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| - I've been to Next Door 3? times now and I figured it was time for a review.
The first time I was here, the hubs and I were with another couple (Chicago Yelpers, actually) for lunch and most recently we went with the in-laws, also for lunch. The beer selection isn't my favorite, mostly because I'm a wheat beer drinker, but this last time I tried a saison and actually liked it! Thanks to our server whose name I don't remember for being helpful and assisting with a good beer choice!
I have tried the cheese curds (duh), pork belly sliders, feijoada, arancini, and beet salad now with varying opinions on each of them. The first time I had the cheese curds, I thought they were good, but a little greasy. Over time I kept trying cheese curds at other places that made me forget about Next Doors and keep moving it further down my ranking list. But the most recent time the cheese curds were awesome and promptly caused me to pull out my phone and put it back in third place. I REALLY appreciate the sauce that is served and the fact that it isn't ranch. It's one of my favorite sauces for cheese curds in Madison.
I'm also going to timidly put it out there that I don't really like the pork belly sliders that I had the first time I was there. I thought they were just fatty, and not flavorful, and I think I only ate half of them. If I were you, I would order the feijoada instead because that was tasty. And you know what else was tasty? The beet salad of all things! I don't like beets. I think they taste like dirt. I really WANT to like beets, but I just don't. I think beets belong with Pinot Noir in the "weird things that people consume that just taste like mud" category. But THIS beet salad I liked. I still don't LOVE beets, yet. But I ate two of them and didn't hate it, so for me that's a huge plus! Nicely done, cooked properly, and the dirt flavor delightfully absent.
The atmosphere of Next Door is great, I have always felt comfortable there, the prices are good, and the cheese curds are great. If you show up enough for the servers and/or owners to know you, that makes it even better! I will definitely recommend this as a great bar with food to anyone who asks.
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