Don's TV & Repair Speakeasy — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Have family in town so decided to check out Don's for the first time. We were a group of eight so we had the back room bar to ourselves and there were families with smallish children at the two booths in the room. It's not some glitzy, glamorous place, but certainly is not lame as some other reviewer stated. I don't know what people expect. There are reviews with photographs to check out so you know what you're going to find before you even get there. The whole repair shop theme is throughout the restaurant with even the smallest details in things like a peg board with old replacement parts and small tools. The only issue I have with the atmosphere is the stairs. Not just to enter/exit but also between rooms inside. One of my brothers-in-law is prepping for back surgery and is currently using a rolling walker (you know the ones that have the seat so you can sit and rest if needed). Anyway, he had a VERY difficult time maneuvering through the restaurant to get to the table - and then to leave. Otherwise we just loved the decor and the layout. In regard to those saying they copied the Safehouse...it's a speakeasy. You had to have passwords to get into speakeasys. Other than that, it's NOTHING like the Safehouse.

Our server's name was Sage and she was just delightful. I know it can be added stress when new people come in, in a group, and have SO many questions. She handled us like a champ. She was friendly and outgoing, made sure we were taken care but didn't hover. Nor did she disappear for long periods where we were wondering what happened to her. Great job.

Yes they do have an18% service charge automatically added to every bill, but what are ya gonna do? The food and drink prices are fairly low compared to MANY other places so it was no big deal to us. I'm typically out in groups of eight or more anyway which most places tack on the 18% additional just for the size of the party. If you really have difficulty with the charge don't go there. And let's not leave out that they state right on the menu that it is for the staff and additional tipping is not necessary. You CAN for exceptional service, they just don't expect it.

Okay the food. It is mostly a breakfast or burger joint and they also have a fish fry. The menus online are very confusing as many of them are not valid anymore even though the pics are not that old. There was a mix of burgers and sides ordered as well as two fish fries. Those having the fish fries enjoyed them and we all really liked our burgers. Cooked perfectly. We had two comments though: 1. we couldn't figure out what made the sauce "naughty" as it didn't have much flavor. 2. the menu states "the works" includes caramelized onions, pickles, and tomatoes. The onions were raw. The tots were nice and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Mom ordered just the Don's Old Fashioned, and my little sister ordered the Crockpot Old Fashioned. For herself. And yes. It comes in a crockpot. I included a pic of the two old fashioneds next to each other. Definitely a drink for more than one unless you're going to be there for hours and that's the only thing you order to drink. My sister-in-law had the Lemon Drop-tini which she really liked and my brothers-in-law each stuck to soda. Three of us had boozy shakes. I had the Sega Genesis and my two other sisters did build your own. They weren't very boozy. Mine should have tasted like a grasshopper but you could barely tell there was mint in it. The sugar quantity is WAY over the top. Don't get me wrong, the presentation is absolutely fabulous. It's the execution of making it a BOOZY shake that needs a bit of work. My sisters said their shakes also lacked the boozy aspect.

Knowing what I know now, I would go again, just do things different. It's not froo-froo, but then they're not trying to be. It's a fun little place when you want to grab a burger above fast food and escape to a...

To say I’m disappointed wouldn’t be an understatement.

I pre-ordered my Friday night meal for my husband and I earlier this week. We ordered a fish fry with a 6 pack of high life, a burger, Olive medley and 4 rolls of toilet paper. My pick up was set for Friday at 530pm. Fast forward to Friday. I arrive at 530 and park outside, call and let them know I’m here for my curb side pickup. Eventually it’s 5:55pm and still no food. So I call and they say they’re super behind and it’ll be 5 minutes and they offered me a free shake for my troubles. So some more time passes and it’s 6:15pm and I STILL don’t have my food. Now I’ve been waiting for 45 minutes. Finally, someone brings out my food but only half of what I ordered. I check the box and realize they got my fish fry order wrong. I ordered fries instead of potato pancakes. I saw an employee walking past my car so I waved him down and explained what was wrong and that half my order was missing. He kindly said he would bring the rest out and bring my fries as well. When I get the rest of my order, I realize I got everything except the fries that I ordered. By this time I was already half way home so there was nothing I could do. Once I get home, I realize the toilet paper I ordered didn’t seem right. When I placed the order, it specifically says ANGEL SOFT. what I got was the cheapest less than dollar store quality toilet paper that I paid almost $5 for. Now it’s time to eat. I sit down and start eating. My fish fry was okay but not my favorite to be honest. Pretty bland. My husbands burger tho- awful. It was basically RAW. it was so awful that he barely ate it and threw it out because it was so undercooked. Honestly the entire experience was awful and I’m really sad about this because it was my first time and I was so excited about eating here. I was literally talking about it all week long. I won’t be returning here because I basically paid $50 for food that was no good, undercooked AND my order wasn’t right after multiple attempts and waiting 45 minutes for it. So not only did I waste my money but I wasted my time as well.

(Picture attached is of the RAW,...

We were bit disappointed, was super excited to try the place after just learning about it on TicToc. So I called at 2 pm for reservations for 8 pm. Was vo firmed over the phone for 8 pm before we hung up. Got there at 7:50 pm to make our 8 pm reservation only to find out we were put in for 8:30 pm. Figured that's fine because we were told that they would get us in around 8:15 pm for the confusion. 8:15 pm rolls around then 8:30 pm and 8:45 pm comes and goes. At about 8:50 pm I asked the FOH staff what was going on with our reservation. Was told that a part of high school kids are trying to pay their bill. Figured ok that's fine it will be just a few more minutes. 9 pm hits and we still aren't seated. Told my family that if we weren't seated within the next 10 minutes we would leave. Finally, a few minutes later we get called to head back to our table.

We sat down, looked at the menu, and ordered our food. Our food came out super fast which was great, but sadly it was below expectations and the hype of social media. It's mostly made of frozen foods. No lettuce in the house and the condiments for our burgers never came with the food. So we had to ask again them.

We did however enjoy the atmosphere. The decor throughout and the "TV repair lobby" were awesome and hit you with that feeling of nostalgia. Only one thing bothered me about the atmosphere, which was the bathrooms. They were filthy. One had poop on the front of the toilet and the other had a flooded floor with paper towels scattered all over. I'm guessing someone attempted to soak up the water but failed to pick up the paper towels and throw them away.

I gave this place 3 stars, the atmosphere is what saved the rating from being 1 star. Will I come back, probably not; I might recommend it for the nostalgia and experience. Who knows, maybe that person will have a...