The Pasta Tree Restaurant & Wine Bar

Pretty good Italian cuisine. The staff is really friendly and helpful and the atmosphere is great.
There are some «americanized» items on the menu, but all in all it’s a pretty great place to enjoy some Italian food.

While I was at the Pasta Tree in Milwaukee I had the shrimp and spinach pasta, it was magnificent. Great place to go for date night, I’ll most likely be back here for Valentine’s Day!

We came here today for my father’s 75 birthday, an occasion that I mentioned when I made the reservation. They did not remember or noted anything about the birthday. The waiters are disorganized and not very friendly. The food is pretty bad; I mean it is edible, but that is about it. The lasagna was cold in the middle – not long enough in the microwave. While there another customer had a fight with the waiter. Don’t go there. The place is romantic but that is it, and some of the seating places are dirty. If you want to eat really good pasta go to Centro café in Riverside.

The atmosphere is super romantic. This was a great place to eat for a nice night out. My husband enjoyed his food. Mine was ok.

This was our fourth time at The Pasta Tree and we’ve noticed a significant decline in organization and front house management. We made a reservation but still had to wait 30 minutes, then the host sat 3 tables of 2 (us included) at the same time, totally screwing over our server. We were once again in the back of the restaurant where the tables are crammed so close together you may as well just be on the date next to you. The couch along the wall is cute in theory but incredibly uncomfortable. Our server was very friendly and did the best she could, but our drinks took forever and we got our bread, appetizer, and entrees all at the same time on our tiny tiny table. My husband and I both ordered the scallops which were cooked nicely but needed to be cleaned better as I had a bit of sand in multiple bites. The rest of the staff besides our server and the bus boy seemed annoyed that they had customers. Sadly, I don’t think we will bother returning, it was more of a hassle than a romantic date.

There was a bit of a wait to order, as they were very busy. However, everything else was fantastic. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was perfect, and the service was absolutely excellent.

I’m new to the area so I am not aware of how this restaurant may or may not have evolved but after dining here I have to ask why it (continues to) exists. There are so many really excellent restaurants in Milwaukee at an even better price point and value what niche does it fill? I am Italian with a rich family history of great cooks and all I can say is I’ve had better Italian meals in the military mess halls. The service is amateurish and the décor, I can certainly appreciate and enjoy dives if the food and service excel but not even close.

Very disappointed after going to the Pasta Tree for so many years. They have lost the touch. Food is average, service is average, and prices high for what you get. The last te we went there was 8 of us. Everyone was disappeared with the food. Lacked flavor. Everyone was discussing that we could open a jar of Ragu from the grocery store and our pasta would taste Better. They have lost the magic tough! It doesn’t seem as though they care anymore…

We’ve been vacationing in Milwaukee for a few days. This as the first meal we could rate well. Food was good, service was good, menu lacked some creativity. Reservations are necessary!

This place is so disappointingly overrated. I was really looking forward to trying it and it just didn’t live up to the hype. It wasn’t much more spectacular than Olive Garden… It’s a cramped space and there is always a wait. It’s over priced and under flavored.

If you’re looking for a nice romantic dinner in Milwaukee, go to pasta tree. It’s a nice change of pace from the loud, busy and pack as many people into the restaurant as you can. The bread and butter is delicious and the Caesar salad was very good. My meal which was the chicken alfredo was good. The sauce was tasty but I would’ve liked a little more flavor personally and the chicken didn’t impress me all that much. The wait time is border line worth it. The pasta is made to order and did not disappoint. At the end, with two drinks, a salad and two meals the price was about $ 60 dollars. Would I go back? Sure but maybe not for a while.

Lovely patio dining, attentive knowledgeable service, delicious appetizers and drinks! The lasagna was thick, richly flavored sauce with golden cheese topping. Fresh pasta bolognese was very good, hanger steak (daily special) with hollandaise and balsamic reduction was cooked perfectly.
Tiramisu was okay… I think I make a more flavorful one but it tasted okay.

Fantastic experience from start to finish!
Last Thursday night was our first time at Pasta Tree… And we will definitely be back.
The service was excellent– our waiter Robert was exceptionally friendly and never made us feel rushed.
They serve fresh bread with an herb butter and olive oil… The butter is to die for!
We both had the special salad which was a Burrata salad with watermelon and pecans– absolutely amazing– the Burrata cheese melts in your mouth, and the salad had the perfect amount of each ingredient.
For dinner I ordered the tortellini with a la vodka sauce– so delicious! My boyfriend ordered the salmon Alfredo– also very good!
We were too stuffed for dessert but they all sounded yummy.
I look forward to returning!

