Calderone Club - Downtown Milwaukee

In a town known for beer, this Italian restaurant is a hidden gem. Let me preface that I travel and eat out a lot and this was some of the best Italian food I’ve had in a very long time. Excellent flavors and large portions abound. You can also tell everything is made in house from scratch. You will clean your plate and ask for more. I’m not typically a cheesecake fan, but this one melts in your mouth and I’d say definitely get it. If you love Italian, do not miss the opportunity to enjoy some of the best!

Service was great, we were seated very quickly, regardless of reservation, and got our food within 15 minutes. We were in and out of there in less than an hour. Food was awesome! My sister’s chicken parmesan tasted wonderful, and the pasta sauce I got was to die for. The stuffed noodles I had were okay, not as much flavor as I’d like. The first round of bread we got was pretty hard, you could probably hear me trying to chew it (with my mouth closed) from a table or two away haha.

someone please tell me if there was a split fee mentioned under the chicken fettuccine alfredo. we ordered a nearly $30 pasta to share but there is “a split fee”, where it costs an additional $10 to put the pasta into 2 separate bowls. never seen anything like that before, if a restaurant knows your sharing it’s clearly because the people do not want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on one plate. other places will simply ask if you want to share the bowl or have another bowl brought out to you, which we would’ve preferred either way. the server claimed it was on the menu, but clearly at this point the menus had already been taken so we couldn’t confirm that was the truth.

A thoroughly enjoyable meal before a concert downtown. You have to be comfortable with your chair touching a strangers chair, because the tables are packed in, and all the voices make for a lively, loud atmosphere. Personally I liked it. We started with a caprese salad which was very good. They served good, slightly warmed bread and butter, it comes with the meal but we requested it before the meal and they accommodated us. I had the gnocchi and meatballs which was delicious, my wife had the margarita pizza which was also tasty. Nothing was so good I would purposely travel there for, but a very solid choice if you’re in town at dinner time.

Overall our experience was great. Our server Whitney was fantastic. The food was delicious! The atmosphere is both a positive and negative-gives you the authentic vibe but when the restaurant is packed, it is hard to have a conversation. Our table was on the small side for four adults. Expensive menu but you get what pay for…..Lastly plan ahead to find parking as it can be a daunting task.

First off, the food is amazing. I ordered the penne con salsiccia. A generous serving of sausage for the amount of pasta, and the flavor of both the sausage and the sauce was excellent. However, I feel it was a bit pricey, as well as the drinks. I've had a better quality old fashioned for a significantly lower price. Although I also ordered a limoncello which was fantastic and I would definitely recommend it. I thought the tables were packed together unnecessarily tightly. It felt like I was right next to the people sitting at other tables around me. My friend's chair was in what should have been an aisle. Another small thing is that it felt like our waitress was pushing us a bit much to order more items, especially considering prices. All in all, a good experience, but the food quality is the biggest part.

Our group of 6 had dinner here before a show downtown on a Tuesday evening. We made our reservation weeks in advance because we wanted to try the food. The reservation was for 5pm and we weren’t seated until 5:20. None of the employees saw issue with this and acted annoyed that we cared about being seated late despite explaining we were going to the show. Once seated, the experience only got worse. The tables were jammed in to the point that one would think they were above the fire code for such a small place. Not only were our chairs touching other diners, but then the wait staff would come by and push us out of the way to get around the dining room. Mind you, this was them shoving us into the table without hesitation despite one member of our party being visibly pregnant and getting smooshed. A server didn’t come take a drink order or food order until 5:30 (after we had to ask who our server was). The food came fast. Was nothing special and overpriced for what you experience. Won’t be going again. There are far nicer restaurants in town. Don’t waste your money. The chef (owner?) was standing in the bar a great portion of the night talking to guests he knew. Let’s do them all a favor and just let his friends go there from now on.

The best place in the world . Make you feel like family. Chicken Marsala Pizza 🍕 You can eat anything here and will be pleased. Have an old fashioned!!! The fried Eggplant 🍆 is amazing