Your guide to eating at Taste of Madison this year

Madison’s classic (and free) food and music festival, Taste of Madison, returns to Capitol Square for Labor Day weekend Aug. 31 to Sept. 1 with more than 80 food vendors and live music performances.

Our editors previewed a number of dishes from this year’s vendor line-up at the Taste of Madison preview event, Taste of Taste, where guests voted on their favorite foods in a variety of categories from select Taste of Madison 2024 vendors. We’ve included a list of the first and second place dishes from the Taste of Taste preview, plus a few of our own favorites to give you a solid place to start at eating your way through the festival.

Appetizer

First place: Yee’s Yummy Kitchen’s crab rangoon

Second place: BelAir Cantina’s guacamole

Madison Magazine's pick: Yee's Yummy Kitchen's crab rangoon

American Food

First place: Common Pasta’s fully loaded mac ‘n cheese

Second place: Famous Dave’s smoked brisket rolls with Korean barbecue

Madison Magazine's picks: Bob's BBQ Emporium's Texas-style brisket and Famous Dave's smoked brisket rolls with Korean barbecue

Asian Food

First place: Nemma’s World Kitchen’s Indian butter chicken

Second place: Yee’s Yummy Kitchen’s pad Thai

Madison Magazine's picks: The Globe Restaurant's grilled Korean barbecue and Nemma's World Tour's Indian butter chicken

Latin American/Mexican Food

First place: Nemma’s World Tour’s smoke pork carnitas with corn and jalapeño sauce

Second place: El Sabor de Puebla’s tlacoyos

Madison Magazine's picks: La Pollera Colombiana's mixed rice with chicken

Mediterranean/Caribbean/Jamaican Food

First place: Keur Fatou Catering’s chicken yassa with vermicelli

Second place: M&J Jamaican Kitch’n’s jerk chicken

Madison Magazine's picks: Keur Fatou Catering's chicken yassa with vermicelli and M&J Jamaican Kitch'n's jerk pork

Southern/Southwestern Food

First place: North and South Seafood & Smokehouse’s brisket sandwich

Second place: Bob’s BBQ Emporium’s Memphis pulled pork

Madison Magazine's picks: We picked the same! North and South Seafood & Smokehouse's brisket sandwich and Bob's BBQ Emporium's Memphis pulled pork

Vegan/Vegetarian Food

First place: Marie’s Soul Food’s sweet potatoes

Second place: Keur Fatou Catering’s veggie sauce with white rice

Madison Magazine's picks: We picked the same! Marie's Soul Food's sweet potatoes and Keur Fatou Catering's veggie sauce with white rice

Desserts

Madison Magazine's picks: Natural Juice's mango tango smoothie and Songbird Fruit's grilled Georgia peach

Emma Waldinger is associate editor at Madison Magazine.

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