tl;dr - Drinking, axe throwin' and escape rooms. Gets your adrenaline pumping!…read more What a crazy night to wind up here! I was grabbing dinner in Waukesha on a Tuesday night and wanted to try and swing by Raised Grain for a quick beer. It was around 9 pm and sure enough, Raised Grain was closed. Further back in the same parking lot ... something about a lit "open" sign drew me in ... I took a few steps in the front door and lo and behold ... a gigantic taxidermy bear greeted me. "WHAT HAVE I WALKED INTO!?" I wondered. Answer: Lumber Axe. This place is the first in Waukesha County to feature axe throwing and has only been open for a few weeks now. I had no idea what to expect, but it's got a lot of cool "mountain man" decor and giant wooden targets as well a separate area for the escape rooms. Craft (bottled) beers and mixed drinks keep the night going - but read the sign in the photo area, as zero-tolerance policy when it comes to safety and there is a staff member monitoring and showing you what to do for the axe throwing. Think darts on steroids. You do have to sign off on an electronic disclaimer form which allows you to participate in the axe throwing and escape rooms. You can throw multiple times and we were able to learn the different methods of throwing (two-handed throwing, one-handed throwing) and also playing a "good natured" (depending on your company) competitive axe throwing game. Tweens and older can participate as long as there's adult supervision. Also, there are only five ranges, each with two lanes for two targets which means reservations might be a good idea as this place starts to get busier and more noticed! Great for groups, I told my boss about the place in passing and she's already debating on having a company summer event there. P.S. It sounds like the business is trying to get together or host an "axe throwing league" similar to darts, pool and bean bags! No food, but sounds like you can bring delivery or catering in. As you can tell, this place is very new and it was my first time there (and I haven't tried an escape room yet), so I will be sure to make a return visit and revise or update this review as needed!

I was a regular customer at the Brewcade in the same building, and same owner, as this for most of…read morethe time it was open, and I looked forward to going there every weekend. Ellen, the lead axe coach, would come and talk to me and convinced me to try axe throwing, and it is a lot of fun, and Ellen is amazing. The owners and employees treated me very well until the end of September, when they decided to replace the arcade with "Krazy Golf" and banned me from their Facebook page for saying I'd have to find something else to do in response to the removal of the games. The bartenders (especially Kris) also scolded me for daring to say anything about it too and told me the owners would tell me to get the hell out. I have never been to a business that treated their customers this way. There have also been several now-former employees who have told me that the owners treated them like garbage. It also sounds like the owners moved from a nice location to this and don't understand Waukesha AT ALL. You're in a college town. All your competition is open until 2 AM. I don't care if you don't want to deal with the late night crowd. And no real signage for Lumber Axe or advertising? Nobody knows you're there! Utter incompetence on all sides here. Do yourselves a favor and avoid this, Krazy Golf, and any other businesses owned by these people. They don't care about their employees or customers at all.

This is such a cool place!!! Love the well lit, clean and spacious interior of this place. It's…read moresoooo much bigger than the outside shows. Staff is super friendly and just like their website states, they will walk you through how to throw, safety concerns, and different types of games (some user created, some hybrid-- so many options)! While they have a few 'bar snacks' it's mostly a beer/seltzer bar with pretty decent local staples.

Absolutely awesome time and highly recommend!! Great staff who genuinely want you to enjoy the…read moreexperience no matter the age and the facilities were top notch. Thanks again for a great time!

Hartford Hatchet House is an absolute blast. Showed up as complete beginners and left sticking…read moreevery throw, the staff were friendly, patient, and legitimately good at getting you to stick the axes with every throw. Place is clean, axes are sharp, music is pumping but not deafening. Easily the most fun stress relief you'll find in Hartford. Already booking the next session!​

Fun, a little tight between lanes, but overall it's a good time. Lot of axes to choose from, a…read morenice tutorial before you throw.

I had such a great experience here with coworkers for our coworkers sendoff. We went on a week day…read moreand it wasn't busy, which was honestly really nice. The instructors/bar tenders helped me go from being a horrible axe thrower to successfully nailing the throw. It was nice to not just struggle through it like I have at other places. It was reasonable based on my previous experiences at other axe throwing bars. This place tops those however with EVEN MORE games in the "backyard". We loved playing hammerschlagen and other table top games while we waiting for our other party member to show up. They have some food options and you can even bring in other food if you wish. The bar menu was awesome and I loved the mystery can option for 4 bucks. I plan to go back and check out some of their other events they have. It seems like a great place to hang out after work.

We didn't get any food here, but the ambiance was giving good times and vibes. Had an awesome…read moreexperience with the host. I do recommend and I will return.

Vibe - weird. It's in a basement and smells like it…read more We had a work function here and the communication wasn't the best with our Bars and Rec reps as we found out as we arrived that they would have food out then we'd do a demo and start golfing. The spread was laughable for the price paid. The pizza was probably the best value. What sucks the most is that they take everything away after an hour and a half, even the "safe to leave out" things like pretzels. You can't leave food out that we paid for, especially if it's not a health concern? Maybe provide boxes so people could take things home? Wasteful and disappointing. The pizza and garlic bread got the best reviews. Cheese and veggie tray were what you'd expect. The staff behind the bar were friendly and quick to help, but I wasn't a fan of the demo provider. Spoke quietly and was upset that the group couldn't hear him though it was pretty full in the event space with another party who was already underway. The idea was unique enough but you'll need extra time to set up the courses. Overall, not impressed with this venue. Recommend any other Bars and Rec instead.

