The location and service is great at Paisan's. I'm not originally from Wisconsin and when I was visiting my boyfriend took me here as a nice fancy lunch date. I was very unimpressed with the food. We dine out a lot in Madison and there's many better places to choose from in the area.
The service was good and our waiter was nice. I was disappointed they would not validate parking so we had to pay. My boyfriend said they've done it in the past but maybe they discontinued it.
I honestly was very disappointed in their "Italian" food. Coming from the east coast when I eat Italian food I expect it to be fresh but everything tasted like it came from the freezer! The prices however are very affordable and I was happy about that at least.
I will go back to Paisan's in the future but I'll keep my expectations low. I really do think they shouldn't call themselves "Italian" food if their lasagne came from the freezer.