Mimma’s Cafe

Sat down. Ordered. Waited 2 hours. No food came out of the kitchen. Left without eating.
By the looks of it, every table in the restaurant had the same issue.
Do yourself a favor and go to Zaffiro’s down the street instead.

My husband and I visited Mimma’s for the first time, even though we have lived within a 5 min walk of the place for 3 years. Everything from when we walked in and were seated until we received the check to pay was fabulous. We are huge seafood lovers; and we got a great white wine recommendation, had two outstanding antipasti dishes, both enjoyed different seafood pasta dishes, and finished with a tiramisu and espresso to share. We left happy, satisfied and ready to go back for future visits. However, within 2 hours of finishing our meal, I was struck with a quick onset of vomiting — and I had not had anything else to eat between dinner and when this sickness hit me. I cannot help but be led to believe that my food had some sort of contamination or mishandling. While my husband may have more of an iron stomach than myself, he too then had digestive complications the next morning. With all that being said, I would refer Mimma’s, but with the asterisk to steer clear of the seafood dishes. My dish had shrimp, scallops and crab, and my husbands had mussels, clams and shrimp. Many of those crustaceans require proper handling to be prepared safely, and I imagine that error may have happened to us here. The experience of the staff interactions with us and the taste of everything was amazing, so we are truly disappointed in how the night ended up, and I am unsure if we will personally go back due to our experience. We did reach out to the restaurant via email later that night, as their hours of operation were only until 10:00pm. Certainly hope this does not happen to anyone else!

It wouldn’t be a visit home to Milwaukee if it didn’t include a dinner at Mimma’s. It’s now becoming tradition, actually, for my middle son and I to gather there for some good food and excellent conversation.
Our evening began with the Gamberi Alla Toscana, which is basically Tuscan-​style shrimp with cannellini beans and tomatoes. So simple yet so satisfying!
My son chose the Ravioli D’ Aragosta (seafood ravioli) and I chose Ravioli di Funghi Con Salsa di Noce, which is porcini mushroom ravioli with walnuts. Both dishes were made by Mimma herself that evening and while not to sound the least bit cliché, we did feel the love that she puts into everything she does for everyone when you’re in her house. Our server, Will, was delightful as per usual despite their very, very busy dining room (which is always a good sign to me — the weather was nice and people are starting to come out of hibernation).
This place remains my favorite restaurant ever — coming here is truly like coming home. Thank you, Mimma, for always opening your door and your heart…

Black pasta was unusual. I had the porcini ravioli – beware. It’s really riche. Cannoli was like eating a cloud, so light compared to the St. Louis version.

An old standby disappoints — My wife and used to love eating at Mimmas from 2000 – 2010. About two years ago we had a very average meal and took this off our regular’s list. Last night we decided to give Mimma one more try for Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, it was another below average experience and we are now officially done with Mimmas. To start with, we were presented with a bread basket (good Sciortino’s bread), but the bread was ice cold and loosely wrapped in a napkin. My wife ordered the Linguine with clams. Her pasta was a bit too al dente, the clams were completely dry and there was no sauce in the bottom of the dish. Basically it was under-​cooked pasta with a lot of oregano on it. She asked the waiter to send this back and try another dish. He was polite and brought out another dish with shrimp and scallops. According to my wife, If she hadn’t seen they were shrimp, she wouldn’t have known what they were by their taste. I had the Tagliatelle alla Favorita. It was much better than my wife’s but not as good as I recall having in the past. It was supposed to have sun-​dried tomatoes, and there was only one. My guess is that Mimma is less involved in the minutia of running the restaurant and those who are taking over are not paying the attention to the details that they need to.

My wife had been to Mimma’s a few years ago, and had a bad experience. I’ve been trying to get her to consider going back for about 6 months, and she finally caved a few weeks ago.
I wish I had listened to her.
Immediately when you walk in, you see a really cool older looking bar area. Unfortunately, no one sits there. It was completely empty, not even a bartender. Instead, they sat us at a table in what felt like a walkway, even though the restaurant was practically empty. All of the art on the walls is dusty and faded looking, and in one of the main dining rooms, there is a huge unused, unplugged gelato/​deli chrome case like what you’d find at a grocery store. It is completely unappealing.
The menu itself is very large, which offers plenty of choices. Unfortunately, when you ask the waiter what’s good, he simply suggests like 15 different things. The waiter we had was completely disengaged because he was the only one who seemed to be working that night. He told us he’d been there for a really long time. You could tell; he seemed checked out.
There was also a young girl who «worked there,» but I think her job was to stand against the wall and text her friends, because she did quite literally nothing unless the waiter man asked her to do something. When she did do something for us (after we sat for 15 minutes with no one saying anything to us), she brought us a basket of below average tasting bread after the waiter man asked her too. I think it was white bread bought at a grocery store, and placed in a basket with a cheap paper napkin covering it. Totally unappealing, and it tasted old. My wife also had to request a new fork because hers was dirty and had old food caked onto it.
As for the dinner… My wife ordered the carbonarra at the suggestion of the waiter. It was very very completely bland. No flavor at all. The waiter suggested I order a cocktail, which I would have liked to do, but unfortunately I looked at the bar and saw no bartender. Based on my experience with the waiter, and the look of the disengaged teenager standing against the wall, I decided the drink was probably not going to be worth it. We’re not restaurant snobs, but we do go out 3 – 4 times a week around the east side because of our work schedules (we’re a young married couple), and our standards aren’t unreachable. That being said, simple things like clean utensils, cloth napkins over a bread basket instead of picnic paper ones, and a waiter that comes to your table more than twice ever (I didn’t even get a refill on the club soda I ordered because he never showed up to ask) are huge turnoffs. He kept referencing «mom» in the kitchen — whoever she is. Here’s a message for «mom» — you run a terrible restaurant. No wonder it is empty on a Friday night. I’m not surprised that this place never seems to have anyone in it. I hope it goes out of business so we can get a good restaurant in such a prime location. DO NOT EVER GO HERE UNLESS YOU HAVE NO OTHER OPTIONS. I’ve heard nothing but bad reviews about it from everyone I know, and now I know why.

Absolutely spectacular ribeye steak. Perfectly cooked and seasoned and topped off with a delicious and sophisticated sauce. It was a little pricey but absolutely worth it. Typically, entrees are about 20 dollars and bread is included. My salad came with an Italian house made dressing and that was delicious! The crème brûlée finished my meal perfectly.
I really loved the ambiance and mood of the restaurant, it was much fancier than I anticipated.
The waiting staff was very helpful, knowledgeable and friendly with our group and made sure we knew what we ordered. I’ve been to several Italian restaurants in Milwaukee and this beats all of them by far.

I had no idea such a great place was sitting here the whole time! We stopped in for dinner and were not let down. Our waiter was super attentive and very helpful with food, wine, specials, his service as a whole. The prices are t too bad except maybe a little high on some of the dishes but I’ll be back and soon. I had ravioli that was great and the girls had some sort of spicy garlic pasta that they said was top notch as well. This place has a bunch of vegetarian choices as well so you can bring the whole gang!
I want to try all their dishes and know you should stop in as well.

This week, my food buddy and I were craving Italian. I’ve explored many of the popular Italian spots in MKE; many have failed to leave a lasting impression.
Despite the mixed reviews for Mimma’s, we decided to try it out. The décor transported us to an upscale early 90s style house. There was a welcoming feel to the place, as though you had personally walked into Mimma’s house. Yet, the dining area was clean and crisp, just as I would expect from a classy and upscale Italian restaurant.
My friend and I were immediately seated and greeted. We were overwhelmed by the menu options. It catered to my vegetarian needs and therefore, I struggled to decide on an entrée. Ultimately, we both ordered gnocchi. I opted for the plain tomato sauce and my friend opted for the gorgonzola.
The plain tomato sauce, while more flavorful than other tomato-​based sauces that I’ve had, was unfortunately watered down. While I liked the consistency of the gnocchi, my friend would have preferred it more al dente.
Like any good Italian restaurant, we were served bread and olive oil, while we waited for our entrées. The bread was average and not warm.
We stayed for dessert. I ordered two scoops of gelato — the salted caramel and the hazelnut. There are multiple flavors to choose from, all made in-​house. The gelato’s presentation was on point. Shockingly, I enjoyed the salted caramel more than the hazelnut. My friend ordered the tiramisu. She was rather disappointed, as the dessert was primarily cream and not-​so-​much ladyfinger.
Do note, Mimma gets offended if you request any changes or additions to her pre-​set menu. When Mimma heard we were struggling to choose an entrée, she personally came by our table to provide us with suggestions. What a nice touch.
My friend and I decided we are willing to re-​visit in order to try a seafood dish. We will then re-​assess our opinion.

The food here was really good. The best thing our table ordered was the gnocchi in Gorgonzola Alfrado sauce. It was soo good. All the dishes we ordered were excellent however I would go back just for the gnocchi. The service was excellent and so was the food. Can not go wrong here.

So on Mimma’s Café website and a sign they have out in front of their establishment clearly offers happy hour specials Mon– Fri 4 – 7. We had a party of 4 walk in at 6 last night and tell the hostess we are here for the happy hour and she directs us to the bar. We sit there for 15 minutes with no acknowledgement. We finally ask a server about a happy hour menu, and a someone comes over to our table and says they decided not to have happy hour tonight. I tell the hostess it clearly states it on their website and they have a sign outside offering this. The lady just said“We need to go take the sign down, we are too busy tonight”. The bar wasn’t even half full??? I would never give that place my business!

This place has grown on me, as I’ve found my way around the menu. It’s probably the only place on its end of Brady Street with white tablecloths, but the ambience is still very casual. It never seems busy, and I sometimes wonder how well they are doing. I don’t really know my way around the menu very well, so I’m reluctant to pass out recommendations: I can’t eat seafood, and half their pasta dishes feature seafood, and I try to avoid creamy sauces, which rules out another portion of the menu. My last meal there was a fairly plain-​Jane spinach and ricotta lasagna with a meat sauce. It was very good, but the menu has more creative choices, and foodies out there can give better advice.

100% all around great experience. From Frank the fantastic server and Mimma stopping by our table to make sure everything was great, to the bow tie pasta with homemade spicy chicken sausage and a tilapia that was bursting with flavor. But you know what really blew my mind? Mimma makes homemade lemoncello! We were so full from the dinner that there was no room for dessert, so we ended the dining experience (and with all the courses we had… it really was an experience) with a tumbler glass of this perfectly made lemoncello. I have to tell you that once you have Mimma’s homemade lemoncello, you will never go back to store bought. Now if we could only get her to sell the stuff! Menu has just the right amount of selections and the wine list is perfectly done. Best Italian in town and best service in town. A+

Was in town for a convention. A small group of us went there for dinner after a friend recommended this restaurant. The service was fabulous. The waiter made great wine and food recommendations! The soup and main entrées were excellent! If I’m ever back in Milwaukee I will be back!

Great service!
Delish Italian food, crusty Italian bread, wonderful olive dipping sauce!
Ambience

Stopped in on a whim on a Tuesday evening. Parking was a bit of a challenge, but one we overcame. There were only a few other tables occupied, and the atmosphere was quite lovely, especially whrn big, fluffy snowflakes began to fall outside Mimma’s quaint windows.
My partner had the mushroom ravioli and they were to die for. Rich, wonderfully herbed marsala sauce. I had a tenderloin special that was herb coated and expertly seared to a delightful rare (if the cow still moos, it’s rare enough for me). The bread that prefaced our meal would have been even better served warm, but was still crusty and a great base for the olive, garlic and pesto olive oil that accompanied it.
Overall, a lovely meal.

They tried. The enthusiastic wait staff tried, but they could not over come the fatigued look, feel and (a-​hem) smell of Mimma Café.
Straight out of 1999, illuminated by bright florescent bulbs in the once subtle fixtures, the overly dressed salad, musty meats, salted, icy tomatoes and tired Italian noodle-​ly food was too much to ignore. After all, we were there for dinner.
We can never go back.
As I walked back to the coat room, I noticed the framed pictures of a time when the place was hot.
It’s time to revamp or retire.

Mimma’s gets the job done when you want Italian. I’d give it four stars but something about the ambiance doesn’t sit well with me. I think its the empty deli display case right in the middle of the room that I just can’t ignore.
The food is good. Not over the top good, but consistently good. The pasta is always done well, and I’d recommend you stay away from the specials. They never taste as good as the pasta and cost WAY more. One item I can definitely recommend is the grilled calamari. Yum!
This is a good place to bring a group. The server was extremely helpful and tolerant of our many voices and opinions.

Was in town for business and this was recommended by a bartender downtown.
We arrived just before closing, not knowing the time and we were welcomed in and sat at the bar.
Mima came out and told us she would make anything we wanted.
Food was fantastic real authentic Italian.
Great sauce and perfectly cooked pasta.
Don’t pass on the homemade lemoncello as an after dinner drink

Excellent food — so much better than Pasta Tree! There’s no comparison. And their menu is huge and multifaceted — I was pleasantly surprised that there were so many choices for vegetarians.
The service is mixed — we’ve had the typical awkward waiter, but we’ve also had very good service from both the waitstaff (ask your server if he’s an Anne Rice fan!) and the bartender. And occasionally we’ve even seen Mimma herself bustling around the dining room in a pink velvet track suit, which made the experience all the better.
The dining room side is a bit dated, but it does have a romantic feel, so it’s probably better to check in with your significant other or a close group of friends.