Francesca's

Ok, besides being fun to say, Francesca's is also the newest little lunch place on the square- or at least, newest to me. I ate there today with two co-workers- and was not disappointed. They have great lunch specials (Mondays are spaghetti and meatballs; though I didn't try it) and decent prices. I got the pizza special- flatbread pizza with arugula, parmesan, olive and truffle oil. YUM. Unable to finish it (the curse of the pre meal bread) I have some for lunch tomorrow- excellent.

The space is really the highlight here. It's a GREAT location- lots of light, lots of windows, huge open dining area. There's the usual Madison patio seating, though on a day like today, I'll take the air conditioning. But the view of the capital and the Monona Terrace is hard to beat. It's also right in between a Starbucks and The Ocean Grill, which is also a fabulous place, so we'll see how it does. But location is everything and it's got that in the bag.

I heard good things from both of my fellow lunchers about their meals and while the waitress had a bit of trouble keeping our orders straight when it came time for the bills, it was overall a great experience. I would definitely go back. Perhaps for dinner as their wine list looked good- and apparently state employees aren't supposed to drink during workings hours (puritans).