The Garage — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Advanced Apology: I like to be thorough in my reviews at times. I am, therefore, apologizing for the length of this review. Attempts to break it down by category was made, so you can potentially get the info you’re looking for without reading my “novel-length” review.

So far, I’ve only been to this establishment twice in the past month of living in Milwaukee. Both on Wednesday nights because I enjoy bars that have karaoke.

Establishment: Cool layout. Clean. Security checks ID, but doesn’t pat you down.

Karaoke: Appears to be every Wednesday. The DJ seems friendly enough. Not super personable, in the sense of chatting. But that’s just my experience and could be due to the crowd and all. He does do well as an overall Karaoke DJ in regard to his attempts to get the crowd to acknowledge the singer when they’re done singing. Decent “hype man”, I suppose, you could say. Due to the young crowd, regardless of the singer or how well they done on a song - or maybe just something about the culture here that I’m not used to - nearly no one in the bar applauds at the end of a song. So don’t take offense if no one claps.

Service: Service was really good. I normally drink doubles on the rocks, with a side of water to stay hydrated. Didn’t have to wait a long time for initial or refills on my alcoholic beverage. In many cases they replaced or refilled my water without even having to ask. Service was excellent, and I imagine they’d be a lot more personable with patrons if the bar wasn’t so busy.

Price/Cost: Surprisingly not overly priced. I normally tip 20% for good service, but tip more if the service is good and I don’t feel I’m being overcharged.

Atmosphere: Overall, I’d have to say it was good. No detection of conflict, issues between patrons, or issues between bar staff - which witnessing conflict between bar staff is often awkward as a customer, unless you’re at Waffle House and then it’s service with some entertainment. (Potential failed attempt at humor)

Crowd: At 34 years old, being new to Milwaukee, it felt a little awkward being there solo. But it was a decent crowd for Wednesday nights. Fairly diverse. Decent ratio of male and female. The crowd was almost exclusively early 20s. Even if I was younger and in the age group, simply through observing everyone, I don’t think it’s the place where you go and expect to meet people and have them pull you in as a new member of their group. Seemed everyone stayed in their own little cliques and didn’t care to intermingle. Not that I’d want to be a 34 year old in a group of early 20s, but just giving an observation.

Males/Men/Guys/Boys: You always have at least one guy that appears to bounce from woman to woman. Saw maybe 3 guys that fit this description. I believe they’re a group. Just a bunch of squirrels looking for a nut. (Potential failed attempt of humor #2)

Females/Women/Ladies/Girls: Again, super young crowd. Unless they have daddy issues -which I don’t know why most older men go for women in their 20s - don’t think it’s an ideal hookup spot for older men. Even for younger men, I’m not sure it’s an ideal spot to find a hookup. Most of the females seemed to be enjoying their girl’s night out, which is refreshing with hookup culture being what it is and the dangers with a rise in human trafficking. Witnessing the “squirrels” earlier, the females seemed to briefly entertain their advances…but eventually and politely gave them hints that the “squirrels” were ultimately “climbing the wrong trees” in a sense. (Another potential failed attempt at humor…on a roll...

We stopped in with a group of four on the morning of St. Patrick’s Day for brunch and we were seated promptly, although The Garage was fairly crowded. The service was pleasant, the food was good, and the prices were reasonable. I haven’t had brunch at The Garage/Hi Hat before, but I would return for some solid food a close walking distance from where we live.

I chose the Reuben special, as did one other person in our party, and the two others selected the Breakfast Burrito and the Hot Honey Chicken & Waffles. Our food was delivered in a timely manner and everyone said they enjoyed their meals, although the Chicken & Waffles was a smaller portion than expected. The chicken was just four small pieces, and the waffle was a fairly small waffle split into four pieces (see picture). I would say this dish could be improved upon, as $13 for one small waffle and the equivalent of four pieces of chicken the size of chicken nuggets seems excessive. The Reubens were good, although the bottom piece of bread was pretty soggy when it arrived (probably from grease from the corned beef, but I don’t know how long the sandwiches may have been sitting before being served). The breakfast potatoes were decent, but it’s pretty hard to cook breakfast potatoes poorly. This was my first time getting a Bloody Mary at The Garage, which I would recommend. The Bloody comes with a few nice toppings and a chaser and is only $5. The Bloody mix itself was tasty, too.

We had a good experience at The Garage for brunch. There are so many brunch places in Milwaukee, so I don’t know if our experience was stand-out enough to come back in the very near future, but it would be a good and convenient brunch option if you’re near Brady Street. The only downside of our dining experience was the loud music which was out of place during breakfast (but maybe because it was St. Patrick’s Day), which made it difficult to hear each other at the table. I would give our over-all...

PLEASE READ!! I am honestly embarrassed that I brought co-workers here for drinks after a work event on 8/30/2022. The only female bartender on this night around 11:00 PM was the rudest person I have ever encountered. Besides being a healthcare administrative professional, I work part-time in the service industry (bartender) and what my co-workers and I experienced is completely unacceptable. A majority of my PROFESSIONAL co-workers are minorities with the exception of 1. There were 6 of us and it was our first time there. We asked about drink specials and was informed by this female bartender that it was half off of mostly everything. The first drink order was Patron on the rocks. The bartender poured Crown Royal on the rocks so we assumed it was for someone else. The bartender hands us Crown Royal on the rocks. We politely let her know we didn’t order this and that we asked for Patron. With much aggression, the bartender says “YOU ORDERED CROWN ROYAL” which we would never do because we don’t drink Crown Royal at all. The bartender continued to literally ARGUE with us about what we ordered instead of owning up to the fact that SHE HEARD WRONG! Her approach was very much racially charged as if she had preconceived notions that minorities are an issue or minorities don’t tip. After all of this, I found out from my other co worker that got there first that she told him she didn’t want to make any difficult cocktails so he should order something easy. After being treated with such disrespect, we STILL tipped this bartender AND paid $5 for the drink that we did NOT order. I hope people take the time to read this excessively long review and consider taking business elsewhere seeing that this is not the first post about...