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| - For now I'm going to give Merchant three stars. I want to be clear though, it's not because of the food or the ambiance. Love the decor, it's very posh meets rustic and a welcome change from most other places in Madison. The menu is good, there are cheese plates, small plates, large plates, charcuterie and sandwiches. The food was fantastic. The cheeses were well selected and I felt the price was very fair for the amount served. We had the fava bean and prosciutto risotto, I was pleasantly surprised how well the flavors mixed... it was a perfect dish, cooked quite well. Finally, I had a pressed sandwich which was served with a very small but extra tasty green salad. Everything I ate was great. No complaints there. Now for the negatives, it's a little crowded, I understand the need to fill up the restaurant on a Saturday night, but twice a man sitting near us end up bumping us while he was dining from another table. Also the service was quite poor. We ordered the cheese plate first and 5 minutes later the risotto and the risotto came out first. When we finally wanted to order dinner we had to flag down the waiter. I'm not sure what the problem was but they were definitely not attentive. I agree with past posts that the restaurant was loud when we showed up at 8:30 on a Saturday, but it didn't bother me. I think it went along with the look they are branding. I will definitely be back to try try this place again.
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