Six women came to celebrate one birthday, and we looked forward to a sip and paint evening. Let me…read morebegin by stating that we had fun and the food was good. The cheesecakes were delicious. The location is in downtown Menomonee Falls, and there is street parking. But the evening was hit or miss, beginning when we did not get a good answer as to where we were supposed to start: at the bar, ordering food or going directly to the art room. We stood around for a good 10 minutes as staff seemed untrained or just unsure of what they were supposed to do. Then we requested a glass of wine. The server, who was also the artist who would lead our event, told us they were only able to give a short glass because they were out of that wine. No discount was given, which felt wrong. We were not sure if we were expected to order then at the "bar", or if we were expected to move to the art room, which was upstairs. We finally got a direction and ordered wines and two sodas. I requested two glasses with ice for the soda, but it was 30 minutes later when they finally were brought to us, after we had begun to paint. We were told to go upstairs and turn left. The building is a maze of cute rooms, and we just wandered until we found a room with 6 easels set up for us. Our artist arrived a few minutes later, and after a few more minutes of chatter, she began our painting party. The instructions were fine, but she gave very little energy. A large fan in the room drowned out the music, and so we were painting with little conversation. The Cheese Board and Spinach Artichoke Dip were delicious, but meager. The cheesecake slices were large and we ordered two of them for all of us to share.
At various times we were told we were running late, other times we were ahead of schedule. We were only following the artist so the timing was her responsibility, not ours. Our artist was responsible for our food and drink orders also, so she would leave the room regularly.
When all was done, we enjoyed seeing each other's artwork. We were told to bring the leftover cheesecake downstairs for a box, and we were also instructed to bring our glasses with us. I guess there is no "service" here. With a painting, wine glasses, cheesecake slices, and our personal items, our arms were full.
Time to pay the bill. It was surprisingly high, so we asked to review the numbers. Well, we were charged double ($150!), and if we hadn't checked, we might not have known. We planned to split it 6 ways so it would have been easy to assume someone else was checking the numbers. So, check your bill and make sure you see it in writing.
Sadly, the location is not ADA accessible. The front door is several steps up from the sidewalk, and inside the building, there are several flooring changes and steep stairs. The restroom is small and not accessible if you have mobility issues.
We had fun, but as a group of friends, that is not hard for us. But we will not be back for a sip and paint. I did like the artwork that is for sale as well as it seems other activities are available. But I hope this place can become more organized and professional, and maybe cleaned a little bit. It could be a nice time for friends with just a little more effort.
