The Edison — Restaurant in Milwaukee

1 decent appetizer and 1 passable dessert

When we arrived to the Edison’s we were greeted by the most accommodating staff. Our server was a lovely lady who provided some stellar drink recommendations. We ordered our entire meal including initial drink orders on our first touch which arguable was a bit late but the husband and I had looked at the menu ahead of time so completely fair. Our drink and appetizer food was served in a timely manner. I did mention a gluten intolerance as a side conversation to my husband in passing and our server instantly caught on. Not only did she ask if she could pass that on but came back 30seconds after our order to ensure we knew that something we ordered was not gluten free. Unfortunately the service was the only good things I have to say about our evening. The first few sips of my birds in paradise were sweet but I could taste the flavor profile. At about 1/2 through my drink became extremely watery tasting which is okay if it took an an hour to drink but I had the drink within 20 minutes of service so not sure if there was a mixing error. However my husband had a very similar experience with his ruby highball also started out as fantastic in the first 3 sips. The food overall was terrible. We had the meatballs which were STELLAR and the highlight of the evening. My husband had the French onion gnocchi which was French onion soup with boiled gnocchi baked with an excessive amount of unseasoned cheese (sadly we had to literally cut the cheese…with a knife to get through). We also had the coal fired wings. It was very clear there was in intricate dry rub on these which included thyme, paprika and Garlic. Unfortunately, none of these flavors, or any flavor, actually came through on the wings. Also there was certainly no charcoal flavor either. It was rather baffling to see these herbs and spices and not taste them. Unsure of the quality of ingredients is too blame…I then had the scallops which I was rather excited about since I love them but rarely trust they are up to par or provide a good entree. I regretted my decision almost immediately. The best things about the scallops dish was the charred allium spread. The scallops were cooked well but must have been old or lower quality as they were exceptionally fishy (I eat things like oysters, muscles and clams regularly so am not afraid of a fishy taste). The mushrooms on the plate were rubbery and dry. They did not fit with the lightness of the dish at all. There were raw purple radishes which were not enjoyable and also made no sense with the lightness of the dish. The micro green salad was overdressed or included chive micro greens lending an unpleasant onion base. And then there were the rice pucks… cakes .. which were one of the worst things I have tasted in a long time. That said if you like unseasoned rice balls with undercooked forbidden rice this may be the dish for you. My husband had a double cut coal fired durrock porch chop which was cooked to a perfectly well done state, cheddar grits which may as well have been chicken stock rehydrated polenta with no salt, and an under reduced door county cherry jus which may have been cherry water I am a little unclear. There was a slaw on the dish which was tasty. We did have a ricotta cheesecake for desert which I highly question if that was made by the establishment. This was decent but not special.

Overall I highly recommend this place if you are over 80, have very few taste buds (Covid survivor?), or enjoy under seasoned, highly questionable quality fish, and overcooked food. That said their service staff deserve a raise as they are clearly trying to make the best of a terrible situation. It is sad when they do not question taking away plates of 1/2 finished meals.

I do not write this review to obtain any action on the restaurants part. I would recommend a new head...

Me and my fiancé came to the Edison because we wanted to try it out, what a mistake. This was one of the worst experiences we’ve had in a while. The place is beautiful and we were so excited to try it. We walk into the restaurant and are greeted by the host he seemed miserable, no smile, no hello, no welcome just “what can I help you with” as if we weren’t supposed to be there. I was caught off guard and told him “table for 2”. He looked at the tablet and grabbed two menus, it seemed like he was running to the table to avoid talking to us, he sat down the menus and walked away without saying one word. We sat down and started looking at the menu, we waited for a server for about 7 minutes and when she came over she didn’t seem thrilled either. She brought some water and asked if we wanted anything to drink besides the water. My fiancé ordered a drink and I ordered a bourbon old fashioned sweet, she asked what kind of bourbon I wanted and I asked what bourbons you offered, she reached over me grabbed the drink menu with such distain and opened it to bourbon portion and gave it to me. I went with woodford. Drinks took about 15 minutes to get to the table. She asked if we wanted to start with appetizers and we went with the rolls and honey butter option. I asked what were the tempura shallots like and she told me they were onions, I almost lost it, I’ve been in the restaurant industry for 25 years I know what a shallot is. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a restaurant and felt like I didn’t belong there and it made it really uncomfortable. I was talking with my fiancé about just getting the drinks and the app and going somewhere else, plenty of other options, but we decided to stay and eat even because we really wanted to try the restaurant and even though I didn’t feel like it would get any better we stayed. We order our entrees. I got the Benny and my fiancé ordered the chicken and waffles, my Benny eggs were overcooked the eggs were almost powder they were so over cooked and the server never came back to the table to even check on the food or she would have known. The chicken and waffles were bland and tasteless. How do you have one Benedict on the menu and it’s beyond over cooked. I was done then. The server finally came to the table where my fiancé asked for a box, for the rolls and honey butter that we didn’t finish. I had my card out to pay as well. She brought the box and I was trying to hand her my card and she told me she would be back with the check in a bit, why not just run my card then? We waited another 5 minutes or so until she came back took my card, sat the toast tablet on the table and waked away. This was a horrible experience. I am a GM for a restaurant and if I ever saw or heard my host and servers treating people the way they treated us here I’d fire them almost immediately. To treat people with no respect and make them feel like a brush off is atrocious and really bizarre. We’ve been to many places here in Milwaukee since we moved here and none have been this bad and to say that we’re never coming back is an understatement. I can get past the overcooked food because it happens but the poor service and the way that we were treated you can’t come back from that. I watched other tables get good service, I watched the host interact with other tables, I even saw a manager go to multiple tables and ask how they were doing but never came to our table. Maybe race played a part in it. I’m not one to throw around those types of accusations but it felt very similar to an experience I had in Houston, Texas where they treated people badly based on the color of their skin and and It’s a shame. My only hope is that your establishment does better. No one deserves this treatment especially when they can afford to eat at your...

First time here. Not sure if we will return. Let me explain.

Have read some good reviews about The Edison, so we made a 6:00 for a Saturday. The design of the dining room is stylish, fun, and comfortable. A mix of smaller tables or larger booths.

It was starting to get busy when we arrived. There were two of us, and the hosted placed us at a small table near the front door. Given that there was significant traffic there, we asked for a similar table more towards the back. The hostess was reluctant telling us that it was going to be busy/loud throughout the entire dining area, but she made the change. Glad that we did because the new area was less hectic and noisy. The two top is really a four top, with some foliage between the two sets. It was a bit odd, but less distracting than I thought.

Our server got to us right away. They were friendly, helpful and relaxed. Got us waters, and our first drinks. Helped us navigate the menu and offered suggestions. The drinks were unique and flavorful. The Old Fashioned was especially good.

Our appetizer was the Tempera Shallot. It came out quickly, was hot and crispy. We enjoyed most of it. Some pieces were larger, and the batter was not cooked as thoroughly as the rest. The black garlic Aioli was very good.

Our entrees included the Pork Chop and the Grilled Whole Branzino. They came out in a reasonable amount of time, were hot, well seasoned, flavorful sides, and nice portions. The Branzino was probably the best that I have had. The skill was nice and crispy and the flesh tender. Nice job! Both of us enjoyed them, and there were leftovers that we took home.

We had been there for about an hour, and that's when the service took a turn for the worse. Our server took a long time to come back after we had finished the meal. We noticed that they were busy with some other/larger tables. We asked to have dessert, and it took a while to even get the dessert menu. We ordered the Rum Cake, and then we did not see the server or the dessert. By then it had been 30 minutes since we finished the meal. The server finally stopped back to tell us that they were backed up in the kitchen and that it would be a little while to get us our single piece of dessert. I said that we needed to go and would no longer have the time. We quickly paid and had to leave to make it to our show at the Milwaukee Rep.

The evening was both a pleasure and disappointment. Good food, but erratic service. I would have asked for the manager to discuss and give feedback, but there was simply not enough time. There are plenty of good restaurants in downtown Milwaukee. Not sure if this is a spot that we would plan to...