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| - Mickies Dairy Bar is an institution in Madison. It's excellent at what it does (no-frills breakfast and lunch diner food), but there's very little here that you can't either find better for cheaper at a place like The Curve, or that you could probably make as well as or better than Mickies in your own kitchen.
The ambiance is almost like stepping into a UW-Madison time capsule malt shop from the 1950s. They have old menu boards on display, the booths are weathered with a lived-in feel, the diner counter is an antique, and the bathrooms are tucked away under a squeaky wooden staircase. It can get impossibly loud on Saturdays, and I would abandon all hope of ever finding space on a Badger Football Saturday.
The service is quite good. Servers are cheerful, the kitchen is very fast (even when busy), and the coffee flows endlessly, as long as they aren't closing soon. I once wanted to do a crossword puzzle but had no writing utensil, so our server fetched one for me. They always remember to ask about the details of orders (such as whether you want gravy for your scramble on top or the side). He was pretty stingy with our coffee refills as soon as our food (quickly) came, though, since they were going to be closing. I get that he's probably exhausted - I used to work the weekend morning rushes at Marigold - but rushing us out like that (we'd gone in at least 45 minutes before closing) was obnoxious, since there were several other patrons still dining as we were leaving. If you are the kind of person who likes refills, I suggest trying a counter booth or counter stool, as you are more in their line of sight.
The food is hearty diner fare. You can order off of the breakfast meal all day, and possibly the lunch menu, too. They also have daily specials (at least during weekdays, except for Mondays when they're closed), which have generous portions and several accompaniments.The breakfast scramble is legendary, and an excellent hangover cure. It does need some salt and pepper, though. The two-egg breakfast is pretty cheap and good for an early weekday breakfast. The pancakes are enormous, and incredibly thick and heavy. A few bites are good, but I don't think I could even make it through a whole one. The coffee cake is a less-dense, delicious alternative if you like sweet food with your breakfast, especially when it has blueberries. Lunch-wise, they have fantastic sweet potato fries (sometimes), though the regular fries are nothing to write home about. The soups tend to be pretty good, but the sandwiches (toasted on the grill) are so heavy and greasy. You don't need to slather butter onto bread when you're making a Reuben with a ton of cheese and thousand island dressing; I love fatty diner food on occasion, but even this is beyond me. The burgers are a safer bet. All in all, it's delicious and reasonably-priced after a night of regrettable drinking, but not something I crave on a regular basis.
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