Vagabond - Milwaukee

The food is amazing. Staff was awesome. And great prices.

I hadn’t been to this place since it first opened since I moved out of state 9ish years ago. Boy has it gone down the gutter. You can tell the GM is running a weird, COGS focused dictatorship around there. While we waited for our table we ordered a pitcher of spicy margarita and asked for a splash of pineapple “bartender” was like “ummm sure..?…very reluctant for some reason. So my wife and I are like ok, maybe just a bad day. It happens. Drinks come out and it was quite literally the worst margarita we’ve ever had (we’re in our 30s. Could barely even finish it. Out of towners BEWARE that these bartenders don’t appear to be REAL, experienced bartenders who know how to make cocktails, they’re your typical Milwaukee dive bar bartenders who make mixed drinks, not cocktails. Both she and the other bartender had serious attitudes but again, ok maybe bad day. We finally get seated and WOW was the server incredibly rude, sarcastic, and short. The group of 6 i was with all made comments on it as she walked away. It was awkward and weird. She took our orders which took forever to come out. I get my drink which is some sort of Razz margarita and it tasted terrible. I let my friends have a sip and they all agree and suggest I send it back for a new one. I reluctantly do, and the server seems visibly upset/worried about it and says “I need to talk to my manager to see if I can take it off” ??? at that point I handed the drink over to her and said “tell him the customer isn’t satisfied with his cocktail, it wasn’t made correctly, it needs to be taken off my tab, and id like something else. Thank you”. She literally rolls her eyes, snatches the drink, and storms off to talk to the manager which appeared to be quite the negotiation from a distance ?. This place appears to be hurting and it shows. That said, our tacos were indeed solid. Message to the owner: don’t focus on COGS at the expense of the guest. If a guest can’t ask for a splash of pineapple or return an unsatisfactory drink without putting uour staff in distress, then the writing is on the wall. Revisit the service checklist/script imposed on your staff. And always, ALWAYS put the guest first.

I am UTTERLY DISAPPOINTED to say the least, I’ve been going to this restaurant since I was 16 17 years old. I am 25 now and this restaurant has completely gone down hill! The quality of the food isn’t there anymore. My guacamole tasted just like the pick and save brand Wholly Molly . I ordered 2 Argentinian Steak Tacos and 1 Fried Chicken Taco. The steak tacos tastes like they were cross contaminated with shellfish, when you order a steak taco that’s the last thing you want to taste especially when you’re paying for it. I even had my Husband try it and he agreed on the shellfish taste. Secondly that was definitely not and edible part of a chicken that was deep fried and put on my taco, not even sure if it was actually from how tuff and spongy it was. I even took a video! It also took 15 minutes for my drink to come out and our waitress had an attitude the whole time giving off sarcasm during our time there. I honestly didn’t even want to pay for anything brought out, we decided to just pay leave peacefully and commonly agreed to not come back after this experience.

Great tacos and margaritas. It gets pretty packed and loud, so get there early and plan on a party atmosphere.

Great little place downtown! Decor is so cool with airstreams and has a live dj kicking out rad tunes! ? The menu has awesome different tacos that you can't find anywhere else. You do pay per taco, but can do a plate with rice and beans. Service is fast and good! Highly recommend! Definitely different than your average taco joint!