Bon Appetit Cafe

I do not understand why this place has such low review:(I really love their lunch !! It is not L’ Etoile stuff… but it is very nice food… and ambience casual and friendly.

I visited for lunch on a Tuesday, and was the only customer. I had a chicken salad and the ingredients and presentation were exceptional. The crème brule was also very good.

A friend and I stopped in here on Thanksgiving– we had nowhere to be and didn’t want to cook. The place wasn’t busy at all. The first bad sign was right away– upon walking through the door, we were given the stink eye by the owner. Still, I asked, «Are you open for dinner?» The answer: «Yes, sure.» Uh, OK…
So began a hellish dinner experience that we still can’t believe. The owner (I assume) began hobnobbing loudly with a group who came in after us, whom he seemed to know. All the while, he was ignoring us. Not once did he crack a smile at us or ask us how anything was (it was all really crappy, thanks for asking!). I would’ve asked for one more glass of wine with my soggy, bland mushroom pie and bitter, wilted salad– had I been given the chance. Also adding to the «fine dining» experience: listening to the chef cuss up a storm in the kitchen while talking to the owner (giving him yet more opportunity to ignore us completely). At one point she looked right at me through the kitchen door and mouthed, «oops.». Yeah, oops. :/​
We felt extremely unwelcome, and debated walking out more than once during the evening. But, wait– it gets worse:
About halfway through our dining ordeal, something began to burn in the kitchen. «OK, maybe a sauté pan got burned a bit or something, and they’ll crank the exhaust fan…». No such luck. About 10 minutes later we were enveloped by a haze of disgusting, burnt-​smelling smoke. It got thicker, more nasty smelling, and harder to breathe. It actually became hard to see in there. We waited for a smoke alarm to go off– none did. The response from the owner? Amazingly, none. He ignored it completely. So, we sat there dumbfounded at the surrealness of it all. All these snobby-​acting people chatting away with the owner while the building burns down around them– oh, how gauche it would be to evacuate.
Why didn’t we leave? Well, didn’t want to walk out on the check (which was cashed by the owner the next morning by 930AM). Both my friend and I had a cough for almost two days and had to have every single thing we were wearing dry cleaned to get the smell out. We still talk about that night, my dining partner and I, as if it were a nightmare we survived together. Never, ever again.

I am really surprised by the bad reviews here. I love this place. We have been eating here for years and the food is always great. It has such a homey neighborhood feel. I also think Bön Appetit is a really good value. I eat out in Madison often and think many more expensive places in the area serve food that is not as consistently good. I think they have everything working for them, fresh local ingredients, intimate setting and inventive changing menu.
My most recent visit was 10÷27÷11 and again we had a great meal, appetizer sampler, meatballs and polenta, and homemade cookies for dessert, it was all fantastic.

«Owner of this vehicle, You are no different than Walker (in reference to my bumper sticker I assume)– the street under construction and my business struggling and you callously use space in my small parking area. Just like Walker you disregard the rights and welfare of others. Shame! Shame! Shame!»
This was left on my car in the parking lot of Bön Appetit Café on Williamson Street. I went there for lunch with a friend (and have been there before as a customer) but they were closed. We decided to take her car to go somewhere else for lunch and we took her car. We were back within the hour and I found this on my windshield. I was back just as they reopened for their dinner hours. There was no one in the restaurant yet. I understand their frustration with the construction on Williamson Street, but I think comparing me to Walker because of this is an unfair comparison. And I will not be patronizing their business anymore.

My girlfriend and I came here to support the restaurant, which has been hurting a little bit with business since Willie street is under construction.
I love the quirkiness of this place. The art on the wall was interesting and unique. Our waitress was super nice, but a bit quirky as well.
Dinner started off well. Our appetizers were delicious. We had a corn chowder and a spicy Caesar salad, both which were delicious and hit the spot on a rainy evening. Main courses of salmon and pork loin were just okay though. I agree with some other reviewers though that the food tasted like something I could make at home and was a bit pricey for the quality.
Overall I was glad that I came here though and tried out the place.

