My husband and I will be in Madison Oct.10-12 for the Ohio St. vs. Wisc. football game. Any great restaurants(no chains please) for Fri. night dinner and Sat. breakfast or lunch? The game is Sat. night. We will be staying at The Crowne Plaza on Washington. Thank you in advance!

I've lived in Madison since 1995. Here are some of my favorite places to eat dinner:

Eldorado Grill (Southwest)
Madison Masala (Indian)
Harmony Bar (American)
Luna Caffe (Italian)
Great Dane (American/Brewery)
Sa-Bai Thong (Thai)
Lao Laan-Xang (Laotian)
Jolly Bob's (Caribbean)

Great breakfasts can be found at:
Original Pancake House
Marigold Kitchen
Monty's Blue Plate Diner

Let me know if you need further info and directions from your hotel!!

Enjoy your stay in Madison!

Be sure to stay for the 5th quarter, the best part of the game.

And stroll State Street.

And sit out on the Union Terrace if the weather is nice. And have an ice cream from Babcock while you're in the Union.

For four star food try to get reservations at L'Etoile downtown. I think the Farmer's Market will still be going on on the square downtown on Saturday morning-don't miss it-you can get something there or Marigolds. Ditto on all of Abrams suggestions-besides there are alot of places to eat on State Street and many are locally owned.
Parking is terrible near the stadium. You could park in a downtown lot and take a shuttle to the game. Or have lunch at Jingles, a local bar near the Alliant Center,that offers shuttles to the game. Let's go Red!

Our favorite breakfast places are The Original Pancake House and Mickey's Dairy Bar (Monroe and Regent). The Original Pancake has better food, but Mickey's is the classic diner/counter place that's been there forever. Mickey's is right by the stadium on Monroe and Regent.

Jingles Stadium Bar (Randall and Monroe Streets) and Jordan's Big Ten Pub (Regent and Randall) are great places to have some pre-game beers and get into the game day spirit.

Pasqual's has good Mexican / southwestern food, it's on Monroe Street. Michael's Frozen Custard has great custard and sundaes.

On Wisconsin!!

Thanks so much to all who responded. They are great suggestions and we look forward to trying them. But I must say, GO BUCKS!

Another plug for the Original Pancake House (used to live there and loved it - the wife and I were just saying the other day how much we miss it) and the Badgers!!! I wish I could offer more advice, but it's been 7 years and the restaurants change. If you go for pancakes, the place is located beside Hilldale Mall; you will need a car or the bus. Do take the advice about having a bite or drink on the Union terrace (hopefully to drown your sorrows).

One of my favorite places is the Avenue Bar on East Washington. You will probably need a reservation on a football weekend, unless you go early. The place is loaded with Badger backers & all sorts of sports pictures on the walls. I like the steaks there. The wife & kids like the perch.
Avenue Bar 608-257-6877
1128 E Washington Ave , Madison , Wi
Cuisine: Steaks/Chops/Prime Rib

The Original Pancake is no longer next to Hilldale, it's further west on University. There is also a location on the beltline highway.

Avenue Bar is a great restaurant especially for fish boil on Friday night. It's on Washinton Av, alot closer to town. Definitely local color.

GO BADGERS!

L'Etoile(sort of in the Chez Panisse genre) is really good. Expensive, worth it, and you will probably need reservations on a fRi night. A bit more casual and a bit less expensive is Magnus(Latin Fusion?), also downtown.

L'Etoile also has a breakfast cafe with the best croissants and other fabulous french baked good ever. Weird space (downstairs from restaurant), but oh, so good. Convenient to b'fast and follow up w/ a farmer's mkt trip if still going in Oct.