Mike "espressoshots" P.'s Profile

As long as the coffee is good, then that's all that matters. Such is the case with this Donut Connection location.

The store, while clean, was tacky looking with walls of pale wood panels. The squiggly counter looks like its been around since World War One, though it does give the place a little character and makes you think you're at a cafe along Historic Route 66.

Not too many donuts- maybe six or eight kinds. They had one or two kinds of donut holes. The donuts were on shelves behind the cash register, and that whole area was almost empty. Not much of a donut "connection", right?

Service was okay. The girl who worked the counter could've been a little more pleasant. Then again she may have been bored with the decor screaming for a bailout from the Home Garden Network or donuts and pastries baked by Food Network star Paula Deen or at the least from Hostess.

Not bad but not so great. Come here for the coffee, since its one of the best in the area, and take it to go.

A+W is a fun, clean place serving up fast food made to order, made by and served by friendly people.

Before you go inside, you'll notice how clean and maintained the outside is, as well as plenty of parking spaces.

Service is friendly and as fast as they can be, even during the very busy times. You may have to wait a little while to get your food but trust me its worth the wait.

Besides GOOD food made to order, the dining area has a big screen TV.

The only food items I ate here were the Coney dogs (aka chili dogs) with diced onions and shredded cheddar cheese AND the cheese curds. The Coney Dogs get three thumbs up, though I wish they could be a little bit bigger. Two of them are enough to fill me up. As for the cheese curds, these are deep fried nuggets of Wisconsin cheese and are simply good. Yes, they are a little high on the price, but soon you'll tell yourself that money is no object. This snack is well worth reaching a little deeper in those pockets or purses of yours!

For the drink, always get the A+W Root Beer out of the draft! They'll serve it up in an ice cold mug if you eat in. I used to work in the Aurora, Illinois area and on occasion would stop at A+W just to get a cup of their fresh, ice cold, draft root beer! Very refreshing no matter what the weather is like.

I wish there were more A+W places all over the USA. They provide a much better option in the land of the two fast food usuals of America. Just as I hope a third political party will wake up America in the land of the two political party usuals, A+W is good enough to wake up the taste buds and eating habits of Americans among the giant two fast food usuals.

Keep the hope up, the Coney Dogs hot and steamy and the root beer fresh and ice cold!

It's your usual McDonalds with the usual McMenu, the McPlayground, the McDrive-thru and the McCustomers eating their McFood in their McCar in the McParking lot.

Its also a road side McDonald's off Interstate 39/90, so its always busy with travellers. Access to and from the store is easy.

Bottom line- the place is clean, the food and more importantly the coffee are made the right way and kept fresh. Service is good, but could be a little more friendly. One of the, as I would put it, better McDonald's restaurants.

Anyone driving cross country on Interstate 90 now knows at least one more good eating place to stop at.

Overall, I like the Super 8 Hotel chain. For an overnight stay or for the budget minded traveller, the price cant be beat for what they have. Ive stayed at Super 8's across the country, from New York City to San Francisco.

At first glance, this Super 8 location looks clean and well maintained on the outside. The hotel lobby is also clean, maintained, and provides many amenities- cable TV, public computer, free continental breakfast, lots of tables and chairs, vending machines, ice, and so on.

Service at the front desk was friendly and hard working, though could've been more enthusiastic.

At first sight, my room was pretty much what I expected from a Super 8- clean, maintained, has cable TV (with Speed Channel, too!), a lounge chair, comfy bed, large table as a work area, clean bathroom and vanity, in room coffee maker, in room iron and ironing board. Best of all, my room was very close to the lobby, which meant a short walk to get ice!

Three BIG things really frustrated me- the water pressure for the vanity sink was low. Furthermore, it took nearly forever to get hot water and ice cold water from the vanity sink's faucet.

The shower had a fantastic shower head but the hot water took forever to come out!

Last but not least, their Wi-Fi was slower than the early 2000's version of http://AOL.com dial up! It worked fine when I first got into my room, but after that and for about 75% of my stay it was slooooooooooow or not working at all.

Does all this mean I wont come back the next time I'm in town? Of course not. Maybe this was a bad weekend. They have plenty of room for improvement. They have the advantage of being in a good location- close to the Interstate and minutes away from downtown Madison, not to mention lots of restaurants and shops to choose from.

I'll be back and hopefully the next time will be at least a three star experience.

La Bamba is one of those "made to order" Mexican food places which, to me, has a mid 1990's Anaheim/Disneyland California look, feel and character. That's not bad, as it brought back memories to warm Southern California, as it gets cold here in Madison, Wisconsin.

On the outside they have a well lit, colorful sign, and a clean but could be bigger parking lot.

