Let me just start with o.M.G.This place is unreal.This is one of the coolest places.I've ever been to with only maybe 812 or 14 table.I'm just blown away.How amazing the food quality is how amazing the people are and overall just a great time. Dishes are unique and totally unexpected!
Heather Bailey
Very friendly and truly amazing food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mike Gorski
Such a great spot that we have embarrassingly walked by numerous times! Great authentic pasta dishes with some less common ingredients. Highly recommend on a nice evening with the garage doors open.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Earl Go-Aco
I recommend making a reservation since it gets busy even on a weekday. Arrived at 6:30pm for dinner. Ordered the Cinghiale pasta. The meat was firm and rich in flavour and the pappardelle was cooked al dente. For dessert, we ordered the Budino di Caramello. I did not have high expectations for the dish but was pleasantly surprised - sweet, buttery, and simply delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Penny LC
Just so good. The formaggi is worth it! I had the antelope ragu with gnocci and it blew me away
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Marge Anderson
This is not a Midwest-nice, grade-inflated review. This place is truly excellent. Madison is a place where it's easy to get a decent, but unimaginative and over-priced meal. Osteria Papavero flips the Madison underwhelm on its head. Super creative and extensive menu of seasonal specials, all grounded in solid Italian cooking and beautiful ingredients. My pasta stuffed with pork had just the right amount of truffle cream sauce so that the al dente pasta and quality pork was not overwhelmed. Friends loved the Ribolitta soup. I was wowed by the spicy green salad topped with three generous chunks of perfectly cooked lobster - for $15! (A local chop house serves a Caesar for $16 and you can add shrimp for $15 - that's alot of money for a standard fare salad). Overall, we found the pricing truly kind - we each had two perfect portions and split a bottle of wine for a total tab of $110. I also really appreciated the pacing, with a nice break between courses. It felt European, like your table was yours for the night and you could really talk to your friends, rather than the 90-minute bum's rush so usual at most restaurants these days. A superb dining experience and a serious cut above the rest in Madison.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Krystal Bartkowiak
We visited this restaurant for our anniversary dinner and, unfortunately, it didn't live up to our expectations. We had high hopes based on the great reviews, but both the service and the food left a lot to be desired. The taste of the food was underwhelming, and the overall experience was frustrating we actually ended up leaving still hungry and had to go somewhere else to finish our meal. Disappointing, especially for a special occasion.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Ryan Cathman
Awesome Italian bistro vibe. Amazing and flavorful options.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Happy (Happy)
I really enjoyed the food, especially the salumi. The dishes were cooked with full heart and every bite was a surprise! The waiter also explained each course. Will come back again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Devin Strosberg
I came into this dinner with high expectations. We had a reservation and were running 15 minutes late. When we called to let them know, the person who answered the phone said that it would be ok for an 8:45 reservation after us. Fast forward to 8:45 and there is barely anyone in the restaurant. Our waitress felt cold and unfriendly. Also when we were ordering she didn’t start off by saying what they were out of so when we tried to order stuff and they were out of it we had to re think what we wanted, taking more time for our visit. We got appetizers of the wild mushroom soup and the pizza. My party thought that the soup was pretty good and the pizza was really good. It was when we got our entrees that we really became disappointed. I got the tortelli and thought that the pasta was pretty bland. My party thought that the lamb was ok and the gramigna was also bland. For dessert we got the butterscotch pudding. That was excellent. So over all we were disappointed with the pasta and thought the service could be better. We dined on 8-24-25.
One of my favorite Italian restaurants in Madison, with a daily rotating menu. We sat at the high top and had a nice open window view. My favorite was the pasta — extremely fresh and the sausage was cooked perfectly. Great place for fresh Italian food and rich but not heavy flavors.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mike
One of my favorite restaurants in Madison, great for any occasion but especially fun and intimate later in the evening for special occasions. The specials are always amazing, the wine list is great, the cocktails are well made, and the desserts are exquisite. Absolutely worth it and a great experience any time of year.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Odysseas
Best Italian food in Madison by far. They make most of their noodles too. Great place for a date.
