Portage Pi

In a word: Twee point one four one five...

The specs: #01020   
601 Langdon St., Madison 53703
Details at Yelp, official web site, Facebook

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JM ate the ham and cheese hand pie.
Nichole ate a salad and an apple pastry.
The bill was $15, or $7.50ish/person, plus tip.
JM gave a Portage Pi a B+; Nichole gave Portage Pi a B (see our grading rubric).

Portage Pi is in the Graduate Hotel lobby which is has a real hipster shabby/boat aesthetic.  Portage, like put a canoe over your head, right? So they put a canoe over your head. Also little play trucks as lampstands, and starving-artist art on the walls.

The Pi part, though, is all about finding the golden-crusted ratio, and didn't quite achieve the same transcendental nature as its namesake. These "pi"s were on the acceptable side of brunch with a crust to match. There was a little too much of something in these preparations (baking soda or corn starch, maybe?) and that made them a little scratchy going down. The rosemary blackberry butter that came with the pis was a really delicious detail, though, and would be worth finding its perfect mate on the menu. Nichole got a salad from the cooler, which was a little overpriced, and just a cooler salad.

Hotel lobbies are OK places for after-afterparties. Many people eating at Portage Pi are probably unfamiliar with the cornucopia of bounty on State Street just feet away. As a first taste of Madison, it is neither bad not good, it's just about right.