I used a groupon for Mothers day for my lady and her mom to eat here. Initially it was only them who were eating and i joined later because i do not eat seafood or Italian food. So i didnt taste the fare!
Pasta Tree is smack in the middle of the block on Farwell. You almost miss it. There is not a lot of signage or lights or whatever, so you can miss it. Its not far from Body Ritual in one direction and Shank hall in the other direction.
The décor inside is very intimate and delicate if you can imagine that. You are greeted at the front door. It is kind of dark with lots of white on the tables and aroma that makes you want to eat. The tables were lined with plates, cutlery and cloth napkins/​place-​mats. Its a little small but if you are going there to eat and gaze into the eyes of your sweetheart the mood is already set and you wont notice that others are more then likely doing the same as you guys.
At first i thought that i wasn’t in Milwaukee any more. You dont see places like that here that are off shoots and small streets. They are usually these large chain establishments who can offer you this intimate and authentic experience that us diners crave. Not here you get all of that plus some. (yea ragazzo!) I was sure that i was in New York in Williamsburg Brooklyn or Downtown Chicago eating. Nope i was home in my city!
The food looked excellent, it smelled nice and it was accompanied with fresh parm cheese. The menu is heavy on seafood i think. But hey if that’s what you like go for it. The waitstaff were fun, friendly and professional.
The prices are on the $$$-$$$$ side. But hey this is ok. You pay for what you ask for right? I was told that food tasted fresh and crafted. That means it was prepared not re-​heated. The sizes of the plates were very appropriate. The service and the staff members were on point. Lastly there were no problems with the groupon, so no horror stories on this one Unilocalers.
This is a date night type of place. You would enjoy it if Italian fare is your cup of tea. Treat your mom or mom in law or your partner to a quick getaway from the Milwaukee we know and travel to the lower east side and subsequently to Italy.
Enjoy

I love the homemade sauces and choices. So unusual to a typical American-​Italian place. This is Italy-​boutique. Will definitely return!

Well, that was disappointing. Thank goodness we weren’t here for a special occasion tonight. The only reason I gave it as many as two stars is because I have been here before and had a good experience.
1– Our server was extremely unorganized from the very start. There’s no need for me to get into the details here; too many to list.
2– Our server took our order, and gave us our bill. That’s all. Otherwise we were served by three different people. While taking our order, she told me they were short staffed and we’re hiring… and asked if I needed a job. Um… What?
3– Our drinks came out, and mine was not the correct drink. It tasted fine, so I figured I’d just drink it & try not to be a pain when they were clearly having an off night. When we got the check, the «wrong» drink was $ 2 more than the drink I ordered. Not a huge deal, but after everything else, annoying.
4– Twice during our visit the room filled up with smoke, and they opened a window. (It is winter… A balmy 31 degrees outside right now with a «feels like» temp of 24.)
5– On to the food… My boyfriend ordered the tortellini with artichoke cream. Delicious. I had the vegetable tomato. Our server described it as «chunky.» The «chunks» we’re huge (think half stalks of celery) and very undercooked. Nearly all of the «chunks» we’re set aside onto a plate, and of our 4 different servers, no one made mention of this… I thought that was odd.
6– I was looking forward to having the chocolate cake for dessert, but as I was thinking about it, a server came to clean the table next to us. He took the flower vase, and candle off the table and put them ON THE FLOOR to clean the table!
Not sure I’ll be returning anytime soon.

My husband and I came here to celebrate the fact that I got a new job (and it helped that we had a
coupon).
I got the Antipasto Plate (Assorted fresh sliced Italian salamis, cheeses and vegetables) to start and it was quite delicious. My husband got the soup, which I also tried, and it was yummy.
For the pasta, I got the Tomato Vegetable sauce with the egg noodles & my husband go the Tortellini. We both enjoyed our pastas tremendously and we had to take the rest home because there was so much food.
The service was pretty good — you could consider it on the slower side but we weren’t in a hurry to go anywhere so it was fine.
I would come back here to try another one of their dishes.

Food wise it’s really good. We ordered chicken Alfredo and lasagna, look and taste amazing. Lasagna has very unique texture with some extra crunchiness in the meatsauce, also it’s not too sour. Chicken Alfredo is not too thick and the flavor is very well balanced. We had tiramisu for dessert, it is quite juicy and not a dry and creamy texture like I used to have but it’s delicious.
Only complaint goes to the service. The guy at the door was cold and took us to the empty and cold dining hall across the kitchen. While we were eating they were loading stuff with the door open for a while, it was so cold… Our server is really nice and brought us a space heater. But I don’t think this is a situation that will happen too much. Overall great place to have a romantic dinner or hang out with small party.

I’ve been to the Pasta Tree many times before and have never had the problem with the food or the service before. There was nothing wrong with the service this time, in fact our server was very attentive and friendly. Our water glasses were kept very full, and the food came out in a timely manner. The food however, was just ok– we shared the antipasti app and for our entrees I got the pesto with egg pasta, my friend got the clam pasta. Her only gripe was about how the clams weren’t «real». I took a bite and I agreed– they were rubbery… dare I say fresh from the can?
When it came time for the bill, I checked in on Unilocal because there was very clearly an offer for a 10% off your bill if you checked in but it was denied by the server and her manager. Her explanation was that Unilocal had put that offer up without confirmation from the restaurant… I thought it was pretty strange but I guess be warned that the offer isn’t valid.

A friend and I went last night for dinner, and being a Wednesday night it wasn’t crowded and we were seated immediately.
Our waiter came over and poured us water and started talking about the specials, at which point when he started to walk away I had to ask him for a new water glass because mine had very clear lipstick marks on it (three of them actually). His response was, ‘well it’s clean, I just cleaned it’. To this I replied, ‘I’d still like a new one without lipstick on it please’ and he said, ‘well the lipstick just doesn’t come off’. This shouldn’t have even been a conversation! How about, ‘oh my gosh I’m so sorry about that, I’ll get you a new one right away.’ So, the service was terrible right off the bat.
We ordered our drinks and when those came back we asked if we could order an appetizer and asked for the mozzarella marinara. The response we got is still shocking, ‘actually, we don’t have any mozzarella right now, we’re all out.’ We were pretty shocked, as I’m sure you could imagine, we both looked at each other and he was like, ‘well let me go check and see if they got any’. First of all, WHAT KIND OF ITALIAN RESTAURANT RUNS OUT OF MