Hawk’s Bar & Grill
by nate on 03/29/10 at 12:14 pm
As Featured in the February 2007 Issue of Madison Originals Magazine.
You’re walking down State Street and it’s time to eat. With many restaurant choices available, where do you eat? For a large choice of sandwiches, soups, burgers, and salads at reasonable prices, the choice is easy: Hawk’s Bar & Grill, located at 425 State Street.
Hawk’s opened in December 2002 and is owned by Madison-native, Hawk Schenkel. Schenkel put his 15 years of restaurant experience—he worked at Amy’s Café, Rock Island (now Angelic Brewing Co.), and Café Continental as general manager—to use when determining the concept for Hawk’s. “I wanted to open a unique place where everyone feels welcome,” said Schenkel. “As long as people come in and have a good time, I’m happy.”
Schenkel’s dad, Al, a former chef at the Pump Room in Chicago, offered advice and help. “Dad instilled a lot of good restaurant practices here, including labeling and dating everything,” said Schenkel. “He also trained the restaurant staff.” Schenkel and his dad built the long wood bar which features the family emblem that Al Schenkel carved into the end.
Prices here are very affordable because Schenkel doesn’t have waitstaff. Instead, Hawk’s Bar & Grill customers place their orders and pick up their food at the counter. “Food comes out in the order of when it was placed—first come, first served. This eliminates food sitting under a heat lamp waiting for the server to finish delivering an order to a table,” said Schenkel.
A wide selection of salads to choose from include: the Nocado, a Cobb salad without the avocado; a Thai salad with grilled pineapple, pine nuts, snow peas, and red bell peppers; and a traditional Greek salad with kalamata olives, pepperoncinis, red onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, and Feta cheese.
Sandwiches include: a grilled portabella; a classic Reuben; a grilled tomato basil veggie with marinated artichokes, red onions, mushrooms, green peppers, and black olives smothered in Hawk’s tomato basil sauce, and topped with melted Provolone cheese; and a classic BLT updated with thick-cut Applewood smoked bacon, pepperjack cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and chipotle mayonnaise. Specialty sandwiches such as the sirloin steak, tuna steak, pork chop, or grilled chicken come with the choice of one of five marinades made in-house: lemon-herb, barbeque, Jamaican jerk, Cajun, or teriyaki.
Burger choices include the traditional with fresh ground top sirloin (ground fresh daily and is from Knoches Food Center and Meat Mart in Madison); a turkey burger; veggie burger; and one not often seen on menus—a salmon burger. The salmon burger is served with a special tangy dill sauce with lettuce, tomato, and onion.
Schenkel explained that all soups, dressings, and sauces are made at Hawk’s. The creative chefs have developed a unique selection of over 50 soups, including pork and peanut stew, and spicy chipotle corn chowder. The menu also ensures diners that no salt has been added to the soups for those who prefer low salt.
Nightly specials include a Friday night fish fry, baked chicken dinner on Wednesday, Moroccan couscous on Monday, and Jambalaya on Tuesdays.
The wine and beer list was recently revised and now includes 20 domestic and foreign wines and champagnes, and 50 beers. Look for wines from Argentina, Australia, Italy, Chile, California, and Oregon. Local beers from the New Glarus Brewery, Capital Brewery, and the Great Dane are on the list along with beers from Holland, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Jamaica, England, and Germany.
As you enter Hawk’s, the location may seem familiar—it was home to Ella’s Deli for 30 years. But, the place certainly doesn’t look the same. Schenkel spent four months installing a new floor, new bathrooms, and exposing the original brick walls, which were hidden under many layers of plasterboard. Over 3 tons of building material debris was hauled out and the results are stunning. A very comfortable dining area shares space with the open kitchen, and a partial wall divides the bar from the dining area. There are also tables for dining in the bar, and during the summer the outdoor patio seats up to 40 people.
Schenkel said that he has no problem finding people to work at Hawk’s, and that his kitchen manager, Murray Snyder, has been there since the restaurant opened. Brandon Murphy is the general manager, and Jim, Matty, Chris, and Kerri are the core staff in the kitchen.
Schenkel also hinted that in the next couple of years Hawk’s Bar & Grill may expand with a new location on the west side of Madison to double our pleasure!
