🍛 The best new restaurants in Madison

🎒 Underly, Kinser Advance in State School Superintendent Race

• The results of Tuesday’s three-way primary election for state superintendent of schools gives Wisconsin voters a clear choice in the April 1 general election. In the only statewide race on the ballot, incumbent Jill Underly will face Milwaukee education consultant Brittany Kinser. The third candidate vying for the post was Sauk Prairie Schools Superintendent Jeff Wright.
• Underly has voiced opposition to the state’s voucher school system, while Kinser has received much of her support from pro-voucher Republican supporters, including $200,00 from the state Republican party.
• Also in Tuesday’s primary, all three incumbents in the contested Madison City Council primaries will advance to the general election. District 10 Ald. Yannette Figueroa Cole will run against former city administrator Lisa Veldran, District 9 Ald. Nikki Conklin will face Joann Pritchett, and District 12 Ald. Amani Latimer Burris will face Julia Matthews in a rematch of the 2023 race. [Cap Times, Isthmus]

⌨️ Is a Local Bank Employee a Prolific Internet Troll?

• Old National Bank is investigating a Monona employee after a member of U.S. Congress received over two dozen harassing messages on Facebook from an account bearing his name.
• U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) shared profane and insulting messages sent from a Facebook account with the name Bill Huemmer, who works at Old National Bank in Monona.
• Several other women came forward to say they had received harassing messages from the same account for years. Huemmer posted online last week that his account had been hacked. [Madison365, Facebook]

✂️ Planned Parenthood in Madison Now Offers Vasectomies

• Planned Parenthood may be most associated in people’s minds with women’s health, but the organization’s East Madison clinic is now offering vasectomies.
• Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said it has seen an uptick in interest in the procedure following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of federal abortion rights in 2022. A UW-Madison study showed that surgical sterilizations at a Madison hospital more than doubled during the same time period. [WKOW, Cap Times]

Welcome to our list of the best new restaurants and bars opening in and around Madison! We’ll update this list each month. If we’ve missed a new spot you think we should feature, let us know!

Zafferano Ristorante (Fitchburg)

This new restaurant inside the Wyndham Garden Hotel on Fish Hatchery Road in Fitchburg combines Indian and Italian cuisine (the name is an Italian twist on “saffron,” a common ingredient in Indian cooking).

Teriyaki Madness (Far West Side)

This Denver-based fast-casual Asian chain says it will open its first Madison location this week on Mineral Point Road near West Towne Mall. It offers made-to-order teriyaki bowls with a variety of proteins.

Chin Up (Downtown)

In addition to having the kind of name we need in 2025, Redditors have been abuzz over the quality of food at this new takeout/delivery Chinese restaurant on West Gilman Street that was formerly home to Ramen Kid.

January 2025

Alimentari (West Side)

The European-style deli and food shop, formerly on Brearly Street, opened in its new home on Monroe Street in Knickerbocker Place to offer an expanded selection of meats, cheeses and wines.

Caribou Coffee (Far East Side)

The Minnesota-based coffee chain has nearly 500 locations, including over 50 in Wisconsin. But it hasn’t had one in Madison until a Caribou Coffee opened just on American Parkway near the UW Health East Madison hospital.

Apex Grill (State Street)

Apex Grill offers Korean barbecue with an emphasis on to-go orders. The menu features several kinds of bulgogi, as well as entrees such as spicy squid and kimchi fried rice.