Breakfast Sandwich #54 - Barriques (Atwood) aka The Breakfast Slider

Sandwich: Barriques Breakfast Sandwich
Location: Barriques (Atwood)
Date: March 17, 2016
Cost: $3.90 ($2.65 + $1.25 for bacon)

The newest Barriques opened on Atwood Avenue in November. I almost reviewed their Fitchburg location several months ago, but the line was back to the door and I didn't have time to wait. Well, they opened a store closer to me. That was thoughtful. It's a nice space, lots of windows and natural light and garage doors they can open when conditions are right. The area has limited parking but regular visitors to that stretch of Atwood probably have that figured out.

I didn't take a photo of the menu but here is a link.

Sandwich in the sun.

Sliced slider

The Sandwich - Barriques Breakfast Sandwich. I opted to have the bacon added. In retrospect I probably could have gotten one with sausage as well. These are compact little sandwiches, they're almost a slider to be honest, and I was pretty hungry when I arrived. I didn't know the size at the time so I only ordered one. Ordering two would perhaps be excessive, but I could have easily eaten both. The sandwich came out quickly, you could order one of these to go if you have a little extra time before you need to get to work. The egg is fried and there is a good amount of Hook's cheddar that I wish would have been more melty. There wasn't a lot of bacon and it was kind of shunted over to one side, requiring some redistribution. The bun was very squishy and had a slight sweetness that wasn't working for me.

The Result - 3.8 Sliders out of 5 Sliders. It's a decent little sandwich. It is small but the price is right for the size. If you don't want bacon or sausage it's under $3 and there aren't a lot of options out there for that amount. (I'm just going to assume you don't want to visit the Taco Bell $1 menu). For me, this is more of a snack than a compact meal, but your mileage may vary. My main issue was that I didn't care for the sweetness of the bun. Again, that may not be an issue for some. Looking at the menu they have some wraps that look pretty awesome and are likely more substantial. I will probably opt for a wrap on a return visit.

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Breakfast Sandwich #53 - Bloom Bake Shop aka Good Neighbors

Sandwich: Wisconsin Biscuit Sandwich
Location: Bloom Bake Shop
Date: March 12, 2016
Cost: $7

Bloom Bake Shop was recommended by a couple of people and I had been hoping to get out there for awhile but I was waiting for an opportunity to find myself in Middleton. It was starting to look like that situation wasn't going to present itself so I just went. It's a real journey to get there, 9.7 miles to be exact. By Madison standards that is a long way. This isn't Southern California. I mean, it's another whole town, village, city. Middleton is the "Good Neighbor City".

Before you even get into Bloom, you are greeted with this:

A SANDWICH ON A SANDWICH BOARD! YAAAYYY. Also, it looks like somebody lost a brick. 

That sign is pretty neighborly, you have to admit.

Wall menu.

It looks even better than the one on the sandwich board.

The Sandwich - Wisconsin Biscuit Sandwich. No options offered although by the way it is worded on the menu it seems like the cheese may vary from time to time. I should have asked what was on mine but it was a melty, stringy, white cheese. The sandwich came out nicely stacked and looking all perky on the plate. It really was an attractive sandwich. The chicken egg wasn't cooked runny how I like it but it is apparently local, like everything else on this sandwich. There is a really good chance that they know the name of the chicken that made the eggs. The biscuit is a standout here - flakey and buttery and all those words everybody uses to describe a good biscuit. It wasn't crumbly and held up well. For me, the real secret to this sandwich was the stone ground mustard. I don't know what kind it was but it blended with everything perfectly and was portioned well with a couple of small pockets of extra mustardy goodness tucked into places. Of course the bacon was great.

The Result - 4.91 Good Neighbors out of 5 Good Neighbors. This is an excellent sandwich. Perhaps a little on the pricey side but thats what you get with all those local/free range/GMO Free/organic/freshly-tickled ingredients. Whatever. It's a delicious, simple, standard breakfast sandwich. The basics done as they should be. The shop is comfortable and the service is friendly and excellent. While I was there several people came in for their cakes or cupcakes or whatever they ordered for their parties. I'm guessing the baked items are fantastic and have a reputation unto themselves.

While I was driving out there I considered going to Hubbard Avenue Diner as well, just to get some extra research in. I abandoned that plan as foolish after this sandwich. 

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Breakfast Sandwich #52 - Wilson's Sports Bar & Grill aka Give Me The Remote

Sandwich: Egg Sandwich
Location: Wilson's Sports Bar & Grill
Date: March 5, 2016
Cost: $4.75

Over the past several years I've probably eaten more breakfast sandwiches at Wilson's than at any other spot. Friends had tipped me off that they make a solid egg sandwich and it became a somewhat regular stop on weekends, especially during football season when the bar atmosphere can take on a certain je ne sais quoi.

When this breakfast sandwich blog idea was hatched Wilson's was #2 on the list and I thought it would be one of the first places I would visit. For no particular reason, that didn't happen.

It's all about the options

It was kind of dark in there, I'm surprised this photo turned out at all.

That's what we're looking for.

The Sandwich - Eggs over-medium, bacon, American cheese on rye. You have options at Wilson's. As soon as you walk in you get to decide which of the regulars you want to sit next to at the bar, or rather, which televised sporting event you want to be situated in front of. They have several hundred televisions showing a variety of sports so you should be able to find something you like. I chose a Women's Beach Cricket Tournament, coming in live on satellite from Calcutta. (Thanks to the Rajasthan Lady Tigers I won 200 rupee from the guy sitting next to me). For the breakfast sandwich you can order your egg as you like it, choice of meat as seen on the menu, choice of American, swiss or pepper jack cheese (I think) and choice of bread (wheat, rye, white, maybe sourdough?) I'm going off memory here on the cheese and bread, I didn't even ask what they had since I already knew what I was ordering.

My bacon was a tiny bit overdone as was the egg. There was plenty of melty cheese though so that kind of made up for the egg. The bread could have been toasted a bit more also. 

The Result - 3.9 televisions out of 5 televisions. The sandwich was pretty good but I know they can do better. They have been more consistent in the past. Today wasn't quite their day, these things happen. Still, it was an enjoyable sandwich and I like that there are several options available so you can build your sandwich as you like it. The price is right too. The hash browns weren't up to their usual level either. They were a little underdone, but somehow had an overly hard layer of melted cheese on the bottom. All that said, I know I'll be back, probably right around the time the Badger football team starts conference play. 

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