Bluephies

From its mega-popular weekend brunches to its vodka flights, this restaurant seems to offer something for everyone. Madison is well-known for its "I'm okay, you're okay" attitude, and that is definitely evident here. The restaurant also has a pleasant artsy vibe. In addition to daily specials, the menu features a wide variety of pastas, soups, salads, sandwiches and burgers. The dinner menu includes "retro-chic" entrees such as artichoke and olive-crusted salmon and pork-spasm (a mixture of bacon, Italian sausage, and Andouille sausage glazed in barbeque sauce and then pan-fried). Salads and pastas run $12 to $16, dinners $13 to $18, burgers about $10. Try to leave room for dessert. Among the creative offerings is their signature sweet: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Egg Rolls, fried to order and served with vanilla custard and chocolate sauce. With red brick walls and accents of birch wood and stainless steel, Bluephies is warm and inviting. It's located in a residential neighborhood a couple of miles west of downtown and the University of Wisconsin campus, so it's easily accessible and a good spot for families. If you're looking for night life, you might want to try something closer to the Capitol area.