27, 2012 at 10:37 AM
WOOOOOOOOT!
And now you can go back to eating just for the biological sustenance of it all!
HUGE mega-congratulations on the end of this particular journey! And thanks for letting us all watch as your marathon was run! I can't imagine anyone in Madison's history has eaten at every restaurant in the area. At least not in the last 100 years, when there were more than just a few...
Posted by: Kovalic | February 27, 2012 at 11:57 AM
Congratulations! I totally remember you telling me about this project when we were at the SLIS library processing books for JLG. That was a long time ago! Way to stick with it! And thanks for all of the restaurant recommendations/cautions.
Posted by: Amanda | February 27, 2012 at 12:35 PM
Yeah for MadisonAtoZ!! What an acoomplishment. This last post reminded me about driving past ZuZu's and always wanting to find out what was the food was like in there. I will have to stop! Thanks for all your great reviews and good luck with whatever project you start next.
Posted by: Katharine | February 27, 2012 at 01:37 PM
Congrats. An interesting concept: a finite blog. Don't despair, you can review something else, or take a series of photos of ham sandwiches just for old times sake.
Posted by: Timmy | February 27, 2012 at 03:55 PM
You both deserve a standing ovation for really sticking with this through thick and thin.
While a finite blog's a fine idea, I think a fair number of us would appreciate it if you wrote up new restaurants as they emerged. I know I've come to trust what you say about any restaurant––and so far, you've never led me astray. (Whenever I'm thinking about trying a place I've never been to, I look at what you've posted about it.) But I do understand if you don't want to.
Posted by: Diana | February 27, 2012 at 04:09 PM
I'm bereft.
Posted by: mj | February 27, 2012 at 08:32 PM
CONGRATULATIONS on "finishing" what you started!!!! :-D
There are VERY few people in this world that have completed an 8 year project like you have!!!! Thanks for bringing "us" along for the ride, can't tell you how often I have read your reviews before going to a new restaurant [and re-read your reviews & comments]. This site is a treasure trove of info, both current & historical.
Regardless what the future holds for your online endeavors I only have ONE request. PLEASE keep this site up, don't want to wake up some day and get a 401 error message!!!! :(
As a long time ~5 year reader / follower of your site I am speechless. I always knew in the back of my mind this day would come, but part of me hoped it never would. I have grown fond of your reviews, how they have evolved, how the Madison food scene has changed, and have used your reviews when deciding where to go, etc.
I know you have ideas for various future online endeavors and wish you nothing but the best. I also would recommend taking a month or two break, so you can unwind, take a step back, and hopefully then see more clearly how to proceed online.
That being said, I know there are MANY of US -- both commentators & just readers -- that wish you would continue to do "make up letters" on Madison restaurants in the future, maybe on a semi-annual basis [2x year]. After all you already did the "amazing" part of getting through them the first time, so keeping up should be far easier!!! LOL
However we can't forget YOU TWO are the ones doing the "hard work", so at the end of the day it isn't what WE the readers want, but what you want that will determine the future success of your online endeavors, both with this blog and any other project(s) you work on. After all if you don't like what you are doing, especially in creative endeavors like this, it WILL show in your work. [While you had some tough patches in getting through the AtoZ list, it at least appears from your blog, that you regained the "fun" aspect of it by the last part of the letters!!!]
Thanks again SO much for your OUTSTANDING blog,
Ken
Posted by: Ken | February 28, 2012 at 08:36 AM
Don't forget that ZuZu Cafe sponsors an open mic every Saturday evening. This event is also teen and kid-friendly.
Posted by: janeofdane | February 28, 2012 at 12:31 PM