Carini's Southern Italian - Milwaukee

Carini?s is a hidden gem. My husband and I both went to UWM years ago and now I teach at UWM and we just found out about this place! I can?t believe we missed out on this restaurant for so long. This place is cozy, welcoming, friendly?. Everything you would expect from a real Italian restaurant. We ordered drinks, mussels and both got the whole branzino. The branzino was better than at Harbor House! The flavors on each dish were perfection. The branzino was fresh, outside

My husband and I took our 20 yr old niece here for her birthday. The food and the service was outstanding! Everything was super fresh and flavorful. The entire staff was very attentive and genuinely friendly (not fake-nice). The chef even came out to ask us how the dinners were! Prices were very reasonable for both the quality and quantity of food. We left with a small tower of leftovers! I highly recommend this place for any occasion, or none at all. You won?t be

The pizza and salad we ordered were very good. This is a fine option for wood-fired pizza. The music was appropriate and at a reasonable sound level. This was a big improvement over the loud dance club music playing during out last visit.

I want to give them more stars but the interaction with certain staff made me decide on only 3. The female staff that assisted during our group reservation for a birthday, were upset that we wanted all guests to be seated together, which I thought was the point of making the reservation. We were not told until we arrived that we had to request for all guests to be seated together. The staff then were upset that we asked for the tables to be moved together to accommodate us. Maybe it's me but it doesn't make sense to make a large reservation and then have to turn around to a different table just to speak to a guest in your own group. Had I known this was an issue during the time of making the reservation I would have asked for us to be placed together or just found a different restaurant to go to. The remainder of our time eating the staff who gave us initial issues stared at our table angrily from a distance as if we were wrong for not knowing how they chose to coordinate reservations(which we were not told until arriving). This made us feel uncomfortable. The food was great otherwise. Had it not been for the awful interaction I would have given 5 stars. I don't think customers should be treated badly for something that was not explained prior to them about how your establishment is run. I may or may not decide to return and give them a second chance.

Wait staff pleasant and efficient. I had arugula salad for a starter. Tasty but cut those stems off. Friends steak was a little overcooked but flavor was excellent. No pizzas that night but they are amazing. I had a shrimp and angel hair dish. Not enough stuff but huge pile of pasta so a little bland. I took care of that with some requested olive oil and pepper flakes. I love a family restaurant and it's a pleasant spot. Go and relax and enjoy .