Bison Jacks

Bison Jacks is located in Greenway Station in Middleton. They are a relatively quick service restaurant that serves primarily hot dogs and burgers made from bison, with sides such as coleslaw, baked fries and salads. They cook the meat to order and then you can customize the toppings.

The main pros of Bison Jacks are that they stock gluten free buns, appear to be very careful about cross contamination issues and there is hardly ever anyone in the restaurant, even on a Friday night which makes for very little wait for a made to order burger and/or hot dog. In the past I have received a copy of the list of items they carry that are gluten free, but they did not seem to have a copy at my most recent visit.

I have only ever had their burgers and so can't comment on their hot dogs although they do have a number of specialty dogs to choose from in addition to being able to customize your own. As for the burgers, they do satisfy a burger craving if you are in the mood for an actual burger with a bun that you don't have to make at home but don't want to go to a bustling place like jacs. The burgers appear to only be made well done and can be topped with cheese and a variety of other topics of your choosing. I recently ordered the combo which came with a burger, soda and choice of side and was under $10, although it appears that the prices are increasing shortly according to a sign posted on the register.

Overall, for ease of having a safe gluten free meal away from home, I would give Bison Jacks an A. The staff is also very friendly and accommodating. The burger itself is fairly average but the competition in the market for gluten free burgers in Madison is fairly limited and so I would consider Bison Jacks to be a solid choice. Enjoy!

Bellini

Yesterday we braved the slushy roads after the snowstorm and ventured out to Bellini for dinner. Bad weather is a great time to go anywhere that's typically busy since no one else wants to. It usually means little to no wait, which is a nice treat on a Friday night during the peak dinner hour.

Bellini is located close to downtown and is in an old church built in 1897. It has beautiful stained glass windows and the furnishings complement the location, even if they're not particularly comfortable.

We started with the meatballs as an appetizer which were fantastic! The combination of the meatballs, sauce, mushrooms and spinach was divine. If they offered an entree size, I think I would order it all the time!

The gluten free items are now marked on the menu, which is helpful. Although the pasta dishes are not marked as gluten free, they usually offer some of them with gluten free pasta. Yesterday, however, they were out of GF pasta which was somewhat disappointing. This did, however, offer the opportunity to try something new from the menu. I ordered the Sogliola alla Romesco which is a fillet of sole in slightly spicy roasted red pepper and almond butter sauce served with green beans. The flavor is similar to Harissa and was pretty good.

My husband ordered the Gamberi al Forno which has jumbo shrimp in a white wine sauce with mashed potatoes. It is also listed as GF and so I tried a bite of that as well. The shrimp are huge and pretty tasty, although I think the sauce was fairly average.

The Flourless chocolate cake is the only GF dessert and we were in the mood for some so we ordered that as well. I prefer mine to be more chocolaty than this one was, but it wasn't bad.

I would definitely say the meatballs were the highlight of the meal and in the future, I would order these as a starter and probably one of the pasta dishes if they have pasta on hand. In the past I've had the Gamberi alla Diavola which has the jumbo shrimp in a slightly spicy vodka tomato cream sauce over GF pasta and I can highly recommend that dish.

This may be the third or fourth time I've actually eaten at Bellini although I've been there several other times when the restaurant has been closed for a private event, usually a wedding reception. If you've ever been here, you know why it's such a popular location. It really is a gorgeous building both inside and out. If you're planning to go there during wedding season, I'd definitely recommend calling ahead to make sure they're open to the public. Enjoy!

Lazy Jane's Cafe

Although I haven't written about any restaurants recently, it's not been for lack of eating out. We've even tried a couple new ones, like Johnny Delmonico's for restaurant week and old favorites like Kabul. They've all been good and the meatballs at Kabul are amazing and worth trying if you haven't already.

However, I have somehow missed out on the GF scones at Lazy Jane's until this morning. I've been to Lazy Jane's in the past and been happy that they offer gluten free bread with their breakfasts, but we haven't been there in about two years. I really don't know if they've always made GF scones and I missed out because I got there too late or if these are new, but they're definitely worth getting there early to make sure you get a hold of one! This morning they had GF lemon cream scones. I'm not sure if they do different ones, but these were fantastic.

Lazy Jane's seems to take reasonable precautions in the restaurant and the GF scones were above the other baked goods and off to the side, which is probably the best that could be done. In the bakery annex they're housed in with the rest of the baked products which makes me more nervous. Either way, the amount of gluten around the GF things does make me more nervous than in some other places. I had a hard time resisting, however, and ordered my scone from the restaurant along with breakfast and so far, I haven't noticed any negative effects from it - just lemony, buttery yumminess.

I also ordered "The Works" with GF toast for breakfast which comes with a choice of meats - I went with bacon. The breakfast was decent, but the highlight really was that GF scone.

Lazy Jane's is on the near East Side. If you've never been, there are some things that I think are helpful to know. Firstly parking is difficult, so it's best to try to find street parking close enough to the restaurant or walk if you're close enough. The procedure is that you stand in line and order, then you find a table, then you get your food from the counter when they call your name. After you're done eating, you bus your own table. There's also a bakery annex a couple doors down on the same side of the street that's open on weekends if you're only getting baked goods. It's also cash only, so be sure to have enough when you go in. Enjoy!