Cafè Calamari — Restaurant in Williams Bay

This is a review for the three restaurants of the same owner: Café Calamari, Harpoon Willies, and Priváto.

I first came to Café Calamari in June of this year. Immediately, after taking my seat at the bar, which is very elegant, I was treated by Don, the manager, as a recognized local patron. He took great care of me, brought me delicious food, and treated me like I was the only guest there. At the end of the evening, he treated me to a flaming Sambuca, which I never had (no restaurant I’ve dined at since is willing to make one). That same night, Don gave me permission to stay overnight my 40-foot motor coach in the parking lot. My mention of this is not a suggestion that visitors request this because it’s easy for one to overstay his welcome with something so large, but it was yet another unwarranted gesture of hospitality.

The following night, at Don’s suggestion, I dined at the sister restaurant, Priváto. It’s billed as a “pizza bistro,” but is also very elegant, and is more accurately characterized as a fine dining establishment. That night, at Don’t suggestion, the bartender made me the most amazing hickory-smoked old fashioned. Again, no restaurant since has been willing or able to make one. The drink was amazing. And the food was amazing.

As a result of these experiences, I went out of my way on a trip from Chicago, and returned again in October, and I was again treated to an amazing dining experience for three nights in a row. One thing I noticed is that the restaurant is full of locals who all know each other, love the restaurants’ owners and staff, and are good to each other and also to people passing through. I again stayed overnight in my motorcoach, but I spent as much money as reasonably possible as my thanks.

In conclusion, let me share this: the ingredients for a fine dining experience are simple: good hospitality; good atmosphere; and good food. If any of these is absent, the experience will not be good. In my home town of Prescott, WI —which is also a tourist town— we have spent as much as $800/month, and the staff still didn’t recognize us when we went in. Instead, they are strictly oriented toward the tourists, and really don’t seem to care if the food, service, or atmosphere is acceptable, because every diner is replaceable by new tourists the next day and the next year.

I don’t know the owners of Café Calamari, Harpoon Willies, and Priváto, but they’ve hit it out of the park with hospitality, food, and atmosphere. It is worth going out of your way...

Update 7/30/22 This is/was one of my favorite restaurants. Now that we have such inflation the prices are even higher. I was sort of disappointed that how they are combatting the inflation is not including anything with your meal meaning - your soup or salad is additional to, in our case a $49 entree. So, we had the special - $60 for a smaller piece of sea bass with lobster sauce - it wasn't lobster sauce it was the lobster bisque soup, a few tablespoons and a scoop of garlic mashed potatoes (my husband liked but were too garlicky for me and a bowl of lobster bisque. We also enjoyed immensely the oysters Rockefeller- well worth what ever they cost ( I think over $20). Total bill last night $212.00 with the tip. 1 appetizer, 2 glasses of wine, 2 entrees, 1 lobster bisque and one salad, oh and 1 dessert. So now I upgrade to $$$$$$ For me it has become less of a value. In my opinion a $49 "special" can include a few leaves of lettuce. They were packed so it hasn't slowed them down. With this review I am taking one star away. Update: 4/3/21- This place!!! I don't think you can have a better dining experience. Tonight we had 2 phenomenal meals - lemon salmon and Ahi tuna (special). We also enjoyed the parmeson encrusted shrimp for an appetizer which had a delicious little mescale salad/balsamic reduction along with the shrimp, and lobster bisque. Server Tony 5. Once again Don in the bar area - a 5delight. Im going to be repetitive here by saying - It doesn't get better than perfect folks. Make a reservation. 😉 It doesn't get better than perfect. Treated beautifully, we did not have a reservation on a Saturday night, but they whisked us in with a smile, George our server was great. House salad delicious, both entrees- out of this world /incredible. Several choices of scotch. Great...

I don't post reviews often, so when I do it means something for sure. This place was packed because I unknowingly took my wife to dinner here during a local event that had live music, fireworks etc. Before I knew this I made an online reservation mentioning our anniversary and asking for a nice private setting if possible. When we arrived and saw the entire area full of cars and people, I didn't think there was any way we would have the intimate night I had planned. Somehow the restaurant managed to find us a nice booth away from too much noise and activity. We had phenomenal food. I had Italian encrusted NY strip steak and my wife had some pasta with broccoli and Alfredo. The food was phenomenal. One of the better steaks I've had in a while with a nice decent size. The mashed potatoes were creamy and tasty while the asparagus was also good but wish I had just a bit more of it. Tony, our server made mention of our anniversary, asked us how long we've been together and what the secret was. He was very cordial, funny and made great suggestions for some of the food they had to offer. We ended the night with Tony offering us tiramisu on the house to celebrate our anniversary. We had never had tiramisu but were happy to accept such an amazing gift and it did not disappoint. So light and creamy. Very mouthwatering! I became a fan if tiramisu because of Cafe Calamari and our server Tony. Thank you for all the great food, amazing atmosphere and hospitality! Thank you also to the server who mentioned she travels an hour to work and turns out we are basically neighbors because we also came from an hour away and happened to both be from McHenry county! We will be back again whenever we have the opportunity. Highly recommend this...