🍜 Your guide to Madison's strip mall restaurants

🚣 Why Are Madison’s Lake Levels So Low?

• Madison lakes are feeling a little shallow these days. A combination of meager rainfalls in the spring and not much snow during the winter means the lakes are lagging behind where they should be when it comes to meeting minimum water levels in the summer.
• Measurements from earlier this week showed Lake Mendota about 10 inches below its summer minimum and 16 inches below the summer maximum. Water users hope the watershed gets a boost by this week’s precipitation. [ 🔒 WSJ]

👋 Supervisor Resigns From Dane County Board

• Dane County Supervisor Elizabeth Doyle said she is moving out of District 1 and will resign from the board at the end of the month. Her district covers downtown Madison.
• Doyle has served on the board since 2019, and chaired the personnel and finance committee since May 2022. A special election will be held to fill the seat. [Ch. 3000]

🏫 Federal Cuts Cost UW Grad Students Funding

• Uncertainty over federal funding of higher education is impacting UW-Madison graduate students, who are seeing their terms of acceptance altered and reduced.
• Students enrolled in science Ph.D. programs typically are paid and have their tuition covered. But with the Trump administration threatening to slash or withhold federal research dollars, scientists say they have limited funds to offer students. In some cases, students have already signed leases on apartments in Madison before learning that their position at the university is no longer secure.
• 🎧 Dig deeper: Madeline Topf, co-president of the Teaching Assistant Association, joined the City Cast Madison podcast to talk about how the controversial cuts are impacting grad students. [WPR, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

There’s just something special about getting a great meal at the same place where you pick up your dry cleaning. On the City Cast Madison podcast today, host Bianca Martin and Cap Times food and culture editor Lindsay Christians talk about their favorite strip mall restaurants throughout Madison.

A couple of weeks ago, we asked readers to submit their favorite strip mall spots in town. And boy, did you ever deliver! We couldn’t fit everyone’s suggestions into the podcast so here are some of our favorite responses. Thanks so much to everyone who wrote in!

Oliva has amazing Mediterranean eggplant dishes and Italian (cuisine). Love their appetizer combo plate and their Turkish tea! – Joanne K.

King of Falafel on South Park Street! More of a gas station restaurant than a strip mall restaurant but it’s an amazing hole in the wall with excellent food. The owner and chef Adel Benmeftah has a great story and dedication to quality and authenticity in his food. He cares a lot about connecting with his local customers and many come on foot from the Park St neighborhood. – Kelsey E.

Nano Sweet Cafe -- best tiramisu in the city (Mineral Point Rd) – Liza D.

Amber Indian Cuisine is our favorite strip mall restaurant for dinner. Bear & Bottle would be our favorite for brunch if that counts, but that may be getting in the weeds of what we consider a strip mall location... love it though! – Rachel S.