The Dark Room at Saint Kate

Elegant experience with fine dining and the absolute best service with delicious food. Nothing else like it in Milwaukee. They also nicely accommodated when we had only an hour before going to a show at the Marcus.

This place is hidden on the second floor but is a great place for dinner. Dark and quiet, high level of service from the wait staff. Grass fed NY Strip was tender, tasty and cooked perfectly. One of the best steaks I’ve had. Cool lighted Menus, no need to use your iPhone light here. Great meal

Beautiful in everyway possible. A+ to all employees. Excellent staff. Delicious food and drinks were served during a recent shower that I attended. Will definitely be recommending to others as well as for my next occasion!

Just ate at the Dark Room last night and it was one of the best dining experiences we have ever had. The food was fantastic (we had the shrimp appetizer, the fish special/salmon and one of their awesome sides. The staff went above and beyond to make it an enjoyable experience; we will definitely be dining there again!

Started with a glass of champagne and the level of courses followed in richness. Sauteed Shrimp & Oscar Styled NY Strip perfectly cooked. You have to be in the know to find this place but with the outstanding service.. you will surely enjoy

Such a nice night out with my husband. Can't wait to go again once we can be normal again. The waiter was nice and extremely professional. The only thing is that there's too much noise from the other side of the curtain.

Worth finding this place, and better yet, figuring out when they are having events currently. Check the website and enjoy!

Wonderful delicious dining. A real treat.

We had Omakase in the Dark room dining experience just yesterday, November, 19th, 2025. What I want to say. The food was nice, right enough for dinner. Staff was not prepared at all, actually telling people the guy who usually does speech did not come and they do not know what to say actually. For any alcohol you will buy you will pay in addition which is fine BUT the price for that drink(s) will be surprising you a lot. For 5 sake drinks the bill was around $370. Last two glasses were having less sake than first glasses we were provided, probably because people who already drunk something would not notice the difference. It's ok to have expensive alcohol pairing with high end dinner but in this case the sake was very regular. By the way, at bar 10 steps away from the Dark room (same hotel, same floor, same the floor area) the same sake did cost $23 for two glasses. Well... I understand people try to run business and earn money but everything should not cross some decency borders. These guys did cross the line in my opinion. Alcohol prices are not mentioned in Menu by the way. I do not recommend this place not only due to drinks pricing policy but due to "ok" food/service/price ratio

We had a private dinner for Marcus hotels and resorts training in the dark room. It was a special experience I would never trade for anything. The service was outstanding. The menu was 20/10, lots of options to choose from even with a large party and customized smaller menu you would find in a normal sit down restaurant. You enter The Dark Room from a bookcase next to the yellow neon GIGGLY sign on the second floor of the Saint Kate Hotel.

Everything was perfect. Food, service, drinks atmosphere, ambience...all of it was simply Fantastic

There's a lot to like at The Dark Room. It's a perfect spot for a special occasion or romantic date. It's hidden, a bit like a speakeasy, but unlike speakeasies, you don't need to find your way into TDR by yourself--just check at the host stand in front of Giggly and Aria. The host will escort you behind the swing-out bookcase and to your table. The restaurant is cozy with only nine or ten tables. Be sure to make a reservation on OpenTable. As you'd expect with a restaurant called The Dark Room, the room is quite dimly lit. A good portion of the lighting comes from candles burning in the center of the room. To make it easier to order, the menus light up when opened (almost a bit too brightly--they were a bit like spotlights in the shadowy room.) The soft soundtrack is jazz, giving the place a very intimate, upscale feel. The service is outstanding. Our server, Mario, and the rest of the waitstaff was very professional, informed about the menu, and helpful. Cocktails and wine were also uniformly great for our meal. The food was very good but not what I'd consider exceptional. My wife's Tender Green salad had a very bitter taste. And she found her salmon good but not remarkable. I enjoyed my meal a bit more than my spouse--the wedge salad was tasty and my steak was well prepared. But, if I'm honest, the steak as good as I've had in other nicer restaurants and not particularly outstanding. I don't mean to cast aspersions--our meal was quite good, but it didn't quite live up to the mystique of the place, the excellence of the service, or the price. I'd absolutely return for the interesting and romantic experience, but on its own, the food wouldn't be the primary draw for me.

We made a reservation weeks in advance for my 40th birthday which was accepted only to show up and be told the dark room only is set for large groups....we agregiously accepted to dine at the Aria I believe it's called assuming food would be the same as the rave reviews of the darkroom. Wow were we disappointed, service was slow and food terrible. Steaks were all cooked to incorrect temp and could barely cut with a knife. My wife's hedge/wedge salad so bitter/rancid it was inedible...I tried it myself and couldn't swallow it...dessets were on par with the whole meal. I was excited for weeks to celebrate a big day only to be left desperately disappointed.

I was brought to this steakhouse by a friend going back a few months. I don't spend a lot of time in Milwaukee, so I'd never heard of it. The day we came, I didn't have a taste for steak, which unusual for me! I ordered a wedge salad to start and a crab dish instead of steak and both were delicious. Everything was Fresh with great flavor. The atmosphere in this restaurant is very warm and dark but not too dark and cozy but spacious. Our server was very nice. Very attentive. Fabulous restaurant that I recommend when in Milwaukee.

What a great dining experience! This restaurant is hidden away at Saint Kate, but it's worth finding. We went before a show at the Marcus Center. The food was excellent and the service was impeccable.

Phenomenal ambience. Literally a hidden gem. Simple but well-executed cocktails. The highlights of the menu are the steaks. The special dry-aged ribeye was the best steak I've had in the 4+ years we've lived here. Grilled crab was solid though not spectacular. The soup special and wedge salad were excellent as starters. The pommes Anne side was ok. But I'd come back here over and over for special occasions, for the ambience and the steak.

Perfect spot for an intimate meal before a show at the Marcus Center next door or any special night out downtown. TDR is a unique and very personalized experience. The food and drinks are delicious and the service is VIP. What you'd expect from a high-end steakhouse but with a very different vibe than big places. Instead, this "speakeasy" is just a single, small, dimly-lit room you have to know about with a handful of staff buzzing around and just a dozen or so tables filled with other couples enjoying themselves. It's a once-in-while kind of place that will be hard to forget!

A lovely little spot with a great speakeasy vibe. The oysters were East Coast, but not too briney, quite sweet. And the scallops were SPOT ON! Seared perfectly with a crisp carmelized exterior and not overcooked. I didn't care for the accompanying pepper sauce, but I chose to have it on the side anyway. The root vegetable gratin was oh so decadent and delicious! The wait staff was AMAZING, attentive, but never hovering, and truly treated me like the queen!!

The Dark Room was such an incredible experience. From walking into the dining room, to the menus, to the decor, you can tell everything was carefully curated to make this a really unique experience. Not only was everything beautiful, but the food was amazing. I was with a larger group and everyone raved about their dinner choices. We shared appetizers and desserts. My personal favorites was the baked goat cheese, the salmon and the banana cream pie. The servers were attentive and offered great suggestions. Overall, it was a lovely evening. I am excited to bring back friends to see their reactions to this beautiful, unique and delicious experience.

First of all, the atmosphere is second to none in the Milwaukee area. Really, really fantastic setting in a secluded, private, quiet, well appointed setting. Temperature was very comfortable. Lighting was very good (very dark when you first enter, but adjust quickly). Seats 16 to 20 comfortably so quite intimate, but no one on top of each other it is well spaced and can hold private conversation sans the one party that always seems to show that have enjoyed a cocktail or 4 too many ;) The service was very good. Not the best, but above average. The food... mixed feelings on the food. Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars for us. Steak was very good. We had ribeye and NY strip and both cuts appeared to be quality cuts, tender and moist. Seasoning was appropriate. Both medium rare and from one side of the steak to the other perfectly medium rare which for us is telltale sign of a good steak restaurant. If the end of the steak is medium rare and the center is consistent. Too many steak restaurants medium rare will only be the center or close to the bone and the ends will be medium to medium well as sign of someone that does not know how to properly cook a steak or a poor cooking method. So the main course, steaks were very nicely prepared. However... the wedge salad was quite weak. The sides while done nicely the lack of standards like mushrooms, Brussels sprouts and perhaps a more standard potato vs the short ribs potatoes would be nice. also, on the TDR potato... a note that you should disclose breaded fried onion strings in the ingredients will help some people do not like them or are GF sensitive. So overall the food was very good to excellent. Steaks I would give 5/5, Wedge 2/5 and sides 4.5/5. Overall, TDR is a really nice dining option in the Milwaukee area. We will put this on our rotation and be back soon.

Amazing dining experience! Sirloin and the filet were perfectly cooked. Service was outstanding. Waitress Nikki made the meal even more enjoyable! She had a great sense of humor, friendly and polite.

Ate there last night and it was great! We had a variety of food ( mussels, wings, salad, Amish chicken and short ribs) everything tasted wonderful! The atmosphere is very thoughtful and we will be back.

I've lived in Milwaukee for about 2.5 years now, and I would put The Dark Room as one of my top restaurant experiences to date. Not only does it have an excellent menu selection and even better tasting food, but the experience was what puts this place over the top. From the serving (big thumbs up to Ben!) to the pace of the meal/serving of the various course to the overall unique ambiance of its setting, I would highly recommend The Dark Room for anyone looking for an evening that will be different from anything else in MKE. I will definitely be going back for another visit.

My fiance and I recently dined here with another couple. What an amazing and memorable dining experience! Our server was very knowledgeable and charming. The atmosphere was like no other restaurant I have ever been to. A small and intimate room. The cocktail was small but diverse. They offer you a welcome glass of champagne. How cool is that?? The wine that our server recommended was on point for our entree selections. Three of us shared the Little Gem salad. It was just enough salad to not get you too full before your entree. I had the NY strip with the diver scallops. The scallops were like butter. Melt in your mouth deliciousness from the sea. We shared a bunch of sides, but my favorite was the thinly sliced Pommes Anna potatoes. OMG. Desserts were shared by all and all equally amazing. If you get an opportunity to try this place, don't hesitate. It is worth every penny for the experience and those darn potatoes :)