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State Street got its first purely vegan restaurant Wednesday when John McCune opened the fast-casual Sookie’s Veggie Burgers in what had been Koi Sushi, 502 State St.
McCune, 25, a former vegan, now vegetarian, who grew up in Stoughton, sold his vegan sandwiches at East Side Madison festivals last year from Sookie’s food trailer, which he sold in January.
He and his partner, Elle Borden, started Sookie’s in 2019 after they graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and won a business-startup competition through the business school.
Early in the pandemic, they set up across from Milwaukee’s Discovery World and had customers order through a phone app without leaving their vehicles.
The couple moved to Madison from Milwaukee so Borden could go to UW-Madison Law School.
The trailer’s two burgers, the sweet potato pecan and the black bean walnut, are no more. “We just wanted to go nut-free in a big way,” McCune said, adding that the idea was to make his food more accessible.
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Customers can order sandwiches on a regular bun or opt for a gluten-free bun or a lettuce wrap for the same reason, he said.
The restaurant has six sandwich options: an Impossible burger, vegan chicken sandwich, portabella mushroom burger, sweet heat beet burger, chipotle black bean and black bean quinoa burger.
Sookie’s uses vegan cheeses and vegan mayo.
The restaurant sells guacamole and chips, and fries and sweet potato fries that are made in commercial air fryers instead of deep fryers to lessen the amount of oil and make them a bit healthier, McCune said. Air fryers also lead to a cleaner working environment, he noted.
McCune said he and his creative director, Esperanza Tyson, have “classed” up the space with 60 to 70 plants. “So, we are plant-based to the extreme,” he said. Tyson is also responsible for the wavy rainbow mural on the wall.
Madison lacked many vegetarian and vegan choices, particularly on State Street and near the UW-Madison campus, McCune said. “Typically, restaurants, if they have plant-based options, will only have one or two things.”
In an attempt to be as sustainable as possible, McCune said he’s using only biodegradable packaging. “That’s really important to us because the whole reason we’re providing plant-based options is because it is better for the planet as a whole.”
John McCune and Elle Borden started the Sookie’s food trailer in 2019 after they graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
McCune said when he and Borden were coming up with a name for the trailer, he suggested his last name, but Borden said, ” ‘that’s such a guy thing to do, (giving it) your own name’. So, we ended up naming it after her family’s dog instead.”
And the dog was named after Sookie Stackhouse of The Southern Vampire Mysteries book series, he said.
Sookie’s is taking up part of the space that was Koi Sushi. The building’s landlord divided the former restaurant into two spaces.
The separate, smaller one, Diamond’s Café, has an entrance on Gilman Street.
Sookie’s is open from noon until 8 p.m. daily.
“We don’t want people to have to compromise when they’re choosing what to eat and what to consume,” McCune said. “We want to provide clean alternatives to some of the other stuff that’s out there.”
39 Madison-area restaurant, bar and coffee shop openings in 2021, including more on the way
Stadium Takeout
Don Woods opened Stadium Takeout in early October, next to his barber shop, Faded Club, on Monroe Street, where Lorraine’s, and before that, New Orleans Take-Out, were.
The Harvey House
Joe Papach and Shaina Robbins Papach opened this modern-day supper club in July, tucked into the Madison Train Depot, behind Motorless Motion Bicycles on West Washington Avenue.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Delicacies of Asia
Ting Cai Zhou opened this State Street counter-service restaurant where Lotsa Stone Fired Pizza was.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Kettle Black Kitchen
Brian and Alicia Hamilton opened this intimate, full-service 30-seat restaurant on Monroe Street in August across from Trader Joe’s where Joon, Burgrito and Double S BBQ were.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Patricia’s Taqueria & Groceries
Patricia Sánchez and Adrian Serrato opened this restaurant and store in the former Farm Tavern, south of the Beltline. In November, they opened a second one in Lakewood Plaza Shopping Center at Sherman and Commercial avenues.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Forage Kitchen Middleton
Henry Aschauer opened a fourth of his healthy fast-food restaurants in November on Old Sauk Road in a former Cousins Subs shop.
Portillo’s West
Madison’s second Portillo’s hot dog restaurant with a three-lane drive-thru opened at West Towne Mall where a Sears Auto Center was.
Grace Coffee Co.
Carlos Falcon opened his fifth and sixth coffee shops, one on Park Street in the Peloton Residences apartments, the other in Verona, next to the new high school.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Sunroom Cafe
Juan Montiel and his father, Euler Montiel, bought this second-floor, State Street favorite last summer and added some of their native Venezuelan specialties.
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers
This Louisiana-based chain, focused on chicken strips, opened in June next to Colectivo Coffee on State Street.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Ancora Cafe + Bakery
The cafe opened in February in Maple Bluff where Manna Café was. It joins Tori Gerding’s King Street Ancora and her Ancora on University Avenue.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Mercies Coffee
Mallory Orr, who briefly worked at the 20-year-old Cool Beans, near East Towne Mall, opened her new shop in its place in December.
Poke Bar
Evelyn Jian opened her small Middleton counter-service restaurant in early May.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Peanut Butter & Jelly Deli
Mike Hottinger opened this counter-service shop in mid-September on State Street in what had been Frutta Bowls.
Blind Shot Golf & Social Club
Brent Mann and Michelle Duvall opened their indoor golf club, bar and restaurant in June on Fair Oaks Avenue on the ground level of the mixed-use Garver Point Apartments.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Mount Vernon Tap
Walter Heinrich and Jennie Corey-Heinrich took over the popular bar Marcine’s in Mount Vernon and renamed it. They promised to keep almost everything the same.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Granny’s Kitchen
Tyrone Austin and Ondray Sellers, with help from Mary Bridges, opened the takeout restaurant in February in the back of a Citgo gas station on Northport Drive.
Takarajima Sushi
Jeannie Ni opened this sushi spot in April on Cottage Grove Road where Good Food Low Carb Café was.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Takara Sushi Station
Jeannie Ni opened her conveyor-belt sushi restaurant in August on Whitney Way where, for 14 years, she co-owned Takara Japanese Restaurant.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Marquette Hotel Café
James Montgomery opened the cafe mid-May in his three-year-old hotel on South Baldwin Street off Williamson Street.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Bombay Fast Café
Madhuri Ranade opened her food cart in June on Library Mall, and sells four items.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Good News Ice Cream
Andy Haker, who owns Madison’s on King Street, turned the restaurant-bar’s party room into an artisan ice cream and coffee shop.
Oz by Oz
Sam Parker, Ryan Huber and Brian Bartels, who also own neighboring Settle Down Tavern, opened the bar in October on King Street.
Leopold’s Books Bar Caffe
Sam Brown opened a combination bookstore, bar and café in July next to the Regent Street Rocky’s, where Greenbush Bakery was.
Taco Local
David Rodriguez opened Taco Local in April on Williamson Street where Underground Butcher was.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Dive Inn
Ryan Ramig and Josh Wacker opened a bar on Cottage Grove Road where JoBeck’s Bar was.
Hone
Michael Parks opened this eclectic restaurant in the former Forequarter space on East Johnson Street.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
City Barbeque
This Ohio-based chain opened its first Wisconsin location in March at the corner of Gammon and Mineral Point roads.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Rising Sons Verona
Sinarack “Be” Macvilay opened a third Rising Sons Laotian-Thai restaurant on West Verona Avenue, where Jordandal Cookhouse was.
Camp Beef Butter BBQ
Patrick Riha, who owns Beef Butter BBQ restaurant on the North Side, opened this seasonal outdoor spot in the town of Westport.
Buck & Honey’s Waunakee
The restaurant, in the former Boston’s Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar, had a soft opening in December 2020, but is being counted as a 2021 opening.
Forma
Nathan Mergen, who owns the restaurant/bar 107 State at that address, expanded next door last spring into the former Shoo store, for a private dining room and “urban art gallery.”
Dark Horse ArtBar
Patrick DePula of Salvatore’s Tomato Pies on East Washington Avenue took over the space next door that used to be Star Bar for an art gallery, bar, and performance art and music venue.
Coming soon: Jacknife
Jacknife will be a fast-casual restaurant on East Washington Avenue from the owners of the sushi favorite RED.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Coming soon: Chasers 2.0
Chasers Bar & Grille was chased out of its West Gorham Street home because of redevelopment, but Chasers 2.0 is opening in the old Nomad spot a block away.
Coming Soon: East Johnson Family Restaurant
East Johnson Family Restaurant, an upscale diner from the couple behind Johnson Public House.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Coming Soon: Driftless Social
Driftless Social in Mount Horeb, a supper club in the old Schubert’s diner and bakery from Matt and Tim Schmock, two grandsons of the founders of Smoky’s Club in Madison.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Coming Soon: Mio Fratello
Mio Fratello, a pizza place on the North Side from Alessandro Monachello and Chris Guglielmo. The partners have tweaked their business model to do catering and pop-up events. They’ve been selling their wood-fired pizza at the North Side Farmers’ Market and at festivals and private events.
Coming soon: Red Rooster
Red Rooster in the former Knuckle Down Saloon from Jesse Steinberg, Paul Schwoerer, Tim Payne and Dan Resnick, members of Madtown Mannish Boys, a local blues band.
Read more restaurant news at: go.madison.com/restaurants
