Reviews for Carini's Southern Italian Restaurant in Milwaukee, WI

This was a disappointment I was not expecting. I ordered the scamponi because it sounded so delicious. And don't get me wrong,... it tasted wonderful. However I have never eaten shrimp in any restaurant, anywhere, that I had to fight to get at the meatbecause the shells were not removed. I shouldn't have to put my hands on a pasta dish in order to eat it. The entireexperience was way overpriced. They do not make their own pasta, and the dish only came with 4 shrimp - and they weren't thecolossal size either - yet it cost $26. No salad. No garlic bread. Just a small bowl of garlic pasta with 4 unpeeled shrimpon top. Oh yea - and a lemon wedge. Sad. Read more

Excellent service! Great atmosphere. The best Italian food in Milwaukee.

The very best in Southern Italian cuisine. Family owned and operated. Delicious!

My husband and I decided to try the Neopolitan style wood-fired oven pizza at Carini's. First of all, the service was excellent.... Maybe the best I've had in Milwaukee. The wine list is well thought out. The octopus arugula lemon salad was superb. We hadmussels and the margherita pizza, classically delicious. The ambience is perfect for a date. Busy but intimate. We met theowners. We bumped into an old friend. We will be back with the whole family. Read more

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 thepoint 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 makesense 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 justfound a different restaurant to go to. The remainder of our time eating the staff who gave us initial issues stared at our tableangrily from a distance as if we were wrong for not knowing how they chose to coordinate reservations(which we were not tolduntil arriving). This made us feel uncomfortable. The food was great otherwise. Had it not been for the awful interaction Iwould have given 5 stars. I don't think customers should be treated badly for something that was not explained prior to themabout how your establishment is run. I may or may not decide to return and give them a second chance. Read more

Truly the best place near UWM. Food is extremely cheap for the perfect Italian quality Carinis provides. I took my girlfriend... here on a whim and was blown away by the amazing food and comfortable atmosphere. Waiters are so kind, and the chef/owner is thekindest pureblood Italian men I’ve ever met. Easily one of the best pizza and pasta places I’ve ever been to. Read more

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…. Everythingyou would expect from a real Italian restaurant. We ordered drinks, mussels and both got the whole branzino. The branzino wasbetter than at Harbor House! The flavors on each dish were perfection. The branzino was fresh, outside was crispy and hadbeautiful composition of seasonings. We were blown away! This is a family owned restaurant and many of the family members workhere. The owner and chef, checked on everyone to make sure they were enjoying their meals. We don’t get to enjoy branzinooften and the chef showed us how to cut into the fish. We never actually learned how to do that so we were really grateful. Thewaiter, Santina, was very welcoming and did a great job! We will be requesting him when we come back. Carini is very affordableand very clean. You can tell they take a lot of pride in their restaurant. I will be recommending this place to everyone and Ican’t wait to take our other family members here for our dinner nights. Thank you so much for your executional service andfood! Read more

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 askus how the dinners were! Prices were very reasonable for both the quality and quantity of food. We left with a small tower ofleftovers! I highly recommend this place for any occasion, or none at all. You won’t be disappointed. Read more