Carson’s Prime Steaks & Famous Barbecue – Milwaukee (Fiserv Forum) — Restaurant in Milwaukee

I'd been to this place a few times previously and the food and staff were awesome. So when I was asked where I'd like to go for my birthday dinner, I picked this place. I could've chosen any restaurant in Milwaukee; 5 O'Clock Steakhouse, Carnevor, Ward's House Of Prime, Rare Steakhouse, Mo's... anywhere I would've liked. But I chose this place. It quickly became apparent to me that past performance is no indication of future results. My dining party consisted of four African-Americans and one German-American. My party arrived before me, and when I came in to sit down my party informed me that they were told that we are subject to a two-hour establishment patronization countdown. I don't believe the two hour patronizing limit was told to my Mother when she made the reservation, as she seemed taken aback as she informed me about it. Had I known we'd be on a time limit, in advance, I would've chosen a different establishment. This was my birthday dinner. Straight away, I'd like to say that our waitress Linda, I believe her name was, was phenomenal. We ordered starters and cocktails, and everything was really good. Then everyone ordered their uber-expensive meals. Once we ordered our meals, a different staff person walks up without properly introducing herself and her business with us, and tells us we have 45 minutes left on our establishment patronization countdown. Our food was taking a bit long to get to our table, and when we asked our waitress about our food, in fear of the establishment patronization countdown, she said because I ordered my steak well done, it will take longer for our food to arrive. Basically blaming me for the delay. We finally get our food, and it's great as usual. However, the unknown staff member shows back up at our table with food from a mix-up in the kitchen. It was undercooked fillet medallions. I like my food well done, so the others ate it. Our own waitress came back to our table and asked what was the plate with the fillet medallions. I assume the unknown staff member didn't communicate to our waitress that she'd given us the fillet medallions, so we had to fill her in. Anyway, we finish dining and our waitress starts taking our plates away to box up our food. She attends to the ladies of our table first, then the two other guys. Everyone has their to-go bags visibly on our table, and the waitress takes my food back to the kitchen last to box up. Out of nowhere, the unknown staff member again approaches our table. As I mentioned, all of our to-go bags are visibly on the table and we are just waiting on mine. The unknown staff member vibrates her septic vocal cords, opens the biggest hole in her face and utters, "you have 8 minutes left on your establishment patronization countdown". That was the last straw. I let her know that it was extremely disheartening to be intermittedly harassed throughout our dining experience about the time left for our existence at their restaurant. I know that we spent upwards of $600-$800 dollars not even including the tip. The unknown staff person said that they only harass people about the two-hour establishment patronization countdown on Saturdays. I informed her that the day of the week was immaterial to me, and obviously our hard-earned money we spent for the non-inflation adjusted overpriced meals was just as unimportant to her and the restaurant. I informed her I'd never dine there ever again, due to being treated like a number instead of a human being celebrating a birthday with his family. Of course we weren't treated this disrespectfully just because we are African-Americans. We were told it was a "Saturday thing". Don't believe any shenanigans if this restaurant replies to this review saying, "Wow, we can't seem to find your name in our reservation system. Maybe you dreamed this, or was possibly eating at a restaurant in Indonesia named "Karson's". So, you know, we...

I’m there with my parents and friends pretty often. LOVE the food! One of the best steak houses in Milwaukee forsure but, Katie (the host) was VERY rude this past time I went. My parents and I are there often and I have never gotten treated so poorly. Very disappointed in the way she talked me. One wrong attitude can really hurt the brand of the company. Her attitude really put a bad taste in my mouth & my parents mouth as they were on the phone with me as katie and I had a dispute. Hopefully this can be addressed.

Replying back to your review:

Totally understand that we could not be sat at that specific time. That was not my issue. What was explain to me THE FIRST TIME I APPROACHED was that each table had 1 hour and 45 mins to dine. I’ve never heard that but still did not have a issue as I know there was many events going on downtown the night of this occurrence. If there were 4 tables open (as I looked) and I approach Katie the second time (at 7:05pm EXACTLY) , and asked if we could be seated earlier. She told me there were 5 PLUS reservations still a head of us. So with that, if the other reservations would have came in they would have only had 45 mins to eat? Our reservation was at 7:45pm. When I approached Katie again, she had back up, and tried to explain she had 5+ reservations ahead of us and we couldn’t be seated until our reservation time. STILL OKAY. ITS THE WAY YOU SAY THINGS.

