Maxim's at Oconomowoc Depot — Restaurant in Oconomowoc

We went to Maxim's Oconomowoc on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We had been to the Christmas Market in downtown and bypassed the smaller, trendy and packed restaurants on Wisconsin Ave. because a member of the group wanted to try Maxim's in the old train depot.

The interior is way to bright. I think this is because they are using compact fluorescent bulbs and can not dim them with the current lighting system. While a historic, late 19th century building..the last freshening up seems to have been decades ago. The woodwork is worn and dirty, the wood floors need cleaning. On the walls you can see where things used to be.. but are gone. The men's room is dirty and cold.. not a good combination for a restroom.

There were about 5-6 people in the bar. In the main dining room.. two other tables were occupied. A smaller dining room had two tables that were occupied but one looked like the manager doing paperwork. This was at 7 PM on a Saturday night. I got the feeling that the locals must know something.

Interior has a train theme with banners with train logos hanging from the ceiling and a lot of photos of trains.. most of which are from parts of the country that would have never actually be involved with this station. Kind of like visiting a Chevrolet dealer who has pictures of Fords, Chevy and Dodge on the walls because they are all cars. The decorator could have done a bit more here staying with the trains that actually used to come here..or the ones that still barrel past the station as you dine.

The hostess took us to our table and gave us menus. The waitress finally came by after a few minutes to give us bread and take drink orders. There was no butter on the table so we had to ask for that too. Order a Diet Coke and they ask if Diet Pepsi is OK.

We ordered and let her know that some members of the table had no silverware. After a long time she came back with the drinks.. and as if I had perfect timing... bit down on my bread only to find it had a very long blonde hair inside the bread. I showed it to the waitress who claimed it was hers as she was the only blonde there. (looking around you could see that she was not). I told her it was INSIDE the bread, but she claimed it was still hers. No offer to replace the bread, or ask If I wanted more.. just.. "thats mine I guess". I had to ask for more bread which took about 10 minutes to appear. She said that she had checked this one well.. (how do you check the inside of the bread?) and that the BAKER is a guy with long blonde hair.. as if that would make me feel better.

The meal finally came..about 40 minutes after placing the order. There were now about 5 tables being served in the restaurant. As we had sandwiches we were not sure what had taken so long. The food was decent. My Ruben came with thousand island dressing in small portion cups that had a "skin" on the top of the dressing from being in the fridge too long uncovered.. but I ate it anyway as the waitress disappeared for about 20 minutes after serving. Husbands "Chicken Wrap" was dry, another meal was hot on top but cool on the bottom, a sign of sitting under a heat lamp too long.

Waitress came back after we had eaten to check to see if everything was OK.. but it was to late to ask for anything to changes or extra condiments.

I just got the overall impression that this was a company that was waiting for the lease to run out.. and had pretty much given up on the customers and the restaurant. The location is great, the train theme would work well if better executed, the condition of the building needs a two week closure to redo everything. Food is a C-. As we drove out of town it was noted that the Taco Bell would have been a better choice. Then we all remembered.. CULVER'S.....

UPDATE: In response to your reply, just know I am not "close friends" with Jamie, so do NOT accuse me of writing my review because of her leaving - EXTREMELY RUDE of you & very UNPROFESSIONAL! These things have bothered us for years, I even complained to Tony when the wine situation happened. Jamie simply made us feel welcomed and appreciated in your establishment. Not once did she ever give us something for free, except when my food came out wrong, if that is what you are thinking why we are "close friends"??? We were shocked & saddened when we went in and she was no longer there. And my review is true about Michelle. I didn't want to mention her name before but doing it now since you obviously do not care about a long established customer's review of one of the WORSE service people I have ever met and I'm sure we are not the only ones who feel this way!!! That disgusting rabbit Peep thing has fecal matter all over it I am positive. Also, after Tony left, and your new bar menu, your food has gone downhill fast. Overly greasy, weird ingredients, too spicy and nothing of interest. Think what you will about my review, there are MANY other places who will appreciate our money. Yes, I am very UPSET right now and I will TELL EVERYONE I know, inc Brookfield "peeps" (yes pun intended) since that is where I grew up, right behind St.Dom's.

ORIGINAL REVIEW UNEDITED: Been coming here since 1999 and probably have spent $15-20k here at least. We always felt so welcome from cathy who we first knew as the hostess to the best bartender/server Jamie in the bar. We've seen many employees come and go and sometimes come back again!!! Maxims Used to be our favorite place to go however it has gone downhill fast, esp in service and food. The blond in the bar is so unbelievably rude and won't go out of her way to even acknowledge you and acts like you are bothering her. And she carries around this filthy Peeps rabbit thing that probably has more fecal matter on it than you can imagine. Sorry but it is disgusting) I used to bring friends in there over the years for parties or little fet togethers but no longer esp after many friends/family on different visits all mentioned how rude she was and none of them have wanted to go back since. Only waitress/bartender Ive tipped at 10% and she didn't even deserve that. She treats people like we are bothering her!!! Seriously? Isn't this your job? We actually call ahead of time to find out who is working in the bar and if it is her we go somewhere else, someplace that APPRECIATES OUR MONEY & US AS CUSTOMERS! Once My friend and I ordered wine and it was obviously old and skunky tasting. It should never have been served. I asked her if she had a fresher bottle of any red opened and she said no. Then later after our food came, I watched her pour out the bottle of red as she KNEW it was bad. She wouldn't even offer to open up a new one - really? (think it was a Merlot but dont recall). My 29 yo son said the same thing about her when he went with a friend. Jamie is very nice and friendly unlike the blond and yes I do know her name but prefernot to say it here. (I never eat in the main restaurant as it is too loud and bright for me so last 15 years has been in the bar) We actually have walked in, saw her and turned around and left! The food has also changed and is so so but I can tolerate that if Im treated well. This has bothered me for a long time and I am sure WE ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO...

My friends and I decided to go out for dinner to catch up. Upon arriving, my friends had gotten to the restaurant a few minutes before i did, ordered drinks, and chit chatting until i arrived. I just sat down, and our waitress came over and asked if we wanted to order food. We told her we needed a few more minutes, which she seemed annoyed about. I couldn't even tell you our waitresses' name, but her whole attitude was off-putting. It was blatantly obvious that she clearly didn't want to be working. I understand the restaurant wasn't very busy, but it would have been nice not to feel so rushed.

We ordered our food, and I simply ordered: two eggs, over medium with hashbrowns and white toast - instead, I received whole grain toast instead of my white toast..

One of my other friends ordered the apple cinnamon French Toast, which she hardly ate, maybe took 3 bites. It was cold and had no flavor. It didn't look very appetizing.

The situation that really made the experience much worse was during check-out time..

I had gone up to pay for my bill (cash), with no issues. My friend who ordered the French toast goes to pay, no issues. All of a sudden, when my other friend goes to pay, she's being told that there's a missing check & our server was trying to blame us for the mishap when she was called over. When she was the one who made the mistake and printed the same check when splitting our bills. We did absolutely NOTHING wrong and to be talked down too like that, absolutely not. Extremely unprofessional along with the attitude of the staff helping the lady who worked up front. It was so ridiculous. Considering It wasn't her fault either.

Would I recommend Maxim's in Oconomowoc? Probably not. I've been to better restaurants with friendlier staff. The only nice person was the sweet lady working the register on...