Engine Company No. 3 — Restaurant in Milwaukee

It is very rare that I don't leave a tip but the service was terrible and no matter how hard I tried to talk myself into leaving a tip, I just couldn't. This was my first (and last) time at this establishment and usually when I tell a waitress this they go out of their way to give suggestions on the menu. Not Barbara. She was walking away as I was telling her I was a newbie and wanted to look over the menu. She took so long to come back to the table that the young lady that was delivering other diners food noticed that I was out of water and stopped to ask if I wanted more and if I wanted anything else to drink. I asked if they had decaf coffee and she said yes and brought it right away after she was kind enough to tell me about the items on the menu that I had questions about. After she left the waitress finally returned and asked if I was ready to order. She took my order in a not so friendly manner and left. I took a sip of coffee only to find that it was cold. The waitress never came back to the table so I couldn't tell her, but when the young guy brought me my food I asked for salt and pepper and more decaf because mine was cold. The young lady who had brought the coffee stop back by to apologize for the coffee being cold and to inform me that she had just warmed it up before she brought it to me and asked if I would like for her to warm it up some more 😳. I then asked her if they could brew a fresh pot and she said she would have to check and see. Needless to say, they didn't. She brought me a cup of coffee so hot that even after adding cold cream it was still super hot. I had to let it sit and after it still hadn't cooled down, I poured half of the hot coffee into the cold coffee to see if I could drink the first one but it was too cold from sitting so long so I then poured the cold coffee into the too hot coffee. Only then was I able to drink it. I ordered the sticky bun pancakes (they were good but dry), chicken sausage (really good and the reason I'm giving 2 🌟) and 2 scrambled eggs which were SOOOO salty. I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant that salt and peppered their eggs and I'm glad I didn't salt them myself which btw, the only reason I didn't salt them is because they brought me salt and pepper poured side by side in a little bowl with no means of getting it put of the bowl unless I resorted to using my fingers like I was a chef. The waitress did perk up once she brought me the check and actually came right back to the table as soon as placed my card on the check. Told me how pretty my name was and everything when she brought my card back. Too little too late. Very disappointing breakfast to say the least. The picture I posted is of the mess I made on my plate trying to make myself...

Day after Christmas, this place was finally open, meaning not packed and crammed with customers like we always see when we're on our way to eat at The National Cafe, which was closed today unfortunately. So we finally got to try it out. Cute interior and friendly, overly-solicitous waitstaff (maybe because they're so used to being packed the excess staff had nothing to do except come over to our table every 4 minutes and ask how we were doing. But that's not really a complaint since at most restaurants you have to wave staff down to get a glass of water. But we were trying to have an in-depth conversation so it was slightly annoying to have to say 'everything's fine' every four minutes and then try to jump back into the deep point you were trying to make). I'm glad they had signs saying masks were required, but they didn't enforce it as the couple who came in behind us wore no masks and no one said a thing. Everyone else in the place was masked - thank you! Many vegetarian options on one side of the menu, and some could be made vegan, meat-filled options on the other side of the menu. Our waitress asked if it was our first time there and when we said yes, she then explained that the menu is tapas-style and we should order more than one dish and share with each other. That explained why the sauteed spinach, which is usually a side dish was a solo menu item and priced so high. Brunch for two people with tea, coffee, four dishes and tip was $50. The food was ok, but not worth coming back for, for what you get. I'm glad we finally got to experience it so now we know to stick with The National a few blocks away. If someone had given us this recommendation beforehand, we wouldn't have tried it. Three star rating because they had vegan items (although their garlic aioli has egg in it), food wasn't bad, they had 'masks required' signs, and friendly waitstaff. It would have gotten more stars if they'd enforced mask-wearing and prices...

We went to ‪Engine Company‬ 3 today. When we went to the host stand they told us seating inside was full. Walking up I had seen a nice outside seating area and asked if we could sit outside as I had seen some open tables. She stated she would check and find us a table and she did. The patio area is nice and fenced in with tables that have umbrellas, lots of flowers, and a small bar area with seating. While drinking our coffee, waiting for our server, I saw someone eating an item that I had not seen on the menu. When our waitress came back I asked what they where eating and she said monkey bread. She told us it’s not on the menu and she had not brought it up when she went over ‪the specials‬. I asked if we could have an order of it and man was it delicious and came out smoking hot. I definitely recommend it. I Ordered URTAIN (Basque) 3 eggs, sirloin, chorizo and fries. Everything came out nice and hot. I was a little surprised by the size of the steak. I would say it was a 2oz steak, the chorizo was amazing and had good spice to it. The fries where also great tasting I would compare them to the fries at the ‪North Avenue Grill‬. Shayla ordered the Quiche Lorraine (France). It’s a bacon quiche with gruyere cheese. The meal comes with a spring mix salad for the side. The quiche itself is delicious and remained hot the whole time we were eating. It’s served in a bowl that seemed to keep it warm. Would definitely order it again. Now to the service: we anticipated better service than what we got. Our server was friendly and checked in but never stuck around by the table. She usually walked away as we were asking a question and would have to come back, or she wouldn’t even hear us. So that was unfortunate. Overall the food was spot on and we are going to go again. The ingredients, for the most part seemed to be from local businesses which is pretty cool to see. We give the restaurant 4 out of 5 stars. Parking is on...