Mad Rabbit Cafe is purely vegan, but owner Nate Anger knows the counter-service restaurant he opened in February on Williamson Street has to appeal to everyone, and it does.
Bunny-less balls.
Take the Bunny-less balls ($11), better known as arancini in Italian restaurants. Mad Rabbit’s are better than any I’ve had elsewhere. The five balls of deep-fried sushi rice with the restaurant’s cashew “cheez” had a light, crisp, panko crust and dabs of lemon herb sauce on top. They came elegantly served atop lemon slices.
I asked Anger about the name so I wouldn’t be guessing, and he said he thought it was funny. “Bunny balls or rabbit balls seemed too crass, but (I) wanted to be clear that there’s no rabbit or meat in it.”
Mojave flatbread.
Also memorable was the Mojave flatbread ($17) piled with delicious vegan chorizo mixed with thin slices of serrano peppers, giving off the perfect heat. Toasted almond chipotle pesto and that same cashew cheez sauce topped an incredibly flavorful crust. Sprigs of cilantro on top added to all the great flavors.
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The chorizo tasted as good as regular chorizo, with the benefit of knowing it’s better for you.
The same was true of the bunny-named “desert cottontail burger” ($16), a tender Beyond burger patty, my preferred meatless option, with a fantastic lineup of toppings including mushrooms that go through a complicated treatment, which Anger said gives them a crispy, almost “bacony feel.”
The burger also had lettuce, pickled onion and that cashew cheez again, on an excellent bun with ridges. It came with a choice of side, and the fruit option was unexpected and appreciated: orange wedges with their peels on and apple slices. My friend was impressed, too, calling it a palate cleanser.
The "car-no" asada burrito.
The vegan steak in the “car-no” asada burrito ($13) was a great meat proxy, and the burrito benefited from other fine ingredients, chipotle sauce and a soft tortilla.
The Buffalo chik’n ($15) was equally good, with a chicken substitute fried with a light touch, Buffalo sauce, mayo and ranch on the same excellent bun. Lettuce and diced celery added the perfect crunch.
The fries in the sauced-up fries ($10) were nice and crisp. I liked how they weren’t overloaded with kale pesto and cashew cheez, although some people might prefer them “sauced-up” throughout.
The only disappointment was the Southwest salad ($13), a big bowl of fresh, crisp romaine, ripe avocado, pale tomato slices, green pepper, a bit of corn and black beans, cilantro and elegant, crispy tortilla strips. The tofu had grill marks, but didn’t taste like much, and the chipotle dressing was so thin it immediately went to the bottom of the bowl. Dressing makes or breaks a salad and this one wasn’t that thrilling to begin with.
On my first visit, during the Willy Street Fair, there was a special deal on beer that we didn’t know about until the counter person rang up my can of Spotted Cow at $2.
“We ran a special on those and we just decided to kind of keep it for a little bit,” Anger said, adding he hopes word gets out that Mad Rabbit has cheap beer.
Make that good cheap beer.
The tofu scramble.
A brunch visit turned up a unique tofu scramble ($12) with huge pieces of tofu, tasty this time, with two types of sauce and veggies served in a big bowl over a crisp hash brown patty.
I could’ve done without the s’more crepes ($13), however. I expected melted chocolate, but found myself cutting through partly melted chocolate and graham crackers with marshmallow fluff on top.
The coffee ($2.50), happily, wasn’t an afterthought. It had a rich flavor and was brewed at just the right strength. Anger said he gets his coffee from Beans n Cream in Sun Prairie, where he lives.
Anger had a vegan food truck and catering company, Rabbit Food Revolution, before moving to Madison with his family in August 2022 from Sacramento, California. He said running a food truck constricted what he was able to offer and he’s excited to branch out.
He waited tables while in college and ran a catering operation at a high-end boutique hotel in Sacramento and then in a fine-dining restaurant there for about 10 years.
Service at Mad Rabbit is also solid and I liked the interesting, fun, unfamiliar indie music playing at the right volume.
Mad Rabbit is modern, quirky and stylized.
La Kitchenette, which had been in that spot for 6½ years, had a bright, cozy energy, and so does Mad Rabbit, but in a modern, quirky, stylized way. It’s a small space, but manages not to feel cramped.
As for quirky, there’s a picture in the bathroom of a rabbit in a top hat sitting on a toilet, reading the newspaper.
If Mad Rabbit is going to promote newspaper readership, I’m going to promote Mad Rabbit.
But I was going to do that anyway.
The desert cottontail burger with side of fruit.
The sauced-up fries.
The Buffalo chik'n.
The s’more crepes.
Southwest salad.
Coffee at Mad Rabbit Cafe.
Mad Rabbit Cafe opened in February on Williamson Street.
