Caterina's Ristorante Review

It all started with a Friday girl's night with my sister Antonia. This was a no kids or men night :). We planned on going out for crab legs and soon found that every restaurant serving crab legs had an hour or more wait. After about the third restaurant attempt we decided to get googling. We looked for somewhere new to eat crab legs. That is how we found Caterina's Ristorante. The website said they served crab legs so we were all in.

The ristorante (restaurant in Italian) is located on 91st and Oklahoma in Milwaukee. It turned out to be pretty boogie if you ask me. The minute we walked up to the host/owner he was flustered because we didn't have a reservation but I guess we could have called ahead. Silly us. He had a little table made up for us right away.

The restaurant is very small. We were placed in a little corner at a table set for two, along side another table for two. I could barely put my purse down. It was SMALL!

We were served an "antipasto appetizer tray which includes fresh mortadella, salami and pepperoni meats, fontina and aged provolone cheeses, and their special home-made Sicilian olive salad."




  As for the menu advertised on the website under sea food there is a listing for "1 lb Alaskan king crab legs split". Guess what the menu had NO CRAB. We decided to split a $25.00 plate of Asparagus Penne "pasta topped with fresh chopped tomatoes, fresh asparagus and garlic sautéed in an olive oil, butter sauce with grated parmesan cheese. Add chicken breast, shrimp, scallops or a combination."

We chose to have scallops and shrimp. We were informed during our order that we could split the plate but we would have to order soup and salad as well, which was not a problem. Antonia got the Garden salad with thousand island dressing. I got clam chowder. It was good but too much salt. The waitress offered to crush black pepper corns over the top but they didn't all crush :(. It was still pretty good though.

Our main dish took forever to come. The wait was worth it because the penne dish was really delicious. The pasta was cooked perfectly, the scallops were soft and perfectly seared, and the shrimp was garlicky and also perfectly cooked. Even the asparagus was amazing. They use very fresh ingredients. We were given sugary gummy candy at the end of our meal, which was lovely.

After that experience I am sad to say that we will not be going there again. Very sorry Caterina's Ristorante but your Cozy atmosphere is just crowded. This restaurant is also no place for children. It's too crowded and the food is too sophisticated.