The Explorium Brewpub Greendale — Restaurant in Greendale

This is the 3rd Time that I have been here. I am not really Happy with this visit this Time. We usually have a Good Time here.

Not this Time.

We arrived about 7:40 P.M…..

Our hostess Iris was very nice and Friendly Our waitress Brooke C., seemed nice at first. She was attentive to our needs at first.

We received our food.

However she ruined it the service. About 20 minutes after we received our Fish dinners, Pierogi, and bowls of Roasted Tomato soups which were Good, she came and asked me if we needed some boxes.

I replied No, that I was still eating.

She said OK and walked away.

We don’t like to be rushed when I am eating. About 10 minutes later, not even, Brooke C., came back and she asked me again if we needed boxes.

My Mother has Health problems and her ulcers started acting up because we could not finish eating.

I was a little upset by now.

I like to enjoy my food and not be rushed. By now, most of the restaurant had cleared out, even though the restaurant is open until 10:00 P.M. according to the posted Hours.

Brooke C. came back about 10 minutes later and I knew what she was going to ask as she opened her mouth.

I finally just asked for a box to go.

We only left a $ 10.00 tip which was les them the suggestion on the receipt because tops are based on the kind of service that you receive and we did not receive too Good of service halfway through our meals until the end of our meals.

I don’t know if we will return to eat at this restaurant again.

If we do choose to give this restaurant another chance, I do not want Brooke C. waiting on us. Thank You.

Update: Wednesday, June 28, 2023

I just read the response from The Owner Today on this.

To The Owner Who Replied To my Honest Review,

First of all, Everything that I said in my review is 100 % Honest.

I don't like for some Owner and or manager to say that I am basically lying when they never bothered to contact us for more information... especially since I am an Ordained and licensed Rabbi which is a Jewish Priest. I don't lie. It is a Sin. I have No reason to lie. I shared a Honest review.

Number two,

I am also a Decorated former 1st Lieutenant who served our country as part of The United States Air Force where I have worked with Chaplain Services, and for you to comment and basically say that I am lying, when you never even bothered to check into this as a real owner and or manager should, is absurd as you say in your reply.

Believe me, I have printed out your response and, I think that The News Media will see how you and your business treats people, especially members of Clergy and people who served our country and basically dismiss them as lying when you did not bother to look into this. That is not a Good owner and or manager.

Number three.

I was there eating dinner with my Mother who works for The United States Federal Government who can back up everything that I say as 100 % True. She is a Ordained and licensed Minister herself. Are you going to say that she is lying too?

Don't worry, We will never eat at you business again. You have lost 2 Good customers. One more thing. May God Almighty...

Service is beyond subpar. No one was at the hostess desk so we had to go search for someone, then waited approximately 10 minutes and no server came to greet us. We had to again search for someone and 3 servers were at front just chatting. The server who took our order was the one who seated us, so there is no excuse for the long wait. She should have at least asked us what we wanted to drink when she seated us. This is not the first experience we have had like this at this restaurant, therefore, there appears to be a severe management problem. This will be the last time we will patronize this establishment. There are too many other restaurants to choose from where customer service is a priority. This is not one of them.

Response to Owner: First, you are incorrect, the manager was not speaking to the servers at the server station (which I assume is at the front) because there was no one at the front which is why my husband walked through the restaurant to try and locate someone. As I recall, Becky emerged from the brewing room with the phone in hand. Also, the 10 minutes I referred to was with regard to the time from being seated to when my husband went to find someone to take our drink order, and Becky and two other employees were at the front chatting. As I stated, when we were seated, Becky should have asked if we wanted something to drink. We have patronized your establishment previously when we were here from Los Angeles at our second home here in the area. I posted the review while at the table, so in all fairness, I will revise my review someone by stating that Becky's service did improve once she took our order, and she was friendly and rather attentive. I still stand by my opinion, however, that based on our prior experiences, the service is generally subpar and customer service is not a priority. I would also like to thank you for your snarky comment calling me inpatient. If you consider a customer impatient when they have to track down a server to take a drink order after several long minutes, then I am guilty as "charged." ...

Just left there after being seated for over 15 minutes without a single staff person acknowledging our existence. Terrible.

Edited for response to owner:

Just a point of clarification - I actually did not message your manager on Facebook - I received a Facebook message from your restaurant that indicated you had privately replied to my recommendation but the body of the message was blank initially so I responded and advised of the same. I certainly appreciate the quick response from your manager last night as well as the offer of the gift card to try to rectify what happened. It was both professional and courteous.

However, I am a little taken back though by the second message you sent through private messenger on a different platform this morning (but failed to post in your reply to the review). I am not sure what you mean as far as "far less time and with far less aggravation on (our) part" if we would have just let someone know. As far your statement insinuating that we were aggravated, all I will say in response to that is that it is quite assumptive. As far as time, when we decided to leave, we approached the hostess stand but it was unattended. I found the nearest waitress and told her that the restaurant could give our table to someone else and advised as to the reasons why. The time it took to do so was nominal.

I was a server for three years and a bartender for 10 years. As both someone with prior experience working in the industry and a customer, I didn't realize that it was a patron's responsibility to manage staff and ensure they are doing their jobs correctly and timely. It appears as though you may just not agree with the method, manner, and platform in which we chose to address the issue. Your second message comes across as shifting blame for the experience on us, the patrons, for not "fixing" our experience. The idiom “quit while your ahead”...