Italian American Society — Restaurant in Kenosha

In town visiting and found so many highly rated Italian restaurants. IA was not my first choice but after reading the reviews and seeing the photos especially of the raviolis which look just like the ones I make. After arriving and being met by a homeless person asking for money, we quickly went in the restaurant. When you walk in you are transformed into an era of 1970’s and not retro. You walk downstairs to the restaurant and after a brief moment, the bartender say you can sit wherever you want. We took a seat at a four top. The chairs were mauve banquet chairs from the 70’s most definitely. They were ready to celebrate Easter with decor all over including a tree. After being served some hot fresh bread we were looking forward to the rest of the meal. The dipping olive oil needed some more flavor, but the bread was so fresh. We had the soup of the day which was cheese tortellini in a tomato soup with some fresh spinach that was really good. Could have had a little more salt but perfect so that you could add more if you wanted. On to the next. We decided on the combination. First there were two of us and when we ordered the waitress never said anything to reference that it was enough for literally 2-4 people and we had two! The menu stated It had a little taste of everything: lasagna mostaccioli, gnocchi, one cheese ravioli, one meat ravioli, sausage, and one meatball. When the plates arrived, it looked like a large platter of penne with red sauce. Literally the bottom was covered with the gnocchi and penne pasta. Then the rest of it was placed on top, and then the entire plate was covered in red sauce. You could not distinguish what was, and what wasn’t when looking at the plate. My feedback to IA on this plate is there so much that you’re expecting? Have the plate show each piece on its own so you truly get the flavors individually. Don’t make it into a giant Italian casserole, which is basically what it was. I will say we were in and out within 40 minutes.

It’s not often that I get this critical. I really try to give everybody the benefit of the doubt and find the positives which I hope you’ll see in my review. I was truly looking to an authentic Italian restaurant as I am Italian as well and cook my families recipes on a regular basis. Looks like next year when we return will be trying out some of the other options I had found.

The bartender was vaping and never once washed her hands. She sat there chatting with a friend looking at her 2” nails. I get the small town vibe, but if you’re inviting customers in, you should definitely be taking care of them, and not talking about all of your personal life to where people can hear it.

There was a woman who was maybe a manager , cook or the owner I’m not really sure. She definitely was engaged with other tables. You could tell my husband and I were definitely not from there and we’re in town visiting as everyone else was very social with her. We could tell it was a place the locals patronize and I get it, but at the same time it definitely made you feel like an outsider.

I hope this is taken as...

Went on a Saturday night. The restaurant part wasn't very busy, but there was a giant event upstairs. I understand the kitchen being slow, but there were other issues with the food itself.

My soup was extremely salty, to the point where I almost couldn't eat it, but I was starving after waiting for a while so I finished the bowl. Then, my ravioli al forno was just five stuffed medium-sized raviolis that were literally drowning in oil. Al forno is supposed to be baked with a crunchy topping, and my topping was limp and disappointing. All I could taste was oil.

I waited almost two hours from sitting down to getting my food, and it was barely warm.

Our server was a young kid who was actually kind of rude, but a person in my party was being kind of a dick and very picky, so I understand a bit. However, I never once got a refill on my soda. It sat empty for a good hour and a half, not even joking. I was always perfectly nice to our server, as I was in the food service industry for almost ten years.

All in all, a pretty disappointing experience. The last few times I went, everything was wonderful. Not sure what happened. Maybe just an off night. I'll go back and give them another chance, as this place means...

Classic Italian fraternal organization building, that has banquet space, private room rentals, a comfortable bar, and a dining room that is open to the public. Every person we encountered, from Caleb running the bar, to our server, Colin, was friendly and hospitable. Comfortable, nicer casual decor. Positives: Properly-made drinks, wonton-wrapped mozzarella sticks with marinara, superb house salad, warm homemade bread, and both butter and olive oil for dipping. We opted for two Italian "staple" main courses, (veal parmigiana and Sicilian breaded pork chops). The whole meal was hot, fresh, and very abundant. It was all rock solid, and priced exceptionally fairly. The only dent in the armor was the pacing of the meal. With this quantity of excellent food, each course came a little too quickly. Aside from that, our server couldn't have been kinder. We look forward to coming back again and running though their...