Firehouse Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria — Restaurant in Madison

Honestly a disappointment. My friends and I had heard good reviews of Nicky's from other students at the college we attend and we decided to give it a try. The first time we ordered, all was well. The pizza was pretty good and the penne al a vodka was tasty. But then one fatefull night, we were very hungry and ordered 3 combos off of the college menu including 3 penne vodkas and 3 orders of garlic knots. We recieved these items a little late which we were ok with since it was a busy night, but upon returning to our room we found that we were missing not one, but 2 orders of 6 garlic knots each. We called back and got the answering machine twice so we called the delivery person who apologized and said he would return with our knots. Besides this, the pasta was not as good as with our previous experiences. When he returned we were happy to recieve the missing knots, but when we returned to the room, we had not 12, but 8 garlic knots. We found this odd because the options for garlic knots were 3, 6 or 12 knots, and we recieved 2 containers of 4. Besides this, we called again, and after a good 3 hours since we placed the order we finally recieved what we had initially ordered. Despite this experience, we were willing to give Nicky's another shot. For her birthday celebration, my friend ordered 2 of the large combos from the college menu and a couple additional gluten free pizzas. She called to place the order around 4:30 so that it would be enough time to prepare the food and confirmed an arrival time between 7 and 7:30. The food arrived a little after 8. Not only this, but she had ordered 1 liter of coke, 1 root beer, and 1 sprite. What we recieved were 2 liters of coke. We called to clear it up and the delivery man returned... with another liter of coke. Not only this, but she was charged $47 over what she should have been charged. When she called to clear this up, they said it was a surcharge from the credit company, which "happens sometimes". Which was odd because it came up on the reciept as other things we had not ordered nor recieved. She has yet to be fully refunded for this error which happened almost 2 days ago. The inconsistancy from this establishment has convinced me to find another itallian place to order from...

I can't say that I've experienced a single bad meal here. I frequent this restaurant a few times every week during lunch, and maybe a dinner every once in awhile.

To touch on the food: The pizza is always fresh, and more times than not they will have the type you're craving out and ready to serve. I really enjoy the selection of pastas and the wraps, the buffalo chicken wrap to be exact. They have a variety of appetizers to satisfy any appetite, and are a great way to start a meal. I personally order the calamari, buffalo wings or caprese.

Outside of the great food, I really enjoy the atmosphere this restaurant provides. They keep it organized and constantly clean; not only the dining area but the restrooms as well. Too many places ignore the fact that people go to restaurants for the entire experience, not just the food.

I cannot comment on the delivery service, as I live too close thus I choose to order out. However when I do order out, they stick to the time they gave you. If I was told it will be ready in 20 minutes, I can be assured I will not be standing around waiting.

Lastly, I wanted to touch on just how personal and appreciative the staff is to have you in the restaurant. The owner loves to meet people and remembers who you are every time you come back, and that means a lot. You won't find the same kind of hospitality anywhere else, in my opinion.

If I had to suggest a place to eat in Madison for a casual lunch, or even a nice dinner with friends/family, Nicky's Firehouse is where I would tell them to go. You...

The wait staff was nice but really terrible in termsnof the actual service. I specifically ordered a homemade pasta dish with a specific pasta and the wrong thing came out. We couldn't find someone and finally my husband had to get up and ask the staff to come to our table. When they finally did, they first said that it is the correct thing but I stated it wasn't and I specifically ordered that item as stated on the menu(not a special order). She said everything is homemade to which i didnt respond bc thats definitely inaccurate. After explaining the issue several times, she still wasn't getting it and it's right there on the menu. She than said you want us to remake it and when asked how long it would be she indicated it would be a while. We went with our toddler and she wouldn't have lasted that long so i said no. She disnt take anything off on the receipt and I'm convinced its just poor training. Also, we ordered 2 slices for our toddler just in case she didn't like the one kind and only received one. We didn't get the water we asked for when we sat down until after dinner came. The whole time we basically couldn't find the waitress. Those were the highlights of our dinner. The food was average and I went home and ate some leftovers. I don't subscribe to the customer is always right so this is me just expressing my experience. I would...