Ward's House of Prime — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Note: This is from a post from “svelvet66” I am that person. I tried adding on to that post in reference to the phone call I just received from the restaurant but I added so much that I ended up going over the allowed txt to post so I’m responding now on my wife’s phone. Anyway, in order to keep that post I had to start a new post or delete that post or add a minimal amount of txt to it and evidently I had so much to say that I just had to add to another whole post. So here we are. They called to point out a lie that I told in my review. They didn’t call to point out the FRAUD THAT IS THE DECEPTIVE LANGUAGE OF WHAT THEY CALL A LOBSTER TAIL or the cold food that we were served. So to clear up any misconceptions about my post 1st off, the food was on the side other side of lukewarm more closer to cold than hot. The mash potatoes had the best flavor of any I’ve ever had but still on the other side of lukewarm rather cold than hot. The ribeye was tender but completely absent of any sense of seasoning and was on the cold side of lukewarm. The soda was was completely flat. Even after I told the server about it she brought me another 1 that wasn’t any different but because I didn’t wanna hurt her feelings I told her it was ok bcoz she was prompt, nice and cordial. The phone call I received mainly focused on the 20 % gratuity I mentioned. To be clear, the 20 % gratuity I mentioned was from another review I saw from a patron about this restaurant. How do I know that, the patron posted the receipt and anybody can find it if you’re not just looking for 5 star reviews. I tipped this restaurant 20 bucks 6 % not 20 % on a $300.00 plus bill that we were completely disappointed with. The person who called thought it would be a badge of honor to threaten to post my receipt as a means of outting me as a liar by showing my 20 buck tip & not 20 % gratuity, in which I told him, by all means, post it. In summary, I’m not the 1st person who posted a review about this place lack of seasoning on their food, the expensive menu selections for what u actually get for what they actually end up charging u. The soda machine should be thrown away. Appears they serve hot canned soda over ice. The recipe for a flat soda. Other places I frequent like the Harbor House, St. Paul’s at the public market and Red Lobster at least if u see a lobster tail on the menu , u know you’re getting a lobster tail without the fabrication of making it appear to be something it plainly is not. For the coward who called me, next time have enough class to hang up properly. When I called u to inquire about that fraudulent fabrication called a lobster tail in the appetizer section, I respected u til the end and ended the call cordially unlike what u did when u called me. Hope u appreciate the clarity of the misconceptions and misrepresentations in the 1st email and hope u reciprocate and correct the misrepresentations of the fraudulent language used to identify a lobster tail in the appetizer section...

There were so many problems. Why did we change from our usual places? Fleming’s is so great. If u r lucky enuf to live in a city w Chris Ruth, etc. I have an L4/L5 buldging disc w vertebral stenosis so bad it’s inoperable. We made reservations thru open table we have a permanent comment we need a booth but even a decent table would have been ok. We were seated at high chairs by Julie the manager. I told her I could not sit at those chairs but she would not budge. When we made reservations the whole day was open in time slots. She claimed we were told we would be seated in high chairs which is wrong. We received no such notification. I fell off the chair once, it became so painful I had to stand n eat. Which I’m sure was apparent to them but they could have cared less. In good restaurants the extra place sittings are removed, they were not. We didn’t have our water glasses refilled, my son had to ask. The au gratin potatoes never came. We had to ask. My husband’s steak had a huge piece of grissle running thru it. I ordered walleye. They say it’s mild. Well this had no flavor whatsoever. I would not recommend the crab salad n greens. This place has a rating which really surprises me. Even my husband who is so mild said the service was not good. The service at Fleming’s is about 500% better n the food. The only worse dinner we have had at these prices was in London, which is known for its bad food. (FYI: phenomenal food, try Peru n Ecuador). I was so glad to get out of there n will never go back. Thank God our pharmaceutical dinners have not been there. The bread was not very good even. I think u have to dine at a lot of restaurants plus around the world to be able to compare them n this one is very poor for the money. They talk a big deal but don’t deliver it. You can usually tell an outstanding restaurant by the manner of the manager. Julie was not out to please her customers. Her manner in talking to people is poor. I know she was not telling me the truth about table availability due to all time slots open when I made reservations. Another factor is when a restaurant receives good reviews the mgr begins to loose her motivation to please customers. They begin to get “uppity.” We have dined at Michelin restaurants we were very surprised had received the status. If it wasn’t Christmas Eve we would have walked out. We have never tipped so low. We generally tip 20 to 25% at Fleming’s but we were so disappointed. The highlight of the visit? The valet. ...

Was so excited to finally eat at a restaurant “post-covid”, only to be VERY disappointed. I’ve been to Ward’s before and never experienced this.

My wife and I ordered drinks, shrimp appetizer, bacon wrapped prime rib appetizer, 2 lobster tails, 6oz filet with scallops, 9oz filet, Cajun Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, fries and asparagus (yeah we were really hungry 😂😂)

Total Bill: ~350$ (20% tip)

Appetizers: the shrimp: these were the smelliest shrimp I’ve ever had. Such a bad seafood smell and no flavor! Thank god for the brown sweet sauce (whatever it was) because they could not be eaten alone. bacon wrapped prime rib: so dry and no flavor! (Other than the bacon which, like, you can’t really mess up bacon?) salads: we’re delicious! The Caesar salad was 😚 🤌🏽 lobster bisque: too “seafoody” flavor

Main Course: Lobster: one of the lobsters were black like they were burned? Looked very unappetizing so we just ate the other one. Filets: both our filets were WAY over cooked. I like some pink but usually it’s on the rare side so we ordered medium well (I know) and it was SO dry there was no flavor other than char. (This was cooked far past well done) Scallops: they were good and moist (ha), my wife liked these, me not so much.

Sides: mashed potatoes: these were delish!! fries: omg so delicious and crispy! asparagus: too soft and no flavor (no seasoning at all?) Cajun mac and cheese: we didn’t really try this had a couple of bites and just tasted like noodles. Need to eat the rest to give a full opinion but wasn’t very impressed.

All in all, the best food was: salad, one lobster, mashed potatoes and fries…. Very disappointing. If this was my first time here I’d never go again or even recommend it.

Service: while our server was nice (not very talkative) he seemed preoccupied with the other bigger tables around us. While I completely understand being busy it almost felt like “oh these big tables are going to tip more so I’ll focus on them”.

Noise/Environment: it was VERY loud, maybe that’s normal and I don’t remember or maybe it was because the tables were so close together!

Parking: no valet since covid I guess? The hostess didn’t even know where to recommend to park.

Anyways — that’s my review post-covid. Very sad. Not sure when I’ll try going again but probably not...