And let me not forget to mention male manager who RUDELY knocked on the woman’s bathroom door and said there was two people in the bathroom with me when it was just me, let me not forget that. Not sure what that was about either. While he was so concerned about me “being in the bathroom with another person”, there was a WHITE MALE, VERY INTOXICATED, HARASSING MY FRIEND AND I, APPROACHING US WHILE WE SAT THERE WAITING FOR OUR TABLE AND KATIE AND BRIAN ( THE OTHER MANAGER) WATCHED IT HAPPENED. Why not kick out people who are not paying customers? He was there to clearly use the restroom and or wait for a ride. He came in after me and was standing by the door. Please Mr Carson run those cameras back to watch that.

Also, I absolutely will react to anyone that is disrespectful. It’s not what you say it’s the way you say it and She was rude from the beginning. So if your justifying the way she spoke to me as if being spoken to like I’m dumb or incoherent is ok, I absolutely will not be back into Carson‘s in this city or any city in general. This is not the first time that I’ve heard that this restaurant in particularly the one in Milwaukee downtown area has treated African-Americans a certain way when in reality African-Americans bring in most of the money that you guys make if we’re being honest. As paying customers, NO ONE should be talked to or treated like that. And I absolutely am not trying to pull the race card but that’s what it seemed like. Like I said I love carson‘s. I love the food, but that was outrageous. This was my first bad encounter. If you were not there to see the whole situation Then please do not justify her actions. Everyone should be held...

Carson's: Opened in 1977, Carson's is a restaurant run by third generation Chicagoan Dean Carson. The Carson family has been in the food and beverage business since the 1930's, so they know a thing or two about the biz. My family and I dined at the MKE location to celebrate my brother's college graduation. The following is my thoughts on each item that I ordered.

Corn Bread Appetizer: For those unfamiliar with this type of bread, it is made with cornmeal and is associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States, with origins in Native American cuisine. It's been years since I've had corn bread and Carson's take on it reminded me just how tasty it is. The bread was warm, buttery, crumbly, sweet, and corny of course. Doughboy approved.

BBQ Baby Back Ribs: As much as I enjoy a good steak, I had to try the BBQ ribs since the restaurant was bold enough to claim "American's #1 BBQ". The menu describes them as "No boiling, no liquid smoke, no dry rub. No marinades or tenderizers. NOT “fall-off-the-bone.” Carson’s legendary ribs, chicken, & chops are smoked for hours in a genuine hickory wood-burning pit. Real, authentic, slow-cooked BBQ". I'll start with the good, which is the BBQ sauce was on point be being flavorful and thick. Just the right amount of sweetness to complement the flavor of the ribs. I found the meat itself to be a little tough though and I wasn't a fan of it not being “fall-off-the-bone.” It was a challenge to eat both with utensils and just going for it with my hands and mouth. Just my opinion, but I've had better. Not bad, just okay.

Side of Au Gratin Potatoes: In layman's terms, these are cheesy potatoes cooked in a casserole dish and creme sauce. This was phenomenal and easily the star of my meal. The outermost layer was perfectly crispy and the innards were extra cheesy and creamy. No question, Doughboy approved.

Overall: Two out of three isn't bad for the food, so I would score them as a 4/5 based on taste. Our waitress wasn't the most attentive, but I also suspect they were understaffed that night. I quickly learned an "I'll be right back" equated to literally 10-15 minutes. The meal ended up lasting three hours from the time we sat down until the check was paid. This is actually one of the reasons I opted to skip my usual dessert. Even getting it to go would have been another wait. Factoring in the service I would give an overall score of 3/5 stars (good/average). I am curious how their steak is though, so I would be open to a future visit, just probably not for "America's #1...