Let me just start with o.M.G.This place is unreal.This is one of the coolest places.I've ever been to with only maybe 812 or 14 table.I'm just blown away.How amazing the food quality is how amazing the people are and overall just a great time. Dishes are unique and totally unexpected!
Very friendly and truly amazing food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Such a great spot that we have embarrassingly walked by numerous times! Great authentic pasta dishes with some less common ingredients. Highly recommend on a nice evening with the garage doors open.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I recommend making a reservation since it gets busy even on a weekday. Arrived at 6:30pm for dinner. Ordered the Cinghiale pasta. The meat was firm and rich in flavour and the pappardelle was cooked al dente. For dessert, we ordered the Budino di Caramello. I did not have high expectations for the dish but was pleasantly surprised - sweet, buttery, and simply delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Just so good. The formaggi is worth it! I had the antelope ragu with gnocci and it blew me away
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is not a Midwest-nice, grade-inflated review. This place is truly excellent. Madison is a place where it's easy to get a decent, but unimaginative and over-priced meal. Osteria Papavero flips the Madison underwhelm on its head. Super creative and extensive menu of seasonal specials, all grounded in solid Italian cooking and beautiful ingredients. My pasta stuffed with pork had just the right amount of truffle cream sauce so that the al dente pasta and quality pork was not overwhelmed. Friends loved the Ribolitta soup. I was wowed by the spicy green salad topped with three generous chunks of perfectly cooked lobster - for $15! (A local chop house serves a Caesar for $16 and you can add shrimp for $15 - that's alot of money for a standard fare salad). Overall, we found the pricing truly kind - we each had two perfect portions and split a bottle of wine for a total tab of $110. I also really appreciated the pacing, with a nice break between courses. It felt European, like your table was yours for the night and you could really talk to your friends, rather than the 90-minute bum's rush so usual at most restaurants these days. A superb dining experience and a serious cut above the rest in Madison.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
We visited this restaurant for our anniversary dinner and, unfortunately, it didn't live up to our expectations. We had high hopes based on the great reviews, but both the service and the food left a lot to be desired. The taste of the food was underwhelming, and the overall experience was frustrating we actually ended up leaving still hungry and had to go somewhere else to finish our meal. Disappointing, especially for a special occasion.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Awesome Italian bistro vibe. Amazing and flavorful options.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I really enjoyed the food, especially the salumi. The dishes were cooked with full heart and every bite was a surprise! The waiter also explained each course. Will come back again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I came into this dinner with high expectations. We had a reservation and were running 15 minutes late. When we called to let them know, the person who answered the phone said that it would be ok for an 8:45 reservation after us. Fast forward to 8:45 and there is barely anyone in the restaurant. Our waitress felt cold and unfriendly. Also when we were ordering she didn’t start off by saying what they were out of so when we tried to order stuff and they were out of it we had to re think what we wanted, taking more time for our visit. We got appetizers of the wild mushroom soup and the pizza. My party thought that the soup was pretty good and the pizza was really good. It was when we got our entrees that we really became disappointed. I got the tortelli and thought that the pasta was pretty bland. My party thought that the lamb was ok and the gramigna was also bland. For dessert we got the butterscotch pudding. That was excellent. So over all we were disappointed with the pasta and thought the service could be better. We dined on 8-24-25.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Mascarpone in Tazza
Restaurantji Recommends
One of my favorite Italian restaurants in Madison, with a daily rotating menu. We sat at the high top and had a nice open window view. My favorite was the pasta — extremely fresh and the sausage was cooked perfectly. Great place for fresh Italian food and rich but not heavy flavors.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
One of my favorite restaurants in Madison, great for any occasion but especially fun and intimate later in the evening for special occasions. The specials are always amazing, the wine list is great, the cocktails are well made, and the desserts are exquisite. Absolutely worth it and a great experience any time of year.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best Italian food in Madison by far. They make most of their noodles too. Great place for a date.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Delicious options.
Good food, quite good food selection.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
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