the food menu is sort of all over the place… kind of toward the mexican side… why is the name of the place french?! Anyways i got the huevos rancheros that tasted like a fried egg, with some sauteed green pepper and a can of chopped tomatoes… and my husband got some plate with tortilla chips in it with cheese and egg… the fried chips were STALE… really really stale to the point it was hard to chew…
its pricey for what is is in my opinion and honestly tastes like something I can make at home. Maybe I just ordered the wrong stuff but I probably won’t be going back again!
oh fyi the fresh veggies on the side… they were not fresh

I had heard good things about Bön Appetit being a new-​ish local-​foods café in Madison, and so had been excited to try it. But we left the restaurant very disappointed.
For one thing, there was almost nothing that could have possibly been local in our meals, as far as I could tell. The majority of the dishes on the small menu featured non-​seasonal fruits and vegetables, like avocado and strawberry and tomato. On top of that, the non-​local foods we did have were prepared in fairly bland ways (and such small portions!*), especially given the relatively steep prices (entrees at $ 19). The food was fine, but given these caveats, really not worth it.
And although the service was passable, the fact that the waitress and chef sat and talked very loudly, in the most boring ways possible, about movie trivia through our whole meal («have you seen that one movie with that British gal? You know the one who was married to Nathan Lane? Oh you mean the one who won that Emmy?»)**, made the whole setting very uncomfortable. And because the place was so small and we were the only patrons in the restaurant, we could hear all the clattering in the kitchen and had trouble focusing on our own conversation.
We will not be returning.
*Annie Hall reference
**Yes, I realize I offered some movie trivia of my own

First of all, I am dismayed at any negative reviews this place has received. Just walking in here you can tell this place is one of the hidden treasures of Madison. It is truly a small business the owner is the chef and the waitress that was there the night I went was super nice. The meals you get here are unique and the menu changes every week, you can go on to their blog to see what the chef has decided to make this week. (How cool!!) Going to a small restaurant like this feels like you are patronizing the arts.
I went here for an african-​themed dinner with my boyfriend. I got a vegetarian african stew, he got a chicken dish and we shared a dessert and a greek appetizer. We went late on a Friday in mid November and we were the only ones in the restaurant. (We felt a little bad…) The food was all fantastic and the boy and I cleared our plates despite being very very full. The stew was thick and good; it had the flavor, attention and uniqueness put into it that your mom (or a friend from west africa) would put into cooking a home meal for you. The appetizers were terrific and fresh, it came with some great fresh feta cheese and a spinach cheese phyllo dough pastry.
I really want to come back when they do italian. I’m sure it’ll be awesome.

We’ve been going here regularly for years. The menu rotates at least weekly but always has certain staples such as porkchops and a vegetarian dish. Every dish is fantastic and focuses on local and seasonal fare. The owner/​chef often experiments with new styles from different parts of the world and is always expanding his repertoire. Despite how frequently we go, we never get bored of the food.
Once or twice a month they do wine dinners that are extremely affordable with a selection of good wines in the $ 10-​$ 25 range that you can order and pick up a few days later. This is where we’ve been getting a lot of wines lately as it keeps our rotation of new wines very high. The best wines from these dinners often end up on the wine list, which isn’t long but tends to be both affordable, well rotated, and high quality.
Personally I really like the atmosphere. It is not a large place and sometimes can get a little smokey (much like my own kitchen) but I always feel very at home here. We often go on Friday nights as a way to unwind from a long week and I can feel myself relaxing as I enter the door. The art is also done almost completely by the owner, who has been becoming more and more popular as an artist in the Madison area these days. It is highly abstract and very colorful. He rotates it on a regular basis and a number of times I’ve seen people come in off the street because they saw the art through the window and wanted to get a better look.
Overall our favorite place in Madison.

I have mixed feelings about this place, based on my one dining experience there. Considering it seats 20 people (I counted), it should have a very cozy feel like the french bistros it is trying to emulate. But it came off more like a trendy coffee shop to me. Not that it’s a bad thing, I suppose. But the lighting is a bit bright for a romantic meal, and the tables are tiny. Add in the mix of ‘cliché diverse art’ that Madison seems to think is necessary everywhere, and you get the idea.
The waitstaff, which consisted of one person when I was there, was friendly enough. Not terribly helpful with the wine menu. But there wasn’t much of a selection to begin with. The food choices were equally sparse, but I prefer quality over quantity so that wasn’t a concern.
And speaking of the food. Yes, it was very good and reasonably priced. I had some sort of porkchop (forgive me, it’s been at least a month since I was there) and my date had a vegetarian cous cous dish. Both were excellent.
The waitress was polite and responsive, and seemed to know when to give us space. But I was a bit turned off when she handed me the bill and never asked if I needed change for my cash. Perhaps it was just an oversight, and not enough of a complaint to taint my impression of the place.
That said, if you want a small place that veers from the usual french motif while providing very good food, this might fit the bill. Beware that the wine list is very pedestrian, and since I consider that an integral part of fine dining, I had to give it 3 stars instead of 4.

I’ve been here a couple of times for brunch. And every time, something is sort-​of off. First time, my eggs were way overcooked. The yolks were hard even though they had said they would do sunny side up. Second time, the potato salad they brought with the main dish was basically flavorless and the potato seemed uncooked.
There was also a very disturbing art exhibit on display the first time I went there. And a really big disfigured painting of a head in the bathroom that scared me… a bit inappropriate for a small french café on willy street. They should stick to more benign things.
Cute, has potential, and maybe I should try it for some other meal (maybe they’re not really cut out for brunch), but I was disappointed overall.

I love this place. It’s cozy and it feels like some place only I know about (because I am often half of the only couple in the restaurant). Dinner and brunch are amazing. The menu changes frequently, but you can count on it being creative, fresh tasting and some sort of ethnic. The service is friendly and efficient. It’s also great for vegetarians because the vegetarian entrees don’t ever seem like a jumble of side dishes.
The only catch is that you have to remember to bring cash– no credit cards accepted!!!

i hate to give this place only two stars because the service was great and the atmosphere was very cute. i wanted to like it, but the truth is i was very disappointed.
the food was NOT great, especially for the prices!
we started with the strawberry avocado salad, which was okay, but i could have made it at home in about 2 minutes, and the dressing was nothing special.
i got the garbanzo bean stew, but apparently they were out of garbanzo beans so they asked if some other bean was okay. when it came it was luke warm and looked like they poured these white beans out of the can 5 minutes before. gross. and it said it came with «eggplant pilaf,» which ended up being regular rice with maybe one tiny smidge of spice for color, with one tiny chunk of eggplant which got lost under the white bean stuff.
my boyfriend got the seafood soup and it looked watery and unexciting. there were a few chunks of carrots and peas floating around in there, with not enough seafood.
sorry, bon appetit. i still think you’re cute, but i’m not coming back.
(i heard through the grapevine that the chef is moody and if he’s in a good mood then the food will be great but it’s always a gamble, so you never know what you’re going to get).

This is the best brunch in Madison — doesn’t suffer from the weekend morning crowds, within walking distance of the farmer’s market, and a quiet atmosphere. Food is excellent. I recommend the chilaquiles — they’re the best I’ve ever had. Brunch is really affordable, dinner is a little more pricey. Owned by an artist, local art is always on display.

I want to really love this place. The food is really just lovely. We came here for brunch.
I had the crawfish crab cakes with the rosemary polenta. They served it with fresh fruit salad. I liked what I ordered. But, I didn’t think it was spectacular.
The son ordered Chilaquiles Verde. The tomatillo sauce was nicely spicy. They served it with poached eggs and fresh fruit.
The daughter got the 2 eggs and bacon. AND if you ever want bacon, ordered this, here. The plate had a mound of bacon.
The husband ordered the the vegetable omelette. Fine– nothing special.
The best dish was the Chilaquilas. The place is really small but the friendliness makes up for everything.
Word of caution: they have ventilation problem. Its extremely smokey in there.

I don’t know how this place stays in business.
They have seating for 12 people in the whole entire restaurant.
And their prices are very reasonable (~$ 14).
That being said, I love coming here. The place is small, intimate, quaint, and rustic. The food is fresh, local, and most importantly delicious. Overall, a good place for a quiet date with good conversation.
Also, the food is not into whatever the season’s overhyped foodstuff might be (no quinoa, mission figs, coffee-​infused reductions, etc), which I like.