Lost Whale — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Last night, I visited Lost Whale with some friends to enjoy their Elf-themed pop-up. The bar was fairly busy, and the atmosphere was louder than usual. I ordered one of their hot coffee drinks served in a mug. The bartender, a woman with darker hair, took my order and asked for my ID. Unfortunately, due to the noise, I didn’t catch her full explanation and assumed she was simply carding me.

After handing over my ID, I got caught up in conversation with my friends and didn’t notice that she hadn’t returned it. Later, I found out Lost Whale has a policy requiring customers who order drinks in mugs to trade their ID in exchange for the mug, which is returned when the mug is brought back to the bar. I wasn’t aware of this policy and didn’t hear it explained to me at the time. When we finished our drinks, we left the mugs on the table, completely unaware this would cause an issue.

The next morning, I realized my ID was missing and traced it back to Lost Whale, the only place that had asked for it. When I called to confirm if it was still there, the person who answered—likely a manager—immediately told me my ID had been destroyed because I didn’t return the mug (which I actually did, just not directly to the bar). I tried to explain it was an honest mistake and asked her to double-check, but she dismissed me, saying she was too busy to deal with it.

Frustrated, I called back shortly afterward to apologize for the misunderstanding and clarify if my ID had truly been destroyed. This time, I spoke with the bartender from the previous night, who gave me the same curt response and implied I couldn’t prove I had returned the mug. When I mentioned I’d come in person to resolve the issue, she abruptly hung up on me.

Encouraged by my friends, I decided to visit Lost Whale directly. Once there, I explained the situation to a gentleman working at the bar. He was kind, understanding, and quickly retrieved my ID, which, as it turns out, had not been destroyed as previously claimed. Unfortunately, the bartender from the previous night overheard our conversation and rudely accused me of calling the manager a derogatory name during our earlier calls—a claim that was entirely false. I corrected her, admitting that while I had expressed frustration, I never resorted to insults.

All of this trouble over a simple misunderstanding about a mug feels completely unnecessary. To be clear, the mug wasn’t particularly special, and I would never trade my ID for something like that. Nor would I go to the trouble of retrieving my ID if I had actually taken the mug. I feel any reasonable person would understand that.

I’ve always enjoyed Lost Whale for its creative drinks and welcoming atmosphere, but this experience has left me deeply disappointed. Moving forward, I’m hesitant to return, especially while that bartender...

Took my friend here on her birthday, there were two bartenders a female and a male she was training. The male was nice, gave us menu when we sat down and time to view them. On the bar, there was a three tiered shelf that had cinnamon sticks and multiple bottles with different labels such as peppermint and other scents, to the both of us it looked like it was either essential oils or something you could burn to enjoy the scent, and there was no sign or note on it saying otherwise, I grabbed one of them And proceeded to smell it. The very prissy,snarky and downright rude female bartender game out from the back and said, “ ummmmm no, we probably shouldn’t put our nose on that, since we use it to make people’s drinks” while simultaneously grabbing the bottle from my hand. She then said, now I have to clean that and walked away. She then Proceeded to talk quietly to the other bartender about my friend and I while giving us dirty looks. Well….Maybe you shouldn’t have items you use to make drinks for customers, on the customer portion of the bar; without a sign that explains not to touch. Also, maybe you should get nicer less pretentious bartenders, this isn’t the first time I’ve encountered a rude bartender at this bar, but it will be the last since it’s the last time I will...

Lost Whale is the new bar taking over the old Boone and Crocket spot, boasting craft cocktails and nautical décor.

Drinks: I had the Scotchy Scotch Scotch, and my wife had the Boozy hot chocolate. I also had a mezcal type old fashion. The old fashion was delicious and the boozy hot chocolate w/ coffee was amazing, while the Scotchy drink was just ok. The Coffee/hot chocolate was made with stone creek coffee and cinnamon whipped cream, so my wife was in heaven. Where this place REALLY stepped up was we were out with my brother and pregnant sister-in-law, and they even had drinks for the non-drinkers. Prices were reasonable as well!

Atmosphere: So self-admitted, if a bar is playing good music at a reasonable volume, I goes way up to the top of my list. The décor was fun, clean and inviting, music was great and we could still talk casually without yelling.

Service: Service was great, and the bar staff was very kind to my sister-in-law to help her find a drink for the non-drinker.

My score: 9/10. We will definitely be back in summer to check out the back patio. Only thing holding this back from a higher score is it is small, and had one drink that was a dud. Aside from that, everything else was amazing and this will be a go to for us...