Part of the allure of Greenbush Bar on Regent Street is its intimate basement setting. Another draw is its pizza, so I was glad to find the restaurant offering curbside service Wednesday through Saturday evenings during the pandemic.
Owner Anna Alberici says she has no immediate plans to open for dine-in service given that she has such a small space that’s hard to ventilate.
Alberici opened Greenbush, named for its bygone neighborhood, in 1993 in the Italian Workmen’s Club. She had The Wild Iris Cafe, also on Regent Street, from 1990 to 2001.
There’s no parking in front of Greenbush from 4 to 5:30 p.m., and when I called upon my arrival, an employee told me to pull up in front of the bike shop around the corner and he’d bring my order out.

Greenbush owner Anna Alberici says she has no immediate plans to open for dine-in service given that she has a small space that's hard to ventilate.
Greenbush uses an ordering system through Menufy.com, which is excellent, but adds a $1.50 convenience fee. Customers get an email with a phone number to call when they show up, and it helps that it’s a separate number than the main Greenbush number. Too many times with curbside carryout, when I show up and call, the restaurant’s number is busy.
Driving the pizzas home, the smell in the car was incredible.
When I carried them in, the boxes were so light they almost felt empty. That’s because the pizzas have an extremely light, thin crust. My companion looked at the 16-inch signature pizza ($27.50) with Nueske’s bacon and tomato on a crust with olive oil, and said he felt like “we were being punked.”

Greenbush's 16-inch signature pizza with Nueske's bacon and tomato on a crust with olive oil.
He’s more of a Chicago deep dish guy. I enjoyed the pizza even if it did cry for tomato sauce and added cheese.
The crust was crisp as a cracker, and the mozzarella and gorgonzola cheeses described on the menu were only discernible as remnants dried into the crust. It had traces of olive oil, but no other sauce. The bacon was plentiful, in long strips laid across the pie. There were scarce tomato slices, and I didn’t see much of the arugula promised on the menu.

A 16-inch cheese pizza with half walnut pesto and half basil.
Luckily, we also ordered a 16-inch cheese pizza with half walnut pesto and half basil ($19), just to see the difference. The pesto half had more cheese for some reason and was excellent. I also liked the basil half, with the leaves cut into small pieces, but I didn’t understand why there was so much less cheese on it compared to the pesto half.
The Sicilian salad ($10.50) was a generous salad with mixed greens, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, ripe tomato and roasted red peppers. It came with a side of extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar.

The Sicilian salad with mixed greens, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, ripe tomato and roasted red peppers.
The vegetarian antipasto ($12.95) was another great addition to the meal, with marinated artichoke hearts, fresh mozzarella balls, large chunks of Parmesan, marinated tomato slices, a variety of olives and cold pesto pasta.
The appetizer came with two bags of imported taralli — spectacular, flaky cracker rings with an elegant rosemary flavor.
The only problem with the antipasto was that it came in a paper box, in a pool of olive oil, which soaked through and went all over my counter.

The vegetarian antipasto, with marinated artichoke hearts, fresh mozzarella balls, large chunks of Parmesan, marinated tomato slices, a variety of olives and cold pesto pasta.
After closing in March 2020 due to COVID-19, Alberici said she stayed closed until early August. “We’re so small and there’s just not great air circulation down there.”
Even at 50% capacity, Alberici said she’d still have the air-quality problem. “So we just decided to go to curbside pickup with mostly pizza and a couple of other things.”
Business has been OK, she said. It was “real good” over the winter, but is slowing down with the time change. “Business picks up a little bit later,” she said. “I’ve got a real small crew and we’re keeping our heads above water.”

Greenbush Bar on Regent Street is in the basement of the historic Italian Workmen's Club.
Alberici said her landlord has been great and has cut her rent. Labor is her biggest cost, and she only has a kitchen staff now.
If she can survive until restaurants can open at full capacity, she said, that’s when she’ll reopen for in-person dining.
At 69, Alberici said she’s not interested in retiring. She likes owning a business. “So,” she said, “we’ll just see how it goes.”
14 best-reviewed restaurants of 2020: All diminished, but still killing it
Tokyo Sushi

Tokyo Sushi opened Dec. 10, 2019 on Williamson Street, and is surviving on carryout, co-owner Wenxin Chen said. "Not so many people dining in," he said. "I hope that coronavirus is over very soon."
Lorraine's

Ken Kopp IV renovated his former New Orleans Take-Out location on Monroe Street in one month and turned it into Lorraine's Cafe, which opened in late January. "It’s going OK around here," said Kopp, who isn't offering dine-in now. He's not doing delivery, either. "The online orders off my website for curbside have been great," he said.
Everyday Kitchen

Everyday Kitchen is part of a coworking space called Lodgic Everyday Community. The restaurant, bar and cafe opened in June 2020 on Marshall Court, and is visible from University Avenue. General manager Bobby Frizzell said the restaurant is open for delivery and curbside carryout only. "We have not yet determined a hard date for reopening the dining room, but we can’t wait to welcome everyone back!" he said in a text.
Garibaldi Mexican Restaurant

Garibaldi Mexican Restaurant opened June 1 on Butler Street, close to the Capitol Square. Erik Francisco Doroteo, whose father, Felipe Francisco Juan, owns the restaurant, said business has been OK. "We have more new customers coming in, some coming in once a week," he said. "We have some slow days, but more people are getting to know us." Erik said the restaurant is seating inside at 25% capacity with tables spaced six feet apart. Garibaldi also offers delivery.
Kosharie

Kosharie, which opened in late 2019 on Regent Street, is owned by Fawzy Mohamed, whose impressive restaurant resume includes 13 years as executive chef at Smoky’s Club and three years as a sous chef at the Madison Club. Kosharie's namesake Egyptian national dish, above, combines spaghetti, elbow macaroni, rice, lentils and chickpeas. Mohamed said the restaurant is "doing very well for corona time." He's offering takeout and delivery and is able to seat customers at two tables under dine-in restrictions. He plans to open a restaurant next door on Jan. 15 called Mafia for Pizza.
Skal Public House

Brian and Kim LaDow opened Skal Public House in May 2018 on Mount Horeb's Main Street in what was best known as Sole Sapori for 11 years. Brian LaDow said that business is going as well as possible. "Not great, but could be worse," he said. The restaurant is doing carryout, including curbside, dine-in and local delivery.
FEAST Artisan Dumpling and Tea House

Williamson Street's new upscale dumpling restaurant, FEAST Artisan Dumpling and Tea House, serves dumplings so good, they don't need dipping sauce. Mike Wang, who opened the restaurant this summer with his wife, Judy Zhu, said business is going OK and that the restaurant is open for dine-in, carry out and delivery.
Ragin Cajun Seafood

Ragin Cajun Seafood, in the works for about a year, was delayed by the pandemic, and opened July 10 in the former Ginza of Tokyo on the Far East Side. The restaurant’s basic seafood boil is one of the best splurges a person can make after months of quarantine. Jordan Zhou, the nephew of owner Ting Cai Zhou, said "everything is going well." The restaurant is doing dine-in, carryout and delivery.
Ahan

Jamie Hoang opened Ahan -- “food” in Lao -- inside The Bur Oak this summer after other kitchens didn't work out at the East Side music venue. Hoang said business has been "staying steady and busy with delivery and carryout." Deliveries make up about one-third of Ahan's business, Hoang said. She's not offering dine-in.
Finca Coffee

Todd Allbaugh and Marleni Valle opened Finca Coffee in August 2019 in a modern building on Rimrock Road owned by the Alexander Company, which Allbaugh said has been great to them during the pandemic. Finca's tacos are among the best tacos you'll find in Madison. The coffee's hard to beat, too. The shop offers limited indoor seating and curbside carryout.
Royal Indian Cuisine

Royal Indian Cuisine opened in September 2019 on the Far West Side in the days when lunch buffets could be found in every Indian restaurant in town. Now they're prohibited. At Royal Indian, co-owner Inderjit Kaur is offering carryout and delivery. No dine-in.
Settle Down Tavern

Sam Parker, Ryan Huber and Brian Bartels opened The Settle Down Tavern in the middle of a pandemic and serve a mean burger. Parker said the bar is doing takeout and delivery, and can seat customers in the tavern and in the attached atrium under its glass ceiling. "It’s the next best thing to being outside without being outside," Parker said. The tavern is also expanding into the space next door that used to be the men's clothing store Context.
Ru Yi Hand Pulled Noodle

Ru Yi Hand Pulled Noodle opened in mid-January on the 300 block of State Street to eager, high-energy crowds. Within two months, everything changed due to COVID-19. The noodle shop carried on with carryout and delivery. Dine-in is offered at a limited capacity, usually one or two tables, said Melody Lin, whose parents own the restaurant.
Sunny Pho

Sunny Pho owner Kim Khouch cooks a wide variety of Asian dishes and does them all well. The restaurant isn't offering dine-in for now and is concentrating on carryout and delivery.
Read restaurant news at go.madison.com/restaurantnews.