The Downtowner is a solid option for a lunch or quick meal in downtown Madison.
A close friend who lives in the area recommended that we meet up for lunch here. Who am I to turn down a recommendation from a local?!?
The Downtowner is pretty basic on the inside. You will immediately recognize that it's a quintessential, small-downtown sandwich shop. No frills.
I ordered the grilled cheese and a cup of chicken noodle soup, following the advice of the server. Who am I to turn down a recommendation from a server?!?
And I was pleasantly impressed.
The bread on the grilled cheese was perfected grilled in butter and had a dusting of parmesan, I believe, on top. I want all of my grilled cheeses to have parmesan on them now.
And the chicken noodle soup was adequately chock full of noodles, some veggies and chunks of chicken. It hit that right balance between salty and bland.
These items were not gourmet or complicated -- just nice comfort food.
Our meals came out quickly, and they were pretty cheap, from what I remember. What more can you ask for?
I would happily eat at The Downtowner again.