Caterina's Ristorante — Restaurant in West Allis

Dined here for my Birthday today. I had researched prior to going on FB Milwaukee Foodie. Caterina’s was recommended many times, but had a few not favorable. Actually one bad just a few weeks ago. Anyway, we thought we’d give it a try.

I had specifically inquired about veal parm—where in the Milwaukee area that had the best. I was craving it.

We were a bit skeptical , but thought we’d give it a try. Restaurant was almost full at 6 pm on a Friday night.

Kinda surprised at the relish tray—wasn’t the best. Meat was cut very small and hard to eat. The cheese was tasteless and the cubes were dry—seemed like it was sitting out. The bean mix salad was disappointing. No flavor??

The warm bread and olive oil were a delight. We all loved!

Our Waitress, Gabriella, was excellent.

Daughter and I had a Martini. Hubby had a Moscow Mule.

Hubby and I ordered the Veal Parm, salad and Pasta. Son had one of the specials, Lamb Shank, salad and risotto. Daughter had the Veal Piccata, salad and pasta.

Salads arrived. We all ordered the same sour cream with blue cheese crumbles. Salad was only iceberg lettuce and tomatoes. We all thought that just the sour cream made the salads dry. We ate the salads anyway.

Our dinners arrived and they all looked wonderful!

Son’s Lamb Shank’s meat was very tender and falling off the bone. It had wonderful flavor. Risotto was nothing special.

Daughter’s Veal Piccata was a bit chewy and the taste just wasn’t what she expected. She thought it was lacked something? Pasta in Garlic butter wasn’t anything special.

Hubby said he liked his Veal Parm, but was disappointed with his Garlic buttered Pasta as well.

I could barely eat my Veal Parm. IMO the tomato sauce wasn’t sauce. It tasted like it was straight tomato paste, very acidic. My mouth!!

I scrapped as much of the tomato off the veal and ate it. The veal was good. as I also thought the Pasta wasn’t that good.

Immediately after dinner, Gabberila brought me a piece Birthday Cake with a candle. She apologized for the whip cream as it was melted and wasn’t stiff anymore. Tasted and looked as if had had been sitting out. Not chilled at all??

No one wanted to mention that their meal wasn’t the best—as they didn’t want to ruin my Birthday celebration. It’s always so upsetting to the meal and memory.

Dinner and drinks came to over $260+ with a 20% tip— she was great! However, it was a hard meal to swallow. We don’t usually splurge and spend that kind of money—except for a special occasion.

Our fault for not mentioning about how our meals being subpar!! I don’t think we’ll be returning or recommending!!!

In hindsight—best to speak up and not have to have trouble swallowing an expensive Birthday dinner that really wasn’t...

This is the best restaurant in the greater Milwaukee area hands down. There’s not many old school restaurants left that give you a very nice relish tray to begin with and warm bread with olive oil/butter. The food is very delicious every time I go and they give you soup or salad, a choice of potato/vegetable or pasta with every dish. The amount of food they give away so you don’t leave hungry is very generous of the family. If you don’t want to spend money then stay home. I have zero problem with their prices. Their consistency is second to none and the ambiance is very cozy. They fill your water the second you take a sip and the waitstaff is full of Milwaukee veterans. Even the younger servers are very attractive and knowledgable. I’ve been eating here for 30 years and I’ve never had a bad meal. I consider myself a foodie and I eat out many times a month. Anyone that doesn’t give this place 4 or 5 stars just doesn’t know much. The fact that they can pull off having such a large and extensive menu while cooking it all to perfection speaks volumes. People should eat here more often because you’re sure going to miss it if it ever goes away. This is some of the most delicious Italian food you’ll find in the state with Calderone Club and Johnny Manhattens at #2 and #3. The desserts are all homemade and very yummy. The serve great espresso with the raw sugar cane if you like and it’s the best around. They clean their machine very often, I can tell. Coffee is better than McDonalds, George Webb and Starbucks. The place just crushes...

Wow…Wow…Wow…how can something be SOoooo good be so depressing at the same time?! 😂

Well, on NYE…don’t remember how it came to me, but an idea popped into my head to go here. The draw back, it’s a two hour drive each way; the good, I actually like to drive. The last time we were here was almost 20 years ago!!! I actually remember the experience like it was yesterday! The wife and I was dating at the time and what a wonderful experience it was! The waitress was a much older lady and boy did she treat us perfectly! I remember cracking up, because she treated us like her children! We loved the experience! It made such a great impression that we always wanted to go back! Sad part is…life stepped in and 20 years later we finally went back to where it all started!

Tonight was a special night…actually special day. The stars lined up and we get to have a reservation knowing it was busy and once again had a great time! This time we had a young punk serving us…she was GREAT! Thank gawd she didn’t treat us like the first waitress! Ha! Perfect timing with service and even the bus boys was good. Water filling was well timed. Drinks offer was perfect time when low. And the food…what can U say about the food…WOW!!! Very tasty and well seasoned! Both of our dishes were delicious and can’t wait for the next time. That’s the sad part of our story…can’t believe it took us 20yrs but hey, WE R BACK! We will make all attempts to go back more frequently, if they promise to keep this up! 😃 thank you for a...