Mike's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in West Baraboo

Drove an hour to get there because of the great reviews plus there are no Italian restaurants in our section of Southern Wisconsin. Tim our waiter went out of his way to help us with everything we asked. For example--we wanted the antipasto salad without the lettuce. We enjoy the "charcuterie experience" with our martinis. He returned with a platter full of Italian cold cuts and cheese pinwheels--perfect fingerfood and perfectly yummy. The cheese bread was just as flavorful with generous amounts of oozy-melty mozzarella, very tender and not rubbery.

Flavor is the watchword for every morsel of made-from-scratch food (and bread) they serve. The maranara sauce on my eggplant parmesan was rich and delicious. My husband's meatballs on his pasta plate were densely packed and authentically seasoned. This is not boring food.

We stopped ordering Chianti wine at Italian restaurants long ago but Mike had only one on his wine list and we'd never heard of; we took a chance on it and it was a wonderful surprise--not at all vinegar-y and acidic like so many Chianis have been in recent years.

The decor is casual yet well-appointed, stylish, and newish with modern materials and design. We plan to take the drive once a week whenever we're at our lake house in Southern Wisconsin. So I guess that means we LIKE it!

Update: We went there again a week later and ate at the nearly-empty bar. The wise-cracking bartender whom we nicknamed Snappy (it's a long story) made a perfect shaken martini with tiny ice crystals floating on top just the way I asked for it. But like too many places in this area, they only serve Tangueray, my least favorite gin so I ordered it made with Grey Goose, instead.

We also discovered that the Italian Chianti is the only wine they sell by the bottle. That's a bummer. Back to the food, my reason for the update: The soup of the day, creamy Italian sausage and kale was piping hot and went down like a velvet dream. My husband's Italian beef sandwich was just okay compared to the gob-lip-smacking delizioso-ness of Chicago's that are as much a sight for hungry eyes as a taste for the tongue and hug for the belly.

My meat cannelloni (ground pork and beef) was smothered in the same great oozy-melty mozz as my Eggplant parm had been but this time I detected a sweetness to the marinara sauce that didn't appear to come from very ripe tomatoes. I think someone slipped a little sugar into the batch and THAT I can do without.

We ordered two Strombolis to go that arrived in a pizza box that weighed a ton. We opened it to sneak a peak and the two gorgeous baked creatures filled the entire box, maybe even bigger than the one featured in the photos here. Too bad we bought them for our neighbors so I can't comment on the taste but we'll be getting them next time. ...

This was our first time visiting the restaurant. The staff, with the exception of the female owner, were friendly enough. Our server was polite and pleasant. The meal for the most part was ok. Nothing to cause us not to return. What will however cause us not to return is their billing practice. The menu says one price for items but the bill when it came had different prices. It also had two different totals. There was a separate cash price listed. We were a bit confused. We asked our server about it and she couldn’t really explain and went to check on it. The female owner came to our table. She was not an overly personable person. A menu was brought by the server as we had requested to see one. The paneer is telling us that the prices on the menu are the “cash price” and that the price on our receipt includes a 4% charge if you are using a credit card. ABSOLUTELY NO WHERE ON THEIR MENU DOES IT SAY THAT THE PRICES ARE “CASH PRICES!! NOR DID ANYONE INFORM US OF THIS WHEN WE WERE SEATED AND GIVEN A MENU. To me this is a poor practice. You should be listing the prices on the bill as they are on the menu and list a surcharge for using a credit card separately on the bill as well as provide the cash price. Any other way is dishonest. The owner did nothing but make excuses. She was blaming their POS system and the fact that stickers had not arrived to put on the menu. Apparently she has never heard of putting a temporary note on the menus explain their practice. She said something to the affect that it wouldn’t look right. We’ll I would rather see that then get a bill showing higher prices than the menu. I have never seen any other restaurant use this practice. If they have they lost any surcharges separately on the bill. For these reasons we will not be returning to this...

Even though the staff was incredibly busy, when I first walked in, I was still promptly seated and brought my drink. The atmosphere seems calmer, which is something I personally like. The lighting is softer throughout the restaurant and the individually lighted booth helped to separate out the dining space from the rest of the room. I had plenty of time to figure out exactly what I wanted, and after ordering and a relatively short wait, I was brought my House Salad with Ceaser dressing. From here on out, my food was paced almost perfectly. By the time I had my salad and first knot, I had my Jalepeno poppers in front of me. The Jalepeno poppers were amazing and they come with Marinara to dip them in. Just before I had finished the poppers and another half a knot, I got the main course. I got the Chicken Cacciatore and it was exquisite. The chicken was some of the most tender chicken I've had in a long time. It also came with mushrooms, green peppers, onion, and a side of noodles served in marinara. The green peppers were cooked just right and had the perfect amount of texture without being too soft. The flavors all completed each other very well and once I had finished I cleaned the plate with the other half of my garlic knot. I will admit I had to stop a few times to make more room, but that's because my eyes are bigger than my stomach. Throughout the meal I was also asked several times by my amazing server and another gentleman how my food was. I managed to get an "it's really good" in between bites. All in all this restaurant is an absolute treat to eat at and if you are in the area I would HIGHLY recommend it. Time from in and out the doors was about an hour and 9.

Be kind and happy...