The Rigby, at 119 East Main Street, Madison, Wisconsin, is a casual pub-style restaurant with a Beatles / 60's rock / British theme. On the main floor, there's a large J-shaped bar and a mural of record album covers on one wall. Table seating is upstairs, where a "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" painting featuring a mosaic "Penny Lane" takes up the majority of a wall. Stained glass umbrella lamps hang from the ceiling.
The menu is creatively written, and includes many tempting choices with names like "Lonely Hearts Turkey Club Band," "The Wrap of John and Yoko," and "Sgt. Popper Burger." I ordered the "Mozzarella Moon Delight" and my compatriot ordered the "That's a Fish Taco Wrap." We shared a half order of "Help! I Need Some Nachos."
The nachos came first. The half-order was huge for a two person appetizer, but the menu did warn us it would be. They didn't look like anything special ... but the nacho cheese was a delightful surprise. It had a smooth, glutinous texture, like Taco Bell cheese sauce (I mean that in the most complimentary way possible), and didn't harden as it cooled, but it was obviously made with real cheese and tasted great! We also appreciated how the nachos were assembled, with cheese layered throughout. Very few chips were bare.
The "Mozzarella Moon Delight" was a grilled cheese take on a Margherita pizza, with real buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. The innards were really tasty - the mozzarella was super melty and gooey, and the basil contributed an exciting flavor boost. The tomatoes didn't really add anything, but it is only early April, and there are no good tomatoes here in Wisconsin yet. I thought it was such a good idea to make a Margherita style sandwich, but The Rigby's version fell a little short, being brought down by the bread. Although grilled to a golden perfection, the rustic Italian white bread was flavorless and too crunchy. I think the mozzarella would have been complemented better by a softer bread, like flatbread, or perhaps a slightly browner bread for color contrast, maybe with a garlicky mayo as a sauce. I ordered potato chips as an accompaniment. They turned out to be homemade ruffled chips, a little thicker than commercial potato chips, but not too thick. They were crispy and were salted perfectly.
My friend ordered the soup of the day along with with her "That's a Fish Taco Wrap." The soup was a creamy potato bacon. She thought it had ample, appropriately sized potato chunks and a good amount of bacon, and was probably the most flavorful version of potato soup that she has ever eaten. The soup was garnished with pita chip croutons that were tasty, but too large and crunchy to conveniently break up and add to the soup. As for the wrap, in her words, "the fish, warm and moist with a light and still-crispy coating was surrounded in the wrap by lettuce and a nice coleslaw, neither of which was wilted in the least by the warm fish. The sauce, not too much and not too little, was slightly spicy and very flavorful. All was assembled burrito-style, in a tightly wrapped flour tortilla, cut in half, and easy to handle."
The staffpeople at The Rigby were really friendly and attentive. We didn't spend much time waiting around and the check was delivered promptly. It was moderately priced for downtown Madison. Although the mozzarella cheese sandwich was a little disappointing, I would still go back to try some of their other menu items.
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