What a fun experience!! We did our team holiday outing here and all had a blast! I am a hater of…read moremini-golf, but this has blown my mind, and now I'm obsessed (I will only come here from now on for mini-golf). We had a reservation, and it was only our group and the staff, which was nice and private for us to go wild. We split into teams and had 30 minutes to build our course. I will say ours was the best. After that, we all took turns trying out each other's courses. It was so much fun, and I would definitely recommend it for a team/office outing or just a party with some friends/family.

We redeemed some Christmas gifts for axe throwing on a Saturday. After getting set up, and running…read morethrough some of the basics, we were set to go. They ran through the game options, and the one with an option to get a free beer. The staff would watch every so often to help you correct your throws and offer assistance when needed. They also made sure to check-in if we needed any food or drinks. We enjoyed the variety of games for whatever you might be in the mood for.

We did the Haunting of Crowe Manor and it's one of the best rooms we've done in a long time. There…read moreare a lot of puzzles squeezed into a very small space. Very creative combinations of types of locks and puzzles. Our game master, Lauren, was very responsive and helped when a puzzle didn't quite work as designed. Would highly recommend.

First of all I must start my review by saying this was not my idea to AXE throw on Sunday, however…read moreI had family in town and they wanted to try it. This isn't even anything that I would ever put on a bucket list. I am fairly coordinated, but being a female and not having a lot of upper body strength I would definitely not recommend trying this. It is about $25 for an hour on a lane. There is a waiver that needs to be read over and signed. One of the employees went through all of the rules, showing us the AXE how to stand, placement of your hands on the AXE. He explained how to remove the AXE once it sticks in the wood. I felt that the employee actually should have shown us an example of how to throw the AXE. He said for insurance reasons he was not allowed to do this and said that each of us could have a test turn at how to throw. He would critique our position, how we were holding it. What line to stand behind and how to step forward to throw it. Thank God that I had beverage to drink because after my test throw, and then attempting to throw again, without any success I was starting to get so frustrated. I actually was mad that I spent the money to do this and not to have had any success with hitting anything. Each person gets 5 turns to throw and then the next person gets their turn. After half an hour I was done and never cared if I ever stepped foot into another AXE throwing place again. I honestly don't know what the big attraction is with wanting to do this. Maybe it is a guy thing. I have no idea. I now can say I tried it, I suck, and I am done trying again. I noticed they had a decent menu with a variety of drinks and even some nice appetizers. I would rather play mini golf then try to throw an AXE, at a painted target, on splintered wood. There is signage indicating the point system and how to score, along with a bucket of small mini golf size pencils so that you can keep score. There is a ship bell, near the wall, this gets rung when you hit a bulls eye. One of your teammates will ring it signifying that you don't suck. The music in the background was upbeat and a great variety. The people in there were very nice and could tell that I was frustrated. They said don't worry you will eventually get it, it takes a lot of practice. I say No thank you I am not interested in every practicing how to throw an AXE again. Now if you are up for a challenge, and in the MKE area then maybe this is something that you would enjoy. I recommend wearing comfortable clothes. I was dressed up since we met up with family, from out of town, and were going to dinner. Maybe I would have hit the board if I were more comfortable. Whatever excuse I use I can say I tried and I failed miserably. It was an expensive thing to try.

Family was in town for the holidays and we were looking for something to do that would be fun for…read moreeveryone. Axe MKE was the answer! We had a blast throwing axes and "competing" in the holiday-themed activity. They had some great holiday beverages and snacks, too.

This place was great! We loved every minute of it!! We threw Major axes here and it was much needed!read more

West Bend Axe & Escape isn't likely to make it based on my dollars, but it's a fun little niche…read morebusiness West Bend is lucky to have. Axe throwing and Escape rooms seem to be all the rage right now and the community is lucky enough to not have to travel too far from home to take advantage. So the place is family friendly, but also has a full bar to boot. I did the axe throwing with a group of about 10. There's only 5-6 throwing lanes so reservations are definitely recommended. My wife paid like $30 each for us to play for an hour. There were 3 different axes to throw. There are games you can play and manually score if you hit what you were aiming at. It was my first time and fun to say I've now done it, but if I don't do it again I'll be ok. We did not do the escape room, but you can see in it and it appears to be a well designed room. We've done escape rooms on vacation and being that it's here in West Bend we'll return to give it a go. I don't envision doing the room more than once. Hopefully they change up the room every few months or I imagine it getting stale for those visitors. Fun and different experience for West Bend. Hopefully their able to become a regional draw.

Great addition to LG! Something fun and active to do in LG…read more The watching space is a bit narrow, but the activity itself is very fun. The staff is responsive and kind. Check them out!