HWY1

Nick Onsgard

5.03 months ago

A killer burrito packed with fresh seared ahi tuna, crunchy red cabbage slaw, and creamy guacamole. The Baja sauce and pico brought a perfect kick of flavor, while the crispy tortilla strips and sesame seeds added an awesome crunch. Super fresh, filling, and seriously delicious.

Ryan Yanke

4.04 months ago

HWY1 has a lot of promise, but service needs to improve. I'm thrilled to see local businesses riffing off corporate business models, improving them (booze!), and offering Madisonians a more-than-adequate alternative that also strengthens the local business community. The $10 lunch deal got me in the door. That's a key psychological breakpoint in today's economy for "value." If I can get full eating out on $10 for lunch, it feels like a win. Did I win? The vegetarian loaded nachos goes for a shade under $13. That seems high compared with Qdoba's $10.75 nachos and some local Mexican restaurants' loaded $12.00 nachos, both of which come with meat. You can add meat to HWY1's, but at $16 - $17, you're then competing with some sit-down restaurant entrees, so it seems a little uncompetitive. To get around that, I turned my $10 lunch salad with chips and queso into a makeshift carnitas nachos and was pretty satisfied with the result. With a drink included, it's a great deal. Loads of vegetable, bean, sauce, and topping options sets them apart from corporate competitors in terms of variety. Love to see sofrito lentils, vegan queso, and Cali-mix veggies. While none of the ingredients popped with flavor, they were all fresh and appreciated. Queso ranking - Chipotle

George Pappamichiel

3.04 months ago

What a whirlwind of an experience. HWY1 is set up like a Qdoba or Chipotle, walk up to the counter and have an employee build your meal to your request. Food was great, service was embarrassing. We dined here Sunday at Noon, parking lot was full but luckily there was no line when we arrived. We were greeted by a manager who immediately disappeared into the back and wasn’t seen again for the rest of the service. Our employee was nice but passive, let me drive the order without any questions or prompting. It’s a build your own but the lack of back and forth was odd. It was also slow, a lot of attention was paid to placing items just so in the bowls, fashion over function for sure. When I reached the end of the counter another employee seemed totally lost on how to ring me up, how to organize my meal on a tray, how to get the chips and salsa side. They also forgot my son’s beverage. We sat to eat and waited for our friends to get their food, 7-10 minutes later they were able to finally leave the register as well. The next customers to walk in were greeted by a single employee, the other had disappeared in the back as well. I decided it would be interesting to time the duration of this couple’s visit. From first word to leaving the register took 16:59. The solo employee struggled and never called for help/backup. As a lined formed during our exit I thought “wow this is gonna take 45 minutes”. TLDR: Great food, but nothing fast about this fast/casual restaurant.

Toria Rendell

5.0a year ago

Great new fast casual restaurant! We tried it out for happy hour and got drinks and the nachos (an in-house only menu item). We were very impressed! They have several house-made salsas-we tried the medium avocado-jalapeño, which was great. Vegetarian and vegan options- the cauliflower was super yummy. Will definitely be back!

Courtney Cordova

5.0a year ago

Fun rebrand! I love fish tacos and this place is fantastic. I love that they have both made to order stuff and build your own. I tried the Baja fish burrito and it was really good. The drinks are fantastic I tried both the sangria and the spicy pineapple margarita. They had happy hour deals from 3-6 that were definitely worth while. The staff were super friendly. It's a fast casual vibe where you order at the counter but it was definitely nicer than like fast food or chipotle or anything like that. Really nice addition to this area perfect for lunch or happy hour. I will definitely be back!