The inside is clean and the chairs look like the Mexican flag. Plenty of tables and chairs. The walls are a boring white. They have a small TV hanging from the ceiling which, during my visit, aired a Spanish language TV station.

The place smelled good and the food behind the counter looked good and fresh. On this visit, I brought the "Mini" (their smallest size) ground beef burrito with red hot sauce. They added lettuce, tomato (I requested no tomatoes), onion cheese, and beans. To me this seemed like a normal sized burrito, so I cant imagine how big their "regular" and "super" size burritos are!

The burrito was good- had a good amount of spice, though it could've used a lot more meat, or at least been closed up and packed a little harder. As good as the burrito tasted and smelled, it could've been a little more filling.

Their soda fountain machine wasn't working during my visit. They had other drink options in bottles, but bottled sports drinks weren't on my agenda.

The service could've been more friendly, more enthusiastic and more welcoming. They were energetic and hard working, but need some improvement with customer service.

Overall, a pretty good place. I should note this seems more like "Americanized" Mexican food, though I appreciate the fresh and made to order concepts. If you work in the area then this may make a good place for the lunch break. If your a tourist staying in one of the nearby hotels, this is a fast and inexpensive idea for lunch or dinner or even a late night snack. Sure beats the Americanized Mexican food competition!

This place is a combo gas station and mini mart. The outside is maintained, clean, with lots of gas pumps and enough space so that vehicles don't play Monster Jam with each other.

Inside is also spacious and clean with plenty of food and LOTS of drink items. They specialize in "Take And Bake Pizza", which are pizzas freshly prepared but you take home to bake.

I didn't try the "Take And Bake Pizza" but I was eager to try their coffee. They had many different kinds of flavored and non flavored coffee. I decided to try the chocolate Macadamia Nut flavored coffee. It would've been better with REAL coffee cream or REAL half and half. At their coffee condiment counter they only had the powder coffee creamer. I don't care for the stuff but at least it took the bitter edge off coffee sitting around in a carafe for several hours. Overall, this wasn't a bad cup of coffee but certainly not the best. Then again why do I always expect so much in a cup of coffee from a gas station?

Service was friendly, polite and eager. The guy who rang up my order deserves three thumbs up!

Some of the customers in the store were questionable. I don't know if they live in the area or passing through on the 151, but some of them gave me really creepy stares, and this one guy couldn't control his little screaming kid.

Overall, not a bad place. Good for getting gas for your vehicle, a lottery ticket, cold drink, newspaper, and maybe a coffee. Hopefully other people who come here will have better experiences than me.

Big pizza tastes from a small place!

That's Anna's. This is a small place which looks like a house. The parking lot is small too and fills up fast (you've been warned).

As small as this place is, there are plenty of tables and chairs, and TVs hanging from the ceiling. Inside and outside, the place is clean and maintained. Definitely not a dump!

The 3-4 people who work here are friendly and hard working. They are always working their butts off as this place is very popular with the locals. This place is very popular with the locals. VERY popular!

We called in to order two medium sized pizzas and the order was ready for pick up somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes. While waiting for the pick up order, which eventually took longer than expected, more people came in to pick up orders and eat in. Seems this place was like a magnet, drawing the locals away from the bigger pizza chains in the surrounding area.

The pizza we had was their version of the 'deluxe'- sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and a tomato based sauce which has a sweet taste to it. All these toppings tasted excellent together. Seemed to me the sauce was what made this pizza taste so good. Just as important, the crust was crispy and dry, and even a little charred on the side! They didn't bake the pizza on cornmeal, but whatever they did they did it the right way (I'm guessing the super hot and dry ovens baked an agreeable pizza). Crispy crust+sweet tomato based sauce+ fresh ingredients = winner pizza.

Just to let you know the pizza was cut in squares, not pie like slices. Didn't matter because this was EXCELLENT pizza!

Perhaps Anna's could show certain pizza places in the Cleveland, Ohio area on how to make pizza the right way!

You may have to wait long and pay a little more, but its well worth it. You wont be disappointed!

****CASH ONLY! NO DEBIT, NO CREDIT CARDS. They do take checks but I don't know if they accept out of town checks******

Napa Valley and Central Coast, California, meet the outskirts of the Madison, Wisconsin metro area!

Wollersheim Winery is a local favorite and a beautiful place. Just coming here to look at the sights and scenery is good enough. This place is on a hilly location, so many of the grapevines grow on the hilly inclines. With the constant light breezes, the winery in agreement to the sun's rays, and the nearby Wisconsin River, the climate is near perfect for growing grapes to make excellent wine.

The outside also has a cave entrance, which used to be the entrance to the original wine cellar. Its not used any more but gives the place character and a sense of history.

There are outdoor tables and chairs for guests to sit and relax and drink wine.

