Before the flood: Local restaurants explore Twitter teasing
Stephanie Birr
@Motherfool's keeps followers posted on daily soups, but not much else.
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Though Twitter seems like an ideal format for broadcasting information about daily specials, menu updates, and live music, local restaurants have been slow to sign up for Twitter accounts. Restaurateurs do tend to be relatively analog, but at this late juncture in the ever-expanding Twitterverse it's kind of amazing the practice is so limited here in Madison, which is both tech-savvy and food-crazy. The A.V. Club has run across a few local spots, though, that are ahead of the game on what's sure to become standard practice.
Ironworks Café
As the hippest new purveyor of fresh local ingredients on the near East side, Ironworks Café shouldn't have to do much more than list its meals to get people down there—and that’s largely what it does. @ironworkscafe has recently become more creative with its tweeting, crafting some truly mouthwatering 140 character mini-essays, some resembling a Zen koan.
Sample tweet: All I want to do is eat heirloom tomatoes, basil and brie on baguette. forever. Good thing it's on our menu w/ wild rice and cuke salad.
Indie Coffee
@indiecoffee is warm and appealing, just like the café. If the goal of this tweeting is to instill a desire to curl up at Indie with a book, a cup of coffee, and a scone, it's working. The musical selection for the day is frequently mentioned for a unique and welcome twist.
Sample tweet: Today you'll hear Blonde Redhead, Fiery Furnaces, The Islands, Black Lips, Cat Power, Califone, The Clientele and more. #musicmonday.
Glass Nickel Pizza
A slightly unfocused mix of movie talk ("Just saw The Orphan it was great!") local events ("I'm excited for the Cool Kids") and pizza-related chatter ("Do you have a favorite dipping sauce? I'm a fan of ranch"), @GNPizza also issues news on time-sensitive special deals, menu updates, and Glass Nickel news. If you eat a lot of Glass Nickel pizza, you should follow them; otherwise, perhaps take a pass.
Sample tweet: What does everyone think of our new online ordering system? If you haven't used it yet give it a try - http://bit.ly/KYQ9S
Talula
@Talulamadison has discovered a formula, and works it with admirable dedication. Nightly specials, contact information, and live music are interspersed with food details. A review of Talula's tweetstream doubles as a primer in how restaurants should use this medium to their advantage.
Sample tweet: Perfect day in Madison. Perfect evening on the patio with Charlie Brooks Blues/R&B and our Fri Fish Fry. Reservations 441 1977
Mother Fool's Coffeehouse
The tweets emanating from @motherfools are suspiciously bot-like, invariably describing the soup of the day, with little deviation from a set syntax. One could write a script to post these tweets in less than an hour. That said, Mother Fool's makes terrific soups from scratch and it’s very nice to know what's cooking on a given day.
Sample tweet: We are currently serving Rustic Potato Leek & Indian Curried Vegetable.
