Mid Town Pub

In a word: More than halfway there.

The specs: #00972  
405 Allen Blvd., Middleton 53562
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Official web site, Facebook

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JM ate the prime rib sammy.
Nichole ate the Normandy burger.
The bill was $25, or $12.50/person, plus tip.
JM gave Mid Town Pub a B-; Nichole gave Mid Town Pub a B (see our grading rubric).

In developing the "wheel," this thing where we use a bunch of different lists and knowledge to generate our own next place to go out to eat, we occasionally come across places that should have been slam dunks for the original Isthmus list. 

Mid Town Pub is less than 2 minutes from Madison proper. It has a real chef that really participates in Madison culinary events (in this case, the one where everyone eats super-hip apps with beer and cocktails in a park on the near east side... what's that one called again?). It is more noteworthy than similar Middleton denizens (thinking here of some Greenway chain dreck, but let's not name names) and feels much more comfortable.

For real, people, the menu is extensive, even including many, many vegetarian choices. Sure, the prices are a little high, but no higher than their Monroe St. equivalents. It is as if a sports bar hired a chef de cuisine and moved to Middleton. And Mid Town packs 'em in.

Nichole's Normandy burger came on an amply buttered pretzel roll, topped with crispy bacon and another go at the cream cheese and olives (the bane of burgers past). In this case, it turned out fine. There was a good Vidalia slaw on the side. 

JM's prime rib sandwich came with horsey sauce.  It also came baptized in jus due to a possible plating mishap. Furthermore, its horseradish dipping sauce was neither zingy nor smooth - and since he was battling a cold, he would have appreciated a little kick. While the pretzel roll was tasty and soft, the pre-dip made it all the harder to keep together.  All in all, a below average thing, as it turned out.

We'd been to Mid Town Pub with an awesome friend to sample burgers before. They're pretty good, though not as good as Village Green's. We also enjoyed the tap handle and sign language display decorating the upper edge of the dining room. Mid Town Pub's fair-to-middling versions of standard bar food could have been so much more.  Which is sad since the rest of its strip mall has been about stripped bare, save the liquor store.