SALA - Modern Sicilian Dining — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Subsequent to my review I received a call from the owner of this restaurant. We had a wonderful conversation and the owner’s concern and sincerity were most apparent. She truly cares about her business and her reputation and I very much appreciate the fact that she took the time to address my concerns.

We’re all human and we all have slightly off days. I understand the challenges faced in today’s restaurant business. We will most definitely return to give it another try.

I do not take pleasure in providing less than stellar reviews but I feel compelled to share our experience for the benefit of both the restaurant and any future patrons. We had visited this restaurant a few years ago when we first moved to the Milwaukee area from Chicago and had a great dining experience.

My wife and I arrived promptly for our 6:30 dinner reservation and immediately noticed that the place was pretty much empty. After being seated we ordered cocktails and when they finally arrived they were very weak and lacked the flavor one expects. Gin & tonics are not difficult to make, all we tasted was tonic.

We shared the artichoke appetizer which was flavorful and enjoyable, but we both noted that the server gave us the unavoidable impression that we were being rushed - odd, considering the restaurant was empty. We ordered our entrees, my wife chose a small specialty pizza and I ordered the seafood pasta, both of which sounded mouthwatering from their description on the menu.

The pizza arrived undercooked and cold and my seafood pasta was best described as spaghetti O’s in flavor with a couple of shrimp and scallops. While the seafood was good the pasta left a lot to be desired.

We did not eat our meals, rather, we asked for the check, paid and left. We did not ask to wrap our food as it was not worth taking.

So very disappointing as we were really looking forward to a nice meal. For $120+ Before gratuity we expected more and I can only hope that our experience was unique,...

Sala is a place that my parents love. I've been there once before, and went tonight to celebrate my mother's birthday. We shared the bruschetta and artichoke dip, and I had the "swordfish" which was on special. The waitress was not friendly, cheerful, or at all welcoming. She was either having a bad day, or is always this way. She did serve us efficiently, she didn't ignore us, she didn't take too long or forget things. But she didn't add to the joy of the celebration at all, and never once cracked a smile. It seemed as if we were an annoyance.

The artichoke dip was incredible. By all means don't miss it if this is something you like. Thick, browned cheese topping a creamy artichoke dip...absolutely delicious. The swordfish, however, was a disappointment. In fact, I'm fairly confident it wasn't swordfish at all but rather mahi mahi. The texture wasn't consistent with swordfish, and it wasn't the steak-like cut I've seen so many times, and it certainly didn't taste like swordfish. So as excited as I was to hear "swordfish" in the list of specials, I was equally disappointed when it arrived and wasn't swordfish. To be fair, I didn't complain or ask for clarification because it would have saddened my mother to have a problem during her celebration, so I can't comment on how they might have corrected the problem.

One last observation: It was a birthday celebration. There were presents at the table. A waitress interested in making the Friday night celebration special would have asked whose birthday it was, or offered a candle in a dessert, you know....but tonight....nothing.

The place was crowded. Seems popular. But when I'm choosing where we go to celebrate, I'll be selecting somewhere else...

Food was good and certainly authentic..entree nice and hot but the artichoke appetizer was barely warm. I could tell our server was not new and nor is Sala not but the service was way off this evening and this was our first time there.

After salads only 1 fork remained on the table and despite asking twice we never got a second fork for the rest of the evening. Was there a special code I needed to use to secure a fork?? Our entrees arrived and still only one fork on the table.. instead of eating cold pasta we shared the same fork as our server never checked on us until we were done with our meals.. ala one fork. Annoying.

Oh....I asked for soda water (from the bar pourer with a lemon mind you) Not Bottled/gassed/ Pellegrino in which case of course a bottle would have been left at the table. Having lived and dined in NY, LA, and Frisco this was the first time I have EVER been charged ($2.50) for 1 glass of carbonated water.

The waitress apologized about the fork but I should have been more vocal about how a restaurant 1. Allowed my wife and I to pass a fork back and forth to each other after we were told it was coming (twice) and 2. gladly pay $18 for 2 small pours of mediocre Chardonnay for my wife yet pay $2.50 for soda water/Seltzer/call it what you will.

I made the mistake of still tipping 15% when I shouldn't have AND I made no effort to speak to a manager. No desert offer on the house or fuss made over the 1 fork shared.. This is basic stuff, isn't it?? At that point we just wanted out to relieve our babysitter. And we walked the 1/8th of a block vs the $5 valet. If this is a family restaurant it feels like Uncle Vito has his hands in the cookie jar...