Tours are available. They begin 15 minutes after a new hour begins- first tour 10:15am, last tour 4:15pm. The tours are about an hour long, and start off with the history and story behind the winery, followed by a visit to the fermentation room, the wine cellar with dozens and dozens of oak wood barrels (smells great, too), and ending with a tasting of selected wines. During the tasting part, you get educated on how to look at, smell and drink wine the proper way.

The tour guide Louann was very friendly, perky and knowledgeable. If she didn't know the answer to anyone's questions then she would get the answer right away. Matter of fact, most of the people who work here were friendly, pleasant and helpful. They know what they're doing and enjoy it!

They have a store, shop, whatever you want to call it. Its big in size and where you can buy their wines. They also sell shirts, hats, books, wine accessories and related knick knacks as I overheard someone say. What I like about this store is that they provide metal carrying cases that easily hold bottles of wine.

On this visit I brought a couple bottle of their red wine "Domaine du Sac". We tried this in the tasting at the end of the tour and was my favorite of all they had. They have a more intense tasting red wine but that already sold out. Don't laugh- this is excellent red wine. Wisconsin may soon become a serious winery contender among places such as California, New York and the Columbia River region of Washington State and Oregon.

Also at the store the more bottle of wine you buy, you get a discount for each bottle. I believe its 25 cents off each bottle when you buy 6-11 bottles and 50 cents off each bottle when you buy 12 or more bottles. Furthermore, if you buy a case of wine (12 bottles) you get a membership to their club, which allows free admission to tours. As long as you buy at least a case of wine every year from them, you renew the membership.

Even if you don't drink wine, this is a fun and interesting experience. A must see when you're in the area. Cheers!

Super 8 Motels, for the most part, satisfy my travel needs at the right price, and this location is no exception.

The rooms are clean and come with cable TV, in room coffee maker, couch, iron and ironing board, and a shower head with different water flows that work. The room I was in seemed well maintained and not that much worn out. Its not as big as say an 'intermediate' hotel room but in my opinion it was enough for one or two guests.

Service at the front desk as friendly and informative. Makes you glad these folks are out front and looking out for their guests.

The outside of the hotel is clean and maintained, though all white, which looked boring. The grounds were clean and maintained, There is plenty of available outdoor parking. Furthermore, the hotel is in a good location- right by Illinois Route 83 and Interstate 55- which allows easy access to the Southwest and Western Suburbs, as well as Chicago.

One big negative is getting to and from the hotel. This isn't the hotels fault, but be prepared to go around a big block or two when getting back to the 83 highway.

I was disappointed that they didn't have Speed Channel on their cable TV lineup.

Overall, this is a great place at a great price ($53.66 for a Friday night. Not bad for the Chicago area). I should point out that the Wi-Fi is free and worked fast, unlike one of their competitors. You get what looks like an intermediate hotel room at economy prices.

Enjoy your stay!

If there was any way to "Americanize" American food, then Steak Escape may have found that way.

"Steak Escape" makes food to order. The dining room is spacious and clean with plenty of tables and chairs. You can see the crew go to work on your food behind the counter. Behind the counter is clean, busy, and shows they have plenty of bread, veggies, and whatever needed to feed the hungry mass of people.

Service here is fast, friendly and eager to please. They seem to take care of the customers and make sure everything is alright. The store manager walked around the dining room, checking up on customers and made sure they were satisfied.

On this visit, I had the regular sized "Famous Cheesesteak". You can see them cook the meat on top of a grill. They also grilled chopped green peppers, onions and mushrooms. All of this put on what I call a hoagie roll, which was sort of somewhat crusty on the outside and fresh and chewy on the inside. I also requested mayonnaise on the cheesesteak.

The verdict- good cheesesteak, but not great. While this had a fresh taste, had a good amount of flavor, and was hot, it appeared flattened and was maybe one or two steps better than the Subway's cheesesteak. The green peppers should've been grilled longer. They put too much mayonnaise on the cheesesteak- next time I'll tell them EASY on the mayo, or no mayo at all. Last but not least, they could've put a little more meat on the cheesesteak.

I also ordered a side of their fresh cut fries. They proudly display the whole potato spuds, as well as the devices that cut up the potatoes. They serve them in cups. The fries were actually very good! A bit greasy, but at least they didn't have that overly potatoey flavor, if you know what I mean. For the adventurous, there's a bottle of malt vinegar at each table for your fries.

I had a medium Diet Coke to drink.

The cost of all this food was $10.56, which in my opinion is a little too much. If the cheesesteak had double the meat then what I had, then this would've been a fair price. Deducting $2.00 off this amount would be fair for what I had.

Overall, the food and service are good, and worth coming back for, even if it means paying more than what you're getting. You be the judge.