Milwaukee Improv — Restaurant in Town of Brookfield

UPDATE: Don't be fooled by canned response from the Improv below my review. I've reached out to the email they suggested and, three weeks later, I have yet to hear a response back regarding my concerns. Shady business practices for sure!

Drag Brunch Disaster

I attended the 2pm drag brunch Oct. 13th with 9 of my girlfriends for my 40th birthday. I was SO excited, what would be more fun than a Hocus Pocus themed drag show brunch for my milestone birthday?! For $90 a person (we upgraded to reserved seating and each had a $50 food and drink credit), I had VERY high hopes for a unique celebration. I walked away really embarrassed and disappointed.

Issue 1: First, many drink and food options were "out of stock" straightaway before the show began. A 10:30am show had been added at the last minute, due to the 2pm show I attended selling out. Not a HUGE deal, but also why add a show if you can't meet the demand? Or better yet, why not prepare in advance? The number of tickets sold was not a mystery.

2. Missing orders: Our drinks came out slow, but nowhere near as slowly as our food to arrive. Drinks took anywhere from 15 minutes to one hour to arrive at the table. Also, no refills on water were ever offered despite multiple waitstaff present. The food on the other hand was ridiculous. We waited over two hours for our food and just kept being told how backed up the kitchen was. During the last performance, I said I'd just like it all taken off the bill and magically our 10 missing plates arrived all at once just as the lights came back on. The show was over.

3. The actual performance by the drag queens was awful. There were only a total of 4 drag queens who rotated coming out. There was no stage performance, they just weaved through the massive room taking singles like a collector at church. Many times we could not see who was performing at all, nor did we know the next performance had started. When they finally arrived nearby, the performances were awkward, forced and low energy. Makeup and costumes were low quality. I had ten dollars in singles when I arrived and left with five of them. There was no compelling reason to tip any of them.

4. Several customers walked out mid show. There have been other horrible reviews on yelp and Google reviews if you don't want to take my word for it.

5. Bathroom supplies ran out. During the last hour of the show there were several women's stalls with no TP and women were wiping their hands on their outfits.

6. The flyer said costumes are encouraged and there would be a costume contest during the show, but this never happened. And its a shame because many members of the audience looked more dressed and well presented than the drag queens.

I do not want to hear a response from the venue unless a full refund is offered. The service was the worst I've experienced, the performances were an embarrassment, and my friends can't stop talking about how awkward and bad it was from start to finish. Milwaukee Improv should do better and not just seek a greedy profit without delivering on...

This is a very challenging review to write. As I haven’t been so disappointed in awhile.

I planned a Birthday party for 8 people with the tickets to see DL in September 11th at 7pm. I paid the ticket prices for the entire party as well as a $42 food and drink credit for each guest.

They had a vast menu of really good looking food and drinks and something that could satisfy each individuals needs.

We were looking forward to the show.

Positives

the building was AWESOME, it’s clean and new. The acts were absolute hilarious, actually hurt from smiling I gave the waiter a large tip simply because he was so so so kind and apologetic Aly was easy to communicate with and kind

So why the two stars?

Negatives Once arrived Aly was not quite as friendly (seemed stressed perhaps) but we got an introduction and said to have fun Easily the worst overall food service I have ever had. BY FAR.

Extremely disjointed, ordered off the online scan menu they offer - drinks didn’t come until the second act

NONE of the food menu was available, that’s right, NONE except select apps and a cold club sandwich

Everything was EXTREMELY slow - half the items we ordered never even came out

I ordered things on the online menu that wasn’t even available and just never came and was never told

Second rounds of drinks tasted poorly and many never came out

Most of the group didn’t even have dinner as we planned as NONE OF THE MENU was offered

You’d think Aly or a manager would have came and given us a heads up or maybe apologized —- but nothing. I rushed to order random things just to fulfill the mandatory $42 per person that I already paid for.

This should genuinely be illegal. A true bait and switch.

I personally understand the labor shortage, it’s tough, but at least give us a heads up so we could have dined somewhere else before? Maybe a refund or a discount? Nothing.

The waiter, who was so very nice, said several times “we will get you a refund or a discount” but it never happened.

I didn’t want to press it as it was such a mess.

It’s sad as we did have a good time with the acts, and it’s a great venue - but your establishment left 8 customers with a poor attitude about the quality of the club.

This was presented as a carefree and fun birthday package, and we were left without food or drinks for a majority of the show - and didn’t get what...

Went to see Marlon Wayans over the weekend at Improv and ended up having a blast!

I went to Improv for the first time and learned some valuable information as a newbie so I would like to share that information in this review to help someone else.

For General Admission, seats are first come first serve!!! I suggest arriving early so that you are at a decent spot in line. We bought tickets for the 9 PM show so we arrived at 7:45, found a park and got in line by 8 PM. We were the first in line. We were able to grab a table with a nice view.

I suggest wearing comfortable shoes/heels because you will be on your feet since you have to stand in line. Doors typically open 20 to 30 minutes before your show starts. You will spend a great deal of time standing on your feet waiting to enter into the building.

The food is pretty good! Everything is handled online, which is nice! All you have to do is scan the QR code and put your order in. You can even make the payment online. The other bonus of arriving early and being seated first is getting to order your food first before the rush.

The customer service is great! Everyone is so kind and friendly! I absolutely loved how they handled scanning tickets, escorting people to their seats, etc. Chicago could never! lol

Drinks are okay.. I got a watermelon margarita and there wasn’t anything strong about it. Thank goodness I drank before I came!

I don’t like how there’s no security check before entry. I would like something implemented for pocket/purse checks. Maybe that’s the Risk and Safety professional in me.. overall, 10/10! Will definitely...