The Taste Bud: Madison’s Dive Gem, Off-Broadway Taproom
The Off Broadway Tavern is located at 218 E. Main St. in Madison, Ind. Photos by Kevin Gibson
While in Madison, Ind., recently, my fiancee and I were having a tough time deciding where to have dinner. A happenstance encounter led us to the right place.
We were considering a number of places that no doubt would have been worthy: Mad Love Eat & Drink, The Downtowner and The Red Pepperoni among them. But as we were walking around in the afternoon looking at menus posted in windows, we stopped at a place called Off-Broadway Taproom. As we peered at the fairly typical bar fare, an elderly lady walked out of the place, saw us, and basically told us that if we were looking for someplace to have lunch, we’d found the right place.
We told her we were actually scouting for dinner, and she again endorsed Off Broadway Taproom. We noted it. (I also noted that they had a menu of very interesting taco selections, and lord knows I love a taco.)
We’d had lunch at Hinkle’s Sandwich Shop for lunch, so that tradition got crossed off the list. After walking around all afternoon, we proceeded to our room at Hillside Inn to get out of the sun for a bit and relax. As we sat on our terrace in the historic old hotel overlooking downtown Madison, we discussed what dinner would be. Pizza? Upscale casual? Bar fare? And in the process, we somehow completely forgot Off Broadway.
Until Cynthia suddenly said, “What about that place where the lady told us we should eat?” Then I remembered the taco menu. So that was our choice.
When we got there, we found the place nearly full, but fortunately there was an open table across from the bar. We took a seat, and quickly our server came over to get us drinks. Looking around, we quickly embraced the upbeat vibe of a well-operated pseudo-dive — beer signs, sports memorabilia, flatscreens with sports flickering, and a long bar packed with regulars. The place reminded me of a cross between two of my Louisville favorites, Mellwood Tavern and Hilltop Tavern. (If you know me, you know that’s high praise.)
Cynthia and I sat chatting and looking over the menu, and I happened to glance to my left. Staring back at me were two bottles of what looked like some homemade hot sauces. I looked around and they were on every table. I couldn’t try dabs them on my fingertip quickly enough, thinking, “No way will these be the kind of heat I like.”
But they were. And they were delicious. And in an instant, my mind made the decision that I would be ordering off the taco menu for dinner.
The menu at Off Broadway is about what you’d expect: seven different signature burgers (the Rock ‘n’ Roll Burger, which includes peanut butter in its toppings, looks fun); a wide variety of sandwiches, from Nashville Hot Chicken to a Cuban; four veggie sandwiches; eight different salad options; wings and a handful of standard pub-style appetizers. And then there was that taco menu, which included basics like chicken, shrimp or steak, along with some more exotic options like sweet potato (!), Thai chili chicken and crawfish.
I ordered one carnitas taco and had to try the crawfish as well. For Cynthia, it was an avocado caprese sandwich, which consisted of a huge helping of fresh mozzarella, tomato slice, a nice serving of fresh avocado, basil oil balsamic reduction on a ciabatta bun.
It took only two bites for Cynthia to exclaim, “Oh yeah, I made the right choice.”
For my part, I had pondered getting a third taco, but it was a hot day and I didn’t want to fill up — as it turns out, I also made the right choice. My carnitas taco was bursting with tender, tasty meat, pico de gallo, chunks of fresh pineapple to add an al pastor flavor to it, cotija cheese, salsa verde and pickled red onion. It was a delicious as it was colorfully beautiful to look at. The verde had a slight kick to it, but I added plenty of the bright orange hot sauce. ZOWIE. Now that’s a kick — a true taco enhancer. (More on the sauce momentarily.)
And on the crawfish taco, which included steamed crawfish instead of fried, shredded cabbage, pico, cotija, pickled red onion — and supposed to be topped with “taproom crawfish sauce,” which our server described as sort of a Cajun aioli. But I decided to skip the aioli and go with the full-on verde hot sauce. While the crawfish taco was interesting and quite flavorful, I think I made a mistake on the pairing. That was my bad, and I may have to try another one someday the way the chef meant for it to be.
And yes, we do plan to return. (You’ll love the prices at Off Broadway, too, especially compared to the portions and food quality. Even with buying the sauces and me having a pair of Bell’s Two Hearted ales, our dinner didn’t even reach the $50 mark until I added the tip.)
Now, about those sauces: Those are made by a Madison local under the brand name B.O.H. Oasis from B.O.H. Oasis Farm. The farm continues to roll out multiple varieties of sauces, and I’m sure they are all top-notch. As I prepared to pay our bill, I asked our server if there was anywhere in town I could purchase the sauces on our table.
She said, “I can sell them to you. We sell them all the time.”
I nearly wept. I took a bottle of each at 10 bucks a pop and couldn’t have been happier. The green one was titled Grand Reaper, while I would soon learn the bright orange one was a Bhut Jolokia, or Ghost Pepper, based sauce. (The latter is delicious on mahi-mahi, trust me.)
Cynthia and I only wish we could find that kind woman who recommended Off Broadway. We want to thank her.
