People’s Park — Restaurant in Waukesha

If I could give zero stars I would. I have been here three times and all experiences were negative, but last night’s experience was inexcusable. I’ve worked in bars and restaurants in the past, and I can’t fathom how this place stays in business with the way it treats its customers.

Four of us were meeting for dinner and drinks. Two got there at five and sat down at an empty high top near the bar. At this time, there was no table list and no wait time. A server never came by, so figuring this was not a dining table, drinks were ordered from the bar. When the other two of us got there a little later, drinks were again ordered from the bar. In total, we sat for an hour without a sever acknowledging us, though we were five feet from the bar and five feet from the hostess. Finally, we decided we must have to put our name on the table wait list if we wanted to actually eat. After getting our buzzer, this triggered what we assumed was the manager to approach our table and impolitely tell us we needed to move to the bar area because this was a dining table. We said we hadn’t known because nobody came to take our order, and we’d like to order food, so he can just take our name off the list. He argued that it doesn’t work like that, and because there were people ahead of us on the list, he needed that table for them. We mentioned that we had been siting there for over an hour and nobody had even approached us, and we’d come before there was a wait for tables. At this point, it was clear that he just didn’t want to be wrong or lose an argument, and he stuck to an “it is policy” refrain, even though we tried to explain the situation so he’d understand that we’d been there longer than anyone else and weren’t just trying to cut ahead of anyone. He told us that we’d just have to wait for another table but “the wait won’t be too long.” We finished our drinks and left to find a restaurant that had no problem serving us. We walked down the street to Magellan’s. We were greeted warmly upon entering, were seated immediately, our drink orders were taken within minutes, and the food was so much better than anything I’ve had at People’s Park. Our server was warm and friendly, and we stayed for a few hours ordering food and drinks and having a wonderful time. Thanks, People’s Park, for turning away our patronage and turning us onto this new gem. We’ll be sure to start there next...

I went to People's Park for the third and last time this Saturday. They had always had a reputation for great food, but slow and lousy service. My girlfriend and I were strolling around downtown and saw that the place was busy, which is usually a good sign, so we decided to give them another chance. We each ordered hamburgers and an appetizer, expecting them to take their time with our entrees. A half hour after we finished the appetizer, the waitress came by, apologized for the wait and told us that it would just be another five minutes. We weren’t in a terrible rush that evening, but we were dying of hunger and the idea of bailing on this place and finding a venue with better service started to become a larger and larger thought bubble in both our heads. Twenty minutes after the waitress’s last appearance, she came back and explained to us that after the cook pulled our appetizer out of the over, a table of fifteen had just arrived and ordered stakes. Our burgers would have to wait until after the steaks had finished cooking. My girlfriend asked if she could give us an extra appetizer or comp our mean in some way and the waitress refused. I told her that we would like to cancel the rest of our meal and pay the bill. We paid in cash and gave her the standard tip. At no point, did we see the manager, who I would expand in a well-run establishment to at least apologize for the lack of service. The previous times at this restaurant were chaotic, but this was the first time that I was not able to be served under an hour. I think the true fault lies in the manager and the cooks in the kitchen. It is a horribly run establishment and they have permanently lost my business. It is in a prime location in downtown Waukesha and one of the few venues that is open late, which means they can survive on selling drinks in spite of their horrible service. This brings me to my conclusion on this place; it’s a trendy place to hang out, but don’t eat there if...

I wanted to love this place so much! Unfortunately it was a love lost. I'm 38 years old and went with my mom and elderly aunt with really bad knees, our hostess sat us at a high top table in the bar area. My aunt could hardly get on the chair!!

I think I get where they were going with the dead oak branches hanging from the ceiling with leaves intact...but it was a miss. The branches are dead. And covered with cobwebs. Gives kind of a creepy icky vibe. Switch them out for some alive greenery in the deep window wells or something.

It took 20 minutes for a server to stop at our table to get our drink orders, another 20 minutes to actually get our drinks. Once we got them, there was a dead fruit fly hanging out in mine, which she did replace immediately. But if you wanted a refill, forget it. Not happening.

The food was actually yummy! I enjoyed the appetizer of hot dip with cucumber slices as GF and my GF pesto chicken sandwich was tasty as well. Buuuut then we had to sit with a table cluttered with empty plates and glasses for another 20 min. Which, I get...staffing issues etc. Except the middle aged dude with a beard who was hanging out at the hostess stand and the bar... He walked by our table at least 10 times, i saw him actually look at our empty plates and glasses but he was more concerned with flirting and being buddies with other staff people then actually helping out his waitstaff. He came and opened up the curtain that we had just pulled down to keep the sun from my Aunts eyes without saying a word to us.

I'll give it another shot because my food was so yummy, but the service left a lot...