Cart Capades #10: Italian sausage and butter toffee peanuts

Welcome to Cart Capades, in which Decider will attempt to eat at all the food carts that hit downtown Madison during the warmer months and report back on what's tasty, what's crappy, and the outdoor-lunch experience in general. This week, we hit the Library Mall’s FIB’S cart and fruit stand.

Main course: FIB’S name supposedly stands for “fine Italian beef and sausages,” though the Chicago-centric cart’s moniker is also obviously a riff on the more common, R-rated acronym. The decor features photos of Chicago luminaries and a cart-side sound system that happened to be playing—what else?—Chicago’s “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” In light of all this Windy City love, Decider chose another Chicago classic: hot Italian sausage with giardiniera. The bun was hard on the outside, soaked with au jus on the inside, and the sausage was great. As far as delivering on what was advertised, FIB’S nailed it.

Beverage: Bottled water came as part of the daily sandwich special.

Dessert: Buying nearly anything from the fruit stand brings with it the feeling that it’s in some way healthy, but save for some fancy packaging, are M&Ms all that different from butter toffee peanuts?

"What the hell?" moment: Looking around Library Mall sans construction, we had to wonder what kind of project takes two years to complete, and to all outward appearances changed nothing. Speaking of not changing much, Orange Piccolo Guy was playing “Lil’ Darling.”