A diner you can’t drive to?

Mike Paulus |

A Madison man plans to open a bike-only restaurant. Man, leave it to them bike-lovin’, hummus-munchin’, sandal-wearin’ liberal commie hippies down in Madison to come up with an idea like that.

Just kidding, it sounds like a cool concept – and could certainly tap into all that juicy revenue generated by the state’s bicycling industry ($1.5 billion a year by some estimates). The restaurant would be built on one of the city’s busiest bike paths, and it’d actually be inaccessible by car. The plan is to serve local food and produce zero garbage. Chairs would be made out of tree trunks, the dishes would be ceramic, and beer and wine would be on the menu. It’d be open April through October.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, it’s been described as "a hobbit hole meets the American Players Theatre meets a 1950s National Park recreational area." That sounds pretty cool to me, but I’m not your average bicyclist, and I have a tattoo that says “Frodo Lives.” (Not really, but I’d like one.)

The land in question is owned by the city and state Department of Transportation, so apart from the hippie diner,  it’d be a lot like an expressway rest stop. The restaurateur (Chris Berge) hasn’t pitched his idea to the city yet, but is trying to gain public support since Madison is trying to become a “platinum bicycle city.” Interesting tactic. The mayor even says the eatery is “consistent” with what the city is trying to do. So, good luck to him.