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| - I'm not sure about Byrd's as a whole, but there are parts of this restaurant that I really like. For a nice summer spot to relax, have a few drinks, and eat some decent food, they are right on the money. Here's a little rundown -
The Good: Large tables with umbrellas for some shade and a comfy outdoor atmosphere in a nice shopping area. You really can't be in a bad mood sipping a drink when you're out in some nice weather on the rooftop. The second waitress we had was extremely polite and had good conversation with us. Their food, while standard deep-fried bar fare, was tasty. I've been to a lot of outdoor seatings areas in Madison, but I would say that Byrd's is better than most and should be on the short-list.
The Bad: Our first waitress was easily the worst I've ever seen in my entire life. I really hope it was her last day. She came out and was immediately rude with a pissed off look on her face. I asked for a lime margarita and she said "we don't do flavors" and I said OK then a standard margarita which is lime anyways. She was also just being short with everyone. When she came back, one of my bolder friends apologized and said she was sorry if we upset her to which the waitress responded "Well we have stairs. I have to walk up and down them. SO THATS WHY THERES A WAIT." She eventually brought our food out as we watched plenty of other happy tables with other waitresses, and then while we were enjoying our drinks and food she asked us if we were leaving. I said "uh, no, we were planning on staying a while to relax and have some more drinks (not to mention finish our food)". She then demanded that we close our tabs and pay our check because she had to leave and didn't want to get stiffed. We debated this with her for like 10 minutes until finally we just threw up our hands and did what she wanted (even after offering her straight cash in her pocket for a tip). We then got a second waitress who opened a new tab and was very pleasant as mentioned above.
So overall, 3 stars because of that horrible ordeal, otherwise Byrds is a great summer locale.
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