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| - Madison's pizza scene has significantly improved over the past five years.
Salvatore's Tomato Pies is a driving force in the turnaround.
My wife and I visited the newer downtown location, rather than the original in Sun Prairie. The space is cozy, but we were seated right away even though we dropped in between 6:30 and 7:00 on a Saturday night (it was gorgeous outside on this day, so most of the city was probably outside at the Terrace already).
The beer list isn't overwhelming in size (6-8 taps), but has a nice mix of craft options that paired well with the menu items that we tried. On this day, I tried a unique Black Wheat (My Name is Joe) from 3 Sheeps that had a nice coffee flavor (4.5 out of 5).
We ordered the seasonal salad, which is currently the most beautiful thing I've ever eaten. The taste held up against the visual appeal with a mix of seabeans, arugula, pleasant ridge reserve, strawberries, snap peas. violas, baby rainbow carrots, squash blossom, strawberry vinaigrette.
Rather than build our own pie, we tried the Forestiere (description from Sal's menu: Thinly sliced onions, bacon lardons, crème fraiche, Pleasant Ridge Reserve, fresh thyme and local mushrooms). The pizza was cooked perfectly, and held a crisp but chewy texture. The ingredients meshed very well together, and the cheese was so good that it stole the show from the bacon. Yes, the bacon rode shotgun, and it was very good bacon!
This is our new go-to place in Madison for great pizza, and one that we will undoubtedly share with family and friends for years to come with the goal of eating through the entire menu and trying as many of the seasonal specials as possible.
Yelp Scorecard
Food: 5
Service: 4.5
Cost: 4.5
Decor: 4.5
Overall: 4.62
Zagat Scorecard
Food: 28
Service: 25
Cost: 25
Decor: 25
Overall: 26
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