CIRC — Restaurant in Madison

You know what the best part about eating out is? It's the experience, mostly colored by the staff you come in contact with. My favorite part about the salad bar at Circ is that it comes with a smile; the older gentleman (a member of the kitchen staff) who keeps the area clean and replenishes the items actually says hello, smiles, and thanks you for coming; I've never seen anything like it at a salad bar before. He makes everything tastes better. Often times there's no one at the host desk to seat you, but we've sat down before, and were soon spotted and welcomed. Today, alas, the cranky young waitress took exception to us not waiting [even] longer, and made it a point to yell "next time wait to be seated" loudly enough for someone on the 3rd floor to hear. She didn't like it when I replied that next time someone should be available to seat us: "Oh, Okay," she scoffed, and walked away. It's not even what she said, honestly (it wasn't that terrible), but the condescending, contemptuous tone, as if she were chastising unruly children, ruined the experience. I have food at home, and it doesn't come with an attitude. Clearly whoever hires and trains the staff needs to pay a little more attention to detail, and so should their boss, right up to the General Manager. One kind, always smiling gentleman built the Circ brand brick by brick, and one thoroughly unpleasant waitress razed it to the ground in one fell swoop. It's a crying shame. We'll gladly take our money elsewhere, and I'll use this example in my seminars on customer service because it's a textbook case of how not to handle customers (even those who commit the crime of not waiting long enough...

We visited the restaurant with friends and were so excited to check out Circ because we heard it was a fun spot. My husband and I really enjoy unique dining experiences and we make an effort to eat out at these type of locations often. We have a very good grasp of what the Madison restaurant scene offers. Circ was beyond disappointing. We arrived for our reservation for 6 people at 6:30pm. When we arrived there were only two other table seated in the entire restaurant. When we were seated we waiting close to 20 minutes before our server greeted us and took our drink order. I ordered a cocktail and my husband ordered a beer. There was only one other cocktail ordered at our table otherwise the rest were waters. from the time I ordered my drink did not show up for over an hour and 45 minutes. Multiple times we talked to the server who told us the bar was backed up and to the manager who stuck to the same script. Our food did not show up for 1 hour and 35 minutes after we ordered. The ironic part about their false story was that tables around us were served cocktails and the same entrees some of us ordered. As our food landed it was cold and so late that our group was outraged. We decided to leave the restaurant and as we stood up my cocktail arrived. IT was so frustrating. THe manager on staff brought us a bottle of wine but we still waited another 50 minutes for cocktails. He was not apologetic or helpful when we pulled him aside 3-4 different times to ask about the same thing. The experience was a nightmare. I would discourage any restaurant lovers from visiting. You will be disappointed. IT was shocking how little they did to resolve the...

We enjoyed an overnight in the Governor's in the Concourse Hotel. CIRC was convenient so we enjoyed Friday night dinner at the restaurant. CIRC is attached to the hotel through the lobby so no going outside. The restaurant was very quiet and the server noted he only had one other table that day. I was a bit apprehensive however he and the other team members treated us very well. They took photos of our group afterwards and the food was very creative and good. I'd definitely return. I think the ambiance was stereotypical of a hotel restaurant with a closed buffet over the wall that likely serves breakfast. For our service and food it is too bad this place does not have more attendees as likely mostly hotel patrons. As a stand alone restaurant I give it a 4 and as an attached hotel restaurant a 5. I'm giving a 4 because we would not visit specifically without returning to the Concourse which is too bad but just so many other stand alone restaurants in Madison. For visitors to the Concourse, stay in your hotel and enjoy a...