IL MITO Trattoria e Enoteca — Restaurant in Wauwatosa

Unbelievably bad. Our service was slow, but it's a fancy sit down restaurant, so we were supposed to chit chat and it really wasn't too big of a deal. It was the food that I am going to discuss. This was to be a 3 star review, wait until the end. So we ordered appetizers and drinks. The Sangria was tart without being refreshing, It had very little flavor outside "tart". I ordered some simple syrup to cut the sourness, and sure enough it simply became less tart. No additional flavors were present. Diet Coke was flat

The Eggplant and the Meatballs. The Eggplant was wet and unappetizing in a forgettable sauce. That's a phrase you will hear a lot, along with mediocre. Nothing was impressive. The meatball was nothing fantastic, it tasted like meat. Not spiced meat, not grilled meat, as if they had fried them to create a maillard crust or sear. Just meat. The texture was nice unlike the sloppy wet kiss of the eggplant. So i had a sauce perhaps we could get some flavor with that mouthfeel. Sadly, it comes in a white cheese also devoid of flavor.

So we ordered food. I got the Carne. I was not impressed. Where to start? Bad pizzas are loaded with thick, dense layers of melted cheese. It had cooled and congealed by the time I got it, so it was essentially just cool cooked cheese, and far too much. As if they were trying to cover up a bad pizza.

A few sprinkles of Mushroom flakes and maybe a dozen onions, neither translucent nor caramelized but somewhere in the middle, graced the pie. I couldn't tasted them for all the gluey cheese. and layered unceremoniously, upon -and with no regard for aesthetics, were large slices of Pick'n Save Deli meat. I assume that's what it was. The Beef was gray, the salami was red and had no fat chunks, it did not curl nor were it's edges burnt. and the prosciutto - I have never had prosciutto that looked so much like thin sliced baloney. Typically there are streaks. And I'd call it mortadella maybe, but no fat chunks.

They were large pieces - but that doesn't really work, ads a bite pulls off one of the deli counter slices off. I ended up pulling the toppings off, extricating them from cheese, chopping up the meat and replacing them, all the while thinking that a Kwik Trip or Frozen Pizza would be better.

The Salami had no flavor, the beef had no flavor, and I honestly kind of think they forgot the prosciutto because it was so tepid in flavor I forgot if it was there. It was "Ok" It wasn't really great but I figured what the heck.

The crust is... nothing. It's not Neapolitan, it's Not Floppy New York (though it lacks structure towards the middle) , but it's hard towards the end so folding it is impossible. It's not wafer thin with large chewy edges like a Neapolitan, toppings did not go to the end like some thins, It was not buttery and crispy It certainly was not a thick crust with great chew. . It was...I guess I could describe it as hard-tack like. Thick dry cracker.

So, ok, not the best pizza. Not even top 100 pizzas. But whatever, pizza is still pretty good even when it's bad. But everyone was sort of unimpressed. One person was shocked at the small portions of pasta (As was I) , Another person had a "full sized" salad that was honestly the size of a side Salad. Still another had a pork cutlet with a very small portion of noodles. Just small portions or unimpressive food. But then we get the bill and it's enormous. FOr food this mediocre, this "not-worth talking about" There is no way it's worth 400 dollars. That's why instead of a three, you get a one. Plenty of great Italian places in town, I'd avoid this one.

Oh, the focaccia rosemary bread was good, and the oil and garlic served with it was delicious - but that's not hard to figure out bread, garlic, and olive oil. We should have just kept...

We bought our first house up the street from Il Mito over 17 years ago and have been there at least 20 times since then. We've seen their prices double over that time and still gone because we like the food and believe in supporting local small businesses. We just got back from Il Mito after trying to celebrate our anniversary there, and we won't be back; I'll no longer recommend it to anyone.

We were seated at 5:45 and left there at 7:20 without ever seeing our entrees. This was after asking about them at 6:45 and being told by our server they were "coming right out." We never saw him again. After that, he completely ignored us and refused to make eye contact. Shortly after, another staff member came to our table and apologized, saying they were super busy but the entrees were coming right up. At 7:15, we asked her to box them because we were sick of being there at this point, and they still never arrived at the table. It's also worth noting that the table next to us, who was seated closer to 6:15, had their entrees by 6:45 after an appetizer.

You'd think after all of that they would have comped the meal. I've had meals at much higher-end places comped without even asking and for a lot less than we experienced tonight. At this point, we each had a fountain drink, an appetizer, and a salad. They took the fountain drinks and appetizer off the bill but were still charging us for the entrees, which we still hadn't seen. I asked them to take the entrees off the bill, but they said they couldn't let us take them to go if they did that. The staff member said she would be charged for them if she removed them, so I told her we didn't want them anymore and to just take them off the bill. She must have been complaining about this in front of a regular, because she then came back to our table and said a regular, Mark, paid our bill for us. Very kind of Mark to do that, but extremely unprofessional on the staff member's behalf to be airing grievances in front of a customer. Also, what kind of operation is this where a manager can't comp a meal after an experience like ours?

So we left hungry...

I called Il Mito on 28 March to make a reservation for dinner on 1 April to celebrate my wife's birthday. The reservation was confirmed and followed up with a reminder. When we arrived at the restaurant, the hostess looked around to see what tables were available and eventually offered us a tiny table measuring approx 24''x30'' or alternatively we could be seated in the teaching kitchen on high seats, but at a slightly larger table. When I asked why we couldn't be seated at one of the slightly larger tables in the restaurant, I was curtly told that these tables were for parties of 4 and she wanted to hold them "in case groups of that size came in". Give me a break! Very rude and definitely NOT welcoming. I was disgusted since I had made a reservation. Reluctantly we took the table in the teaching kitchen where the seating was anything but comfortable. Had the hostess insisted that we sit at the small table in the main restaurant, I would have left there and then! It is also pertinent to mention that when we were leaving the restaurant the table we initially requested (capable of seating four people) was occupied by a couple! Now for the dinner. The meal was excellent and definitely in keeping with what we had become used to in previous visits to Il Mito. In particular, my wife had the lamb shank and has not stopped praising the deliciousness since! Our waitress, Jeniffer, was a total credit to the restaurant. She was attentive, friendly and very professional and unknowingly made what could have been a total disaster, a very pleasant evening. We will definitely be returning to Il Mito, but will not wish to be greeted by the...