Liberty Station - Madison — Restaurant in Madison

Wow... I must have came on the wrong day. The reviews on this place are a 4.3. I'm not sure how they got that. It started great. I sat at the bar because it was just me. The bartender was very friendly. Gave me a menu. I asked what the top 2 things he would recommend. Ribs & brisket were the answer. I ordered the Sampler platter at $48 because I wanted to try as much as possible. We joked about having to take some home. Lol. My 1st bite was of the sweet potato fries. They were a 12 outta 10. Absolutely amazing. I was so excited to try the rest. Unfortunately, it all goes downhill from here. I could barley cut the brisket with my knife. My 1st bite I had to spit out because I could not even chew it. So dry, so tough. Disappointment is setting in. Tried the "pulled pork" next.... had to use my knife again to "pull" it apart. No go. Ok... he said the ribs were great. So, I try them. I could actually eat them, but probably 5/10. The beans were good. The bartender never asked me about the food or anything, but the manager was behind the bar getting something and he asked me. I said, do you want me to be honest? Yes was his answer. I said, worst brisket EVER. He was shocked. He did bring me another pc and offered to take some money off my bill. The 2nd plate of brisket definitely was better but probably still only a 5/10. So... I ate what I could. Then I sat there with my plates pushed away from me with my wallet in my hand right in front of the bartender for over 10 minutes while he made drinks back & forth and never once asked about anything or if I was ready to check out. I had to stand up & push a plate in front of another chair in order to get attention. The place was not busy at all. Many, many servers, front door lady walked by me many times & I purposely looked directly at them and I got nothing. Once I finally got the bill, it was FULL PRICE. NO discount. I said something to the bartender about the manager saying a discount. He said he would have to get the manager. After 5 more minutes, the manager came out with a discounted bill. He asked and everything & I gave him my honest opinion. Not good. But..... But.... I did tell him I would give them another chance because I don't want to be that guy. Unfortunately, I only gave a 10% tip that I explained to the manager why and I told him that was to much technically. So... nice looking place. The people were nice. There was a big table of "cowboys" behind me at the big table that was from the horse show. I told the manager, I sure hope they don't order the brisket. I shook his hand, told him I will be back. He told me to specifically ask for him when/ if I come back & he will make sure I'm taking care off. Judge me for what you want, but I eat alot of food like this and I do know the difference...

I am hoping this was a fluke as we ate here last year and had an opposite experience. First, I gave the hostess my phone number. We were told 90+ minute wait, but said that was fine. We went outside to wait as there was a large party inside. After 30 minutes, I thought it was odd there was not an initial text saying your on the waitlist. When I spoke with the same hostess, she said I called you twice and text you. You were moved on from. I showed her my phone and stated we were outside and I never received anything. My phone number was wrong. She then blamed me for not receiving the calls and texts, saying you skipped you. Again it was my fault the number was wrong. Again, we were told a 90 minute wait, so a less than 30 minute wait was not expected. She never called our name outside we were there. We were then seated outside with a waiter who struggled with 3 tables around us. One order was wrong, one took too long (not his fault) and another never got silverware. We put our order in, he came back 5 minutes later. Confused on our order. The two of us ordered the exact same thing. I repeated the order to him. When our meal came out, we had the wrong sides. He did offer to correct but at that point we just accepted this. We understand there was a large event and the staff was very busy, however, there was no reason for the hostess to blame me over her not typing in a phone number. And there really was no reason for our meal to have the wrong sides when our waiter asked 5 minutes after we ordered to clarify.

We had another set of friends who were told a 2.5 hour wait, they ended up leaving and less and 1 hour after canceling their reservation, they got a text for them to come in the building. They had been told 2.5 hours and a less than 1 hour wait occurred.

I believe your hostess needs more training on what time frames look like as when we were seated, there was 7-10 tables open. The waiter needs support in...

I've passed by ithis place a lot; always wanted to see what it had to offer. The outside patio dining with the café string lights is very appealing, especially on warm summer nights. I went at happy hour. LS did not disappoint. The staff, from the hostess, our waitress, to the manager, were all very friendly, welcoming, and accommodating. We sat outside; don't be fooled. You can hardly hear any road noise even though your close to the highway. I got the Tavern Sampler; I couldn't decide on just any one BBQ item. I am oh so glad I got it, even though it was a lot of food. The brisket: tender, juicy, and just the right amount of fat (my favorite!) The pulled pork was also tender and packed with flavor. Not dry. There was lots of meat on the spare ribs. There's a spicy rub on it, I think it's a wet rub put on a dry rub. Nothing wrong with that. Good bark on the ribs also. This meat sampler certainly satisfied and was a belly filler! My daughter is a pulled pork connoisseur. She thoroughly enjoyed her sandwich. The BBQ sauce was sweet with just the right amount of tang. It's different than the rib sauce (a thicker, more ketchup-base sauce) The corn muffins are almost like a dessert. Just the way a corn muffin should be: crunchy sweet on the outside, moist, sweet, with just a bit of grit on the inside. I'd go back just to fill up on them. Definitely one of the best BBQ places in Madison. I can't wait to try other items on the menu, just chill at the outdoor patio fire pit, and just hang out till the lights go out.....yeah. (As...