Madison's Best Food Tours

Yes, There's Cheese: A Madison Donut Tour Around Capitol Square

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Between the lakes

Downtown Madison sits on a skinny isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, with the State Capitol dome planted in the middle. Our walking tour never strays far from it. We start at Ancora Cafe + Bakery on King Street, where a donut shares the plate with a pastry in a rotating flavor (sesame caramel and tiramisu have both made appearances). Then Wonderstate Coffee, a local roaster, for a cookie and a quick lesson in how seriously this town takes its coffee.

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Then the Square. Fromagination is a locally owned cheese shop, and this is the stop where we hand you cheese on a donut tour. Your guide talks about the artisan cheesemakers behind Wisconsin's dairy tradition while you taste something made right here in the state. Would it be Wisconsin otherwise? No.

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The walk keeps circling the Capitol, with stories of the building and the university town that grew up around it, and ends with chewy mochi donuts and Greek-style donut holes from Parthenon. Some days that last bite happens up on a rooftop looking out over downtown.

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Saturday mornings

If you can, come on a Saturday in season. The farmers market wraps all the way around Capitol Square, the sidewalks fill up with growers and flowers and squeaky cheese curds, and the food tour comes with free people watching. Any other day it's still the quickest way we know to get your bearings downtown.

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Madison has one tour, the Downtown Madison Donuts & Sweet Treats Walking Tour: donuts, pastry, a cookie and a taste of Wisconsin cheese, all within a few blocks of the dome.