Martini Lounge Review: Twist 'n Olive in Delafield, Wisconsin
Delafield, WI 53018
United States of America
Despite being listed as a Milwaukee favorite twice, the bar is very far removed from the Milwaukee city limits. Delafield is a wealthier suburban area, and the patrons at Twist 'n Olive seemed to be cast from the unappealing parts of a stereotypical suburban mold-they were talking about money, money, and more money. The clientele really emanated an elitist persona. Every conversation seemed to revolve around wealth, business relations, and generally stepping on the little guy. One group of men smoking stogies even repeatedly hushed the wives in the group, further contributing to an overall horrible impression of the clientele. It might be a good place to shoot the breeze about business, but don't expect personal conversations about love or life-the atmosphere is heavily financially oriented and even a touch chauvinistic.
Unfortunately, the waitress seemed to be all too tuned into the shallow atmosphere. My group was dressed a bit too casually, and we were all at least a full decade younger than the accomplished businessmen in the room; perhaps because of this, my group of friends received worse service than the other patrons. Perhaps the waitress could tell we weren't the usual crowd, and perhaps thought that we'd be worse tippers-whatever the reason, our service was slower and ruder than that of the nearby table. While this, of course, may not be typical of all employees at the Twist 'n Olive, my specific experience with the lounge's customer service was not very positive.
On the plus side, the space is nicely decorated and definitely feels more like a lounge than a dive bar. Interesting stemware and fake candles on every table further add to the ambiance. However, one aesthetic failing is the lounge's extremely low-lighting, detracting from the otherwise modernistic feel. Another ambiance high point was the live music. The musical act performing that night was impressive. The act was much friendlier and more down-to-earth than the patrons and waitstaff. It added a nice positive spin to an otherwise negative bar visit.
The drinks were decent, but nothing amazing. Of course, being at a martini lounge, martinis are the first drink you should try. They are pretty good, and the price is not too bad-you'll definitely spend more than at many alternative bars, but the price differential is not very extreme. My white Russian was average, and a table-mate's vodka cranberry was mixed well with a good amount of both cranberry zing and alcoholic punch.
Overall, the decent drinks and good music don't make up for the otherwise poor quality of a Twist 'n Olive experience. Though the place's snazzy appearance may be alluring, you're more likely to snag a friendly, positive bar experience at a local dive.
Sources:
WISN Milwaukee, Twist 'n Olive User Comments, WISN ABC Affiliate.
WISM Milwaukee, Twist 'n Olive in Milwaukee: Profile, WISN ABC Affiliate.
Published by James Gapinski
James Gapinski has numerous articles, poems, stories, and essays in print. He is licensed to teach English and History in Wisconsin. He has received awards and distinction for writing, teaching, tutoring,... View profile
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8 Comments
Post a CommentI believe I gave a fair account of my experience, and I always try to avoid being overly harsh to the staff of any establishment I review. I know that customer service jobs can be really tough, so I never "call out" individual waiters or waitresses by name; I'm willing to excuse poor service to a point, because working in the service industry is no picnic. But when the service remains repeatedly bad, I have trouble excusing it as just a "bad day" for the waitress or a busy day for the business. My repeated visits, designed to gain perspective on the establishment, were met with equally sour experiences, and I stand by this negative review. (P.S. I apologize for the inconvenience of this broken-up reply; the AC "comment field only allows a certain number of words).
Furthermore, I appreciate that many people truly love this place, and I've even given it a second change several times to see if my bad experiences were just a fluke. However, I must say that the negative anthropogenic ambiance was prevalent in all of my follow-up visits to "Twist 'n Olive." And, as I mentioned in the article, it wasn't just the customers; the drinks were okay but nothing great, and the staff was somewhat rude. While I agree with Tim that any reasonable patron would expect Friday night service to be slower and the over-worked employees to be a bit stressed, my main problem was that my service was comparatively worse than that of other tables nearby. The level of service was not consistent among all patrons, with my group seemingly getting a cold-shoulder for no real reason (despite writing frankly in my reviews, I am always polite and courteous in person).
Firstly, I believe the average clientele is an equally important discussion topic when reviewing a bar, club, or longue. Since such establishments have many "regulars" that make up the breadth of business, it's important to know who you'll be sharing the location with. Bars, clubs, and even martini lounges are often conversation hubs, and patrons get as much out of meeting new, interesting people as they do from chatting with their own company. The regular clientele are an important part of the overall martini lounge experience.
I can honestly say I had a great time there this weekend. My girlfriend and I loved the music, the drinks and the overall atmosphere. We noticed none of the negative aspects that the writer mentions in his article. We'll be back soon!
Had you not been eavesdropping on the surrounding conversations and enjoyed your time with the company you brought, you may have had a better experience. I would think that it would be more prudent to judge a place based on the service or product they are trying to provide as opposed to making judgements based on your experience with other customers.
Ok, let's try this again:
So what you're saying is that the drinks are decent and you liked the overall ambiance and the live music. However, you may have received less than stellar service on a likely busy Friday night, you don't like low, romantic lighting; you hated the drive out there and despised the suburban clientele. It seems the last two have nothing to do with the establishment itself.
For the record, as a customer, I've seen people in everything from wifebeaters (yes, anyone would notice that) to tuxedos and have never seen any sort of service discrimination. Apparently, it just isn't your kind of place.
To avoid problems when responding to my other articles, please stick to commentary on the article itself. Repost any comments about this review and I'll make sure they stay up this time.
Additionally, you'll be happy to know I've drafted a holistic response to the criticism of my article, providing a second look at this popular Delafield bar. Though, unfortunately, my second look at Twist 'n Olive was not any more complimentary than the first. I simply do not see the appeal of this location, and I'm still trying to understand why my negative comments have sparked such zealous e-mails and web commentary. In that past, I've given bad reviews, and I've written op-ed pieces about many controversial subjects, yet the backlash is typically minor.
Again, please repost and I'll make sure that the comments are not deleted. If you were blocked from commenting please be patient as I currently do not know how to unblock AC commentaries.
Attention negative responders:
Though I write everything posted on my Associated Content account, I do not always do all of the account upkeep and management. I work full time as a writer for AC, Demand Media, and a few other sources, and I simply don't have time to do all the account management myself. Recently, this article received a few negative comments; I also received some derogatory messages from people who located my personal e-mail address on the web. I've been looking over the comments recently pulled from this article, and not all of them should have been removed. I apologize for the inconvenience, but when a comment employs name-calling in conjunction with appropriate criticism, it is occasionally removed to avoid potentially libelous or hateful commentary (even though, in many cases, the name-calling was rude, it was not wholly offensive or hateful, and it should have remained on the site).
I'll personally monitor this article to avoid future deletions.