During the last three weekends in June, top targets and current verbal commits flocked to Madison as they took official visits to Wisconsin.
BadgerBlitz.com spoke with many of those prospects over the course of that time, and many described the sites and the sounds ... and also the tastes of Madison. Admittedly, that last part got us interested (and for that matter, also hungry, if we're truly being honest).
So, we followed up with many of them to ask exactly what the best thing they had to eat during their Wisconsin official visit. For those that are familiar with the campus, the Capitol square and its surrounding areas, you will likely not be surprised. However, it does appear the UW staff upped their game with some catered-in barbecue.
Without further ado, let's see what these 2020 recruits had to say:
FROM THE COMMITS
OL Dylan Barrett: "OK, the steak we had for the first dinner at the hotel was spot on as well as the steak at Coach Chryst's house. And then the BBQ we had in the press box on Saturday afternoon."
OL Jack Nelson: "I’m gonna have to say the Ian’s Pizza or Babcock ice cream, both of them are amazing and are closely associated with Madison."
TE Cole Dakovich: "The barbecue we had at the stadium on Saturday afternoon. The brisket and mac and cheese were amazing."
OL Ben Barten: "The mac and cheese and the chicken."
WR Chimere Dike: "The best thing I had was this barbecue they had catered. They had mac and cheese and good sides, and the food was cooked really well."
DE Cade McDonald: "Probably Ian’s Pizza because it was some of the best pizza I’ve ever had, to be honest."
OL Tanor Bortolini: "They brought in Ian’s Pizza one day and that was probably my favorite meal."
OLB Nick Herbig: "I think the best thing I had to eat was the breakfast at our hotel! The hash and the crispy banana bread."
ILB Jordan Turner: "Haha [laughs], what did I have? I think it would have to be either Ian’s Pizza or the omelet I had in the morning."
FROM THE UNCOMMITTED RECRUITS
DL Nash Hutmacher: "The ribeye steak I had at Tornado Room [Steakhouse]. It was just an amazing steak, and being from [South Dakota], I love a good steak."
WR Daniel Jackson: "Oh, probably the shrimp at Coach Chryst's house."
OLB Kaden Johnson: "The best thing I got to eat in Wisconsin for sure was the cheese curds. They always have the best cheese curds!"
ILB Preston Zachman: "Probably the cheese curds at the hotel restaurant. I’ve never had them before but the coaches recommended them, and they were almost addictive."
CB Max Lofy: "Easy. Cheese curds."