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| - Paisan's has the best patio dining location in Madison, hands down. The view over the lake is gorgeous and definitely date-worthy, but it can be chilly with the breeze off the lake. However, the food, wait and service can at times leave something to be desired.
First off, it can be kinda tricky to get here. You have to go up to the Capitol loop and back track to get onto the one way street, but once you arrive they offer free covered parking with validation. Once you arrive there will be a considerable wait (especially if you want to eat outside) and they don't take reservations, so you'll have to stick it out in the bar area. My personal tip would be don't cave and take a spot inside, the booths are wood and rather uncomfortable, the food's just okay, and you're really here for the view.
I've dabbled around on the menu and tried a variety of three star quality items like the very plain Italian Sausage and Peppers and the Porta Salad with garbanzo beans. All the sort of food I could easily make for the same caliber at home with less than ten minutes of prep. This is not really the type of thing I want to spend my money on when I'm out. I've settled on the seafood tetrazzini with the spinach fettuccine noodles as my go to option now. It's very creamy and super filling, two or three meals for me easily. It seems silly that they don't offer real crabmeat in it though, I'm paying $17 for a dinner that's 80% noodles, they could at least give me 2 oz of something better than imitation crab. Anyway, all the food is good, it's just not anything special in my opinion.
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