Third Coast Provisions — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Food Score: 7 / Overall Experience Score: 0 / Valentine's Day Total $175 The garlic bread croissants were disturbingly dry. I suspect they were frozen and defrosted rapidly. Not flaky and definitely NOT flavorful. The croissants should have been light and flaky, not dense and puck-like. The parsley butter was good but there wasn’t enough to help the sorry little croissants. The shrimp ceviche was not balanced. I don’t think it had cilantro, if it did, it was watered down by what I think were cucumbers. The menu said cabbage, but it was too watery, so I suspect cucumbers were also in there. Needed more cilantro and/or lime. The scallops over the risotto were probably the best, but again—not as good as it should have been. No complaints about the scallops but what the overall dish lacked was lemon. Three bites in and you’re overwhelmed with the cream sauce. You taste salty scallops then boom cream risotto. You need the lemon for transition. The salmon was good, but the winter greens were too salty. I love winter greens but when you over-salt, you whittle them down and then they become too chewy. The accompanying potatoes-not good. The salmon, good but not seasoned properly. The cheesecake, not good—just not, not good. The presentation was pretty but lacked actual flavor--consistency was way too firm. Not rich custard-like consistency, but dry, overbaked and no cheese flavor. The food was good, but not good enough to dictate those prices. There are much better options to choose from in the area, with much better food and prices that match the quality and the service. This is upscale pricing on food that isn’t. For the prices, the food should be remarkable and the service exceptional. Not the case here. Experience review: the waitress was quite pleasant at first. Things changed when we told her my husband had a food allergy. We told her my husband “only wants the main course, I’ll be having his appetizers.” That’s all we said when that apparently triggered some type of deep and strange reaction from her. We had reservations and knew what the menu was in advance. This was our plan long before we arrived. My husband only wanted the main course. There is no gray area here. The request is what you see in quotes. She became combative and said we are NOT splitting plates and there are cross contamination issues. She then told my husband he’ll be having the salmon instead of the ceviche. We said, no, just bring everything out as you normally would. She then boldly proclaimed she was getting her manager. The manager arrived. I repeated “my husband only wants the main course…bring his appetizers because I’m having those.” I’m still perplexed as to why the manager was involved and why this became an ordeal. We never requested anything get split, so not sure why that was on her radar. Still not sure why the manager had to approve the fact that my husband was only having the main course and not the appetizers. Are wives not allowed to have their husband’s appetizers? The incident was quite embarrassing and RUINED the entire evening. The waitress should be ashamed of herself. It wasn’t a communication problem. It was a LISTENING problem. I’m very distressed we spent so much money on such an awful experience. If this didn’t happen, I probably wouldn’t have written a review because the food hovered between average to good, depending on the item, and at the end of the day you’re just like eh. But, the fact that this did happen is just inexcusable. You don’t treat people like that! To top it all off, I’m still confused WHY this became an issue. Just bring everything as we said. Don’t make a big production, don’t talk over me, don’t walk away when I’m talking to you and just bring the order. Seriously. And I still don’t think the manager grasps how NOT ok this was. They BOTH seem to have trouble LISTENING to what is actually being said. Folks: so many better options that actually are upscale, in food, service and experience....

First of all, let me say that the service and staff here were amazing and completely what we would expect from Third Coast and its previous reviews. The ambiance was delightful and according to our hostess, we had one of the best views in the restaurant, overlooking the entire space from atop the upper floor area. We are self described foodies and really look forward to restaurants that specialize in fish and seafood, as it can be expensive given the market these days. I have to be honest, there were a few let downs in my opinion as well as a couple of shining dishes. The bright spots... the Foie Gras was amazing! Brilliantly paired with the sourdough and the sauce didn't overpower the dish but let the Foie Gras come through... just excellent! We both really enjoyed the clam chowder, as well, however we ordered the bowl and they were kind enough to split it into two cups for us to share. Yet my cup was left wanting for any chunks of potato or bits of clam and I found myself asking for a spoonful of my spouse's cup as hers was laden with those delicious chunks of goodness... wishing maybe they stirred the pot before serving up my cup? The squash side dish was also a brilliant dish. I found the dish to be sweet and the perfect bite of crunch and mashy texture you'd expect from squash. It reminded me of holiday meals and candied yams! Now, for the not so good... we ordered the fried oyster sliders. These were not good. The bun overwhelmed the oyster, which disappeared in a sea of sauces and bread. You couldn't even taste the oyster at all. All I got was sauce, spicy but not a bad flavor and the dinner roll. My first bite also contained a decent sized portion of shell, which, in my opinion is a huge no-no when it comes to oysters, especially when its breaded and hard to see. That was disappointing. In addition, our entrees were underwhelming. We ordered the Black Cod, which came with entirely to much sauce... the Cod was sitting atop a bowl of this soupy sauce that should have been eaten with a spoon and not a fork. It was a green curry sauce but did not have the right flavor to be called a curry in our opinion. The white fish was simply steamed perhaps and placed atop the pile without any further attention. We also had the lobster pot pie. It came in a huge metal bowl and at first glance, appeared with three huge chunks of lobster tail in the center of this flaky, puff pastry ring. It really was a clam chowder soup underneath that ring and the only lobster to be found was what was sitting in the center. It had triangular chunks of roasted potato, carrots and clams and again, should have been eaten with a spoon rather than a fork. The puff pastry was good until you got to the bottom and you could tell it wasn't cooked all the way through. My spouse ordered the key lime tart and enjoyed those flavors. I attempted to order two other desserts and found they were both unavailable, which might be understandable as we had an after 7 pm reservation, but I was still disappointed not to be able to try those tasty...

I was really disappointed with our experience here. We went for Valentine's Day, so they had a special limited menu. I will say that the service and ambiance of the restaurant were amazing, and we had high hopes. We ordered the ceviche and foie gras as starters. While the foie gras was amazing, the ceviche left much to be desired. The Scallop pieces in it were so small and poorly seasoned that all we tasted was tomato on the top. Pretty disappointing to pay $25 for some bland salsa.

For our entrees, we ordered the Lobster Pot Pie and the Surf 'n Turf. For the lobster pot pie, we were surprised they made a whole pot pie, and then just placed two small pieces of lobster on the top. It almost seemed like an after thought! The dish was so rich that my boyfriend had trouble finishing it. And was upset that his lobster had no flavor and was dry.

For the surf 'n turf, I loved the sides of potato and broccoli. However, it is never a good thing when you are wishing you just got potatoes and broccoli instead of lobster and steak! My steak was cooked well, but had little flavor. On top of the steak was a hollandaise sauce which tasted like nothing and seemed to have broken. I saved the lobster for last, so excited to finish with it, but my lobster was rubbery and had basically no flavor. I don't know if they ran out of seasoning while we were there, but that is what it seemed like!

For dessert, we got the lavender and honey creme brûlée, mainly because the apple one they were advertising on their menu online was out of season. I am a creme brûlée fanatic, so I was incredibly disappointed as we dug in and realized the dish tasted like soap. On top of that, the sugar topping was incredibly burnt, so you got no relief from that taste other than really burnt sugar.

It was definitely a swing and a miss for us, which is really unfortunate because we are usually pretty forgiving when it comes to food. The nail in the coffin was when we received the bill, and it was almost $250. I would have been fine paying this if we didn't have such an awful experience. We just got back from a trip to San Francisco where we spent tons of money on food, especially a seafood place in Fisherman's Wharf, and no place we went to there was as expensive as our trip here. We really love seafood and were hoping this would be our favorite place, but it left a lot to be desired. Kudos to the staff who was great and so friendly, I just wish your food tasted a...