First Impressions: Baldwin Street Grille

One of Madison’s most influential cultural landmarks is right across the street, but despite that proximity—or perhaps because of it—late nights have been a bit touch-and-go in the sometimes dealer-plagued bars that have occupied the building directly across from Smart Studios, where Killdozer recorded with Butch Vig. (Those recordings eventually caught the attention of a mostly unknown Kurt Cobain, who went on to cut demos for Nirvana’s Nevermind at Smart Studios, hoping to catch some of that production magic—oh, the irony.) But Smart is shuttered, and now a new team hopes to wipe the slate clean with a more upscale approach at Baldwin Street Grille. The A.V. Club checked in to see how the restaurant is doing as it ramps up its menu and gets into the groove.

The space and service: The exterior is a squat, blocky building and notably ugly, but the interior has benefited from a redesign after suffering through much abuse in its previous incarnations as Pug Mahones and J.T.’s Friendly Tavern. The new look features a clean grill, art on the wood-paneled walls, nice chairs and tables, endearing touches like cheese-grater lampshades, and a few holdovers/concessions like televisions, video slots, and a pinball machine. Bartenders often double as chefs, so short but reasonable waits for food are a part of life here.

The A.V. Club’s food: Spinach salad with warmed bacon dressing meets eaters with a mix of protein and plentiful iron-rich spinach, bursting with the intense flavors of local produce. The house salad is its equal, with sweet raspberry vinaigrette lightly coating romaine, sprouts, sugar snap peas, and mushrooms for a healthy and copious meal of greens. This elegance is quite pleasing in a room where it used to be a bad idea to put money on the bar for a drink without tightly gripping it.

Some things change, but the requirement for kickass burgers in this mostly working-class neighborhood does not. The “Baldwin Street Burger,” which can be ordered stuffed with molten cheese, is a juicy, thick, lightly seasoned wedge of grilled beef topped with big loops of raw onions, tomatoes, and lettuce on a wheat bun that can be buttressed by bacon or caramelized onions for a few dollars more. With a side of sweet potato fries this bad boy is a serious meal, and calling it a decent bar burger is probably an understatement.

The verdict: Low prices and much-better-than-is-reasonable-to-expect food should entice neighbors, bar-hoppers, and Shop Boppers—after it moves in across East Wash—once word gets out. The Grille has had trouble getting its wood oven infrastructure up and running, but on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and hopefully on more days soon, sandwiches like corned beef with gruyere and sauerkraut on panini and pizzas like the “Going Green” (with pesto, artichoke hearts, grilled chicken, and spinach) or the “Thai” (barbecue sauce, chicken, peanuts, cilantro, and red onion) will all be pulled from the wood-burning oven, boosting levels of good smells in the Tenney-Lapham neighborhood.