Today, Thursday, Nov. 12, three downtown Madison restaurants each have something on the calendar, and none of them is a simple grand opening. Rokuaji on the Square has a ribbon cutting scheduled more than a month after it started serving. Amisto on West Johnson Street is set to begin a soft opening, with the public opening planned for the following week. Tall Grass at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art is scheduled to open its rooftop space, while the street-level cafe that was meant to be its front door is still under construction.
Of all the restaurant dates downtown this month, the only fixed one is a closing. Madison's Restaurant & Bar at 119 King St. stays open through Sunday, Nov. 15, after 26 years. Every new room on the list below reaches full service through a soft opening, a rooftop preview or a members-only night first. If you live within walking distance of the Capitol, the next six weeks are easier to plan with that in mind.
| Place | Address | Where it stands this week | What comes next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rokuaji | 7 W. Main St. | In soft opening since early October | Ribbon cutting scheduled Nov. 12 |
| Amisto | 313 W. Johnson St. | Soft opening set to start Nov. 12 | Public opening planned the following week |
| Tall Grass | 227 State St., at MMoCA | Rooftop space scheduled to open Nov. 12 | Street-level cafe under construction |
| Veil and Vault | 325 E. Wilson St. | Members-first opening planned for November | Public opening after members |
| Chipotle | 23 S. Pinckney St. | Under way next to Colectivo Coffee | Aiming to open by the end of 2026 |
| The Historian Hotel | 16 N. Carroll St. | Hotel conversion under way | Expected to open early 2027 |
| Madison's | 119 King St. | Final days of service | Closes after Nov. 15 |
Rokuaji has been serving since October
The Asian bistro at 7 W. Main St. went first. According to the Cap Times' October restaurant roundup, owners Zhiming "Jimmy" Zhao and Mingshen Shi announced their soft opening in early October, with specialty sushi rolls, ramen and American Chinese classics such as General Tso's chicken. Today's ribbon cutting makes official a room that has already had five weeks of regular service.
Rokuaji's own site describes a menu that draws on Japanese, Sichuan and Southeast Asian cooking, with tonkotsu ramen, tuna tartare and a Washugyu roll among the dishes it highlights. The posted hours make it a lunch stop for anyone working near the Square, as well as a dinner option:
- Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.
- Friday, the same lunch hours, with dinner until 10 p.m.
- Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.
- Sunday, noon to 8:30 p.m.
The kitchen closes 30 minutes before service ends, so on a Sunday a late order needs to go in by 8 p.m.
Amisto's opening week
Two blocks off the Square, Amisto at 313 W. Johnson St. follows the same pattern on a larger scale. Madison Magazine's preview put its opening at late October, in the former Estrellón space. The Cap Times now lists a soft opening starting today, with the public opening planned for the week after.
The size of the room helps explain the extra week. Madison Magazine reported that opening Amisto meant hiring 70 to 80 new employees for a 150-seat dining room filled with original artwork. Tortillas are made in house at a station in the front window, where people walking by can watch them pressed and cooked.
Managing partner Tanya Zhykharevich owns the restaurant with Jack Yip, her partner at RED and Jacknife, and developer Eric Hovde. Head chef Manuel "Manny" Brau Torres began his career in Milwaukee and later cooked at Alma Fonda Fina, a Denver restaurant that earned a Michelin star in 2024, and at Sweet Basil in Vail and Corrida in Boulder. The menu Madison Magazine described pairs octopus tacos and tuna tostadas with fajitas, carne asada tacos, birria and camote, plus more than 100 tequilas and mezcals and a list of Mexican wines. "We're not trying to reinvent Mexican," Zhykharevich told the magazine. "We're just taking beloved dishes and applying some modern techniques." She said the name comes from the Spanish word amistad, meaning friendship.
Tall Grass starts on the roof
At the museum, the staging comes from the building itself. An earlier Cap Times story on Tall Grass reported that MMoCA's ground floor allows no open-flame cooking and has sensitive ventilation, and that the main commercial kitchen is on the third floor. The rooftop is scheduled to open today as a first look at the restaurant. Construction is starting on the street-level cafe, which is planned around grab-and-go salads, sandwiches and coffee.
The chef is Elena Terry, a Ho-Chunk chef, butcher and steward of Indigenous culture. She founded Wild Bearies, which MMoCA describes as a nonprofit focused on educational outreach and preserving ancestral foodways. She has already cooked in the building. MMoCA's listing for its Oct. 9 Harvest Dinner calls it the first event in a new Dinner With Friends series, with nine chefs serving a nine-course meal and proceeds going to the museum's free admission and programming. Future dinners will bring together chefs, growers, makers and artists, and each one will be different.
Terry also hopes to offer pre-show dinners eventually for people headed to the Overture Center, which is on the same stretch of State Street.
Members first on Wilson Street, then a chain and a hotel
Two more downtown projects are on longer timelines. Courtney and Ace McCarty, who own Nitro Beverage Lounge, are opening Veil and Vault, a speakeasy-style bar in The Saddlery, a 119-year-old building at 325 E. Wilson St. Courtney McCarty told the Cap Times by text that the bar will open to members before the public sometime in November. Its pop-ups have offered early membership access, and the cocktail list leans toward gin, bourbon and whiskey. She described the mood to the Cap Times this way:
"We are going a little bit more on the sultry side of things. We're going to take some elements from burlesque, French theater, Prohibition-era style cocktails."
On the Square, Chipotle is aiming to open at 23 S. Pinckney St., next to Colectivo Coffee, by the end of 2026. It will be the chain's fifth location in Madison. A few blocks away, the 111-year-old Churchill Building at 16 N. Carroll St. is becoming The Historian Hotel, expected to open in early 2027. Its restaurant will be led by Dan Jacobs, the James Beard Award-nominated chef of EsterEv and DanDan and a "Top Chef Wisconsin" finalist.
Madison's keeps a firm date
Among downtown's restaurants, the room that is leaving has the firmest date. WMTV reported on Nov. 3 that Madison's, at 119 King St. just off the Square, announced its closing on Instagram with the line "After 26 incredible years, it's time to say goodbye." No reason was given. The post invited customers in for wings, Bloody Marys and cold beer during the final days, and the bar stays open until Nov. 15.
That leaves this Friday through Sunday, Nov. 13 to 15.
The rest of the month on foot
The new restaurants share the calendar with several downtown dates in the next few weeks, all within walking distance of the Capitol:
- Sunday, Nov. 15. Last day of service at Madison's, 119 King St.
- Thursday, Nov. 19. The Madison Public Market at 202 N. First St. holds its grand-opening celebration, according to WMTV. The market has been opening in stages too. Organizers call the run of merchant launches "Grand Opening Season," and the stalls already serving include Melly Mell's Soul Food, The Chowpati, Cinn City Smash, Cervato Wine & Tapas, Caracas Empanadas & Mas and Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream.
- Around Nov. 19. Amisto's planned public opening falls the week after its soft opening.
- Saturday, Nov. 21, 4 to 6 p.m. Shine on Madison at Lisa Link Peace Park on State Street, with live music, Santa, and free hot drinks and cookies, according to Destination Madison's holiday guide.
- Tuesday, Dec. 1, at noon. The Wisconsin State Capitol tree lighting in the rotunda.
The Shine on Madison stop at Peace Park is a short walk up State Street from MMoCA's rooftop and Rokuaji's corner of the Square.
Around the Square, which doors are open changes from week to week. If you're weighing a move into downtown Madison, or out of it toward Chicago or Milwaukee, Phair-Hinton Group can walk the blocks with you and show you what's open along them now. Let's get you home. Schedule a call to get started.
