I went last night with a group of coworkers and regretted not going sooner.\n\nWarm, lovely, cozy. When you walk into this small restaurant, you are immediately calmed from \"the hustle and bustle\" of the street and the chill of Madison winter is long behind you. The place is nice enough to be a great spot for an occasion, but still relatively laid back. \n\nGreat service, I was honestly just amazed that our waitress could remember everything about the specials! \n\nThe food was delicious. The menu doesn't need to go over the top, everythings just cooked well and tasty. I took Corey D's advice and ordered off the specials menu, which is basically the same length as the regular menu (thanks Corey!). \nHighlights:\n- Filetto: steak with a slab of muenster cheese on top. This sounded kind of weird but I love steak and I love cheese, and so naturally I loved my meal. \n- Meat antipasti: we shared this FANTASTIC assortment of meats. Definitely not your typical charcuterie board. \n- BUDINO: I would come back just for this. As others have mentioned, this is perfect. The pudding and fresh cream are so smoothe and it just has a rich, perfect taste. \n\nI really need to go back and try some pasta!\n\nI will end by saying that my mom raised me with an 11th commandment: thou shall not eat Italian food outside of NY, San Francisco, Chicago (maybe)...and Italy. After living in Madison for awhile, I realized I had to break this rule and have had some good and bad experiences. Osteria Papavero is the type of place that proves my mom is just a (wonderful) snob, you can find good Italian food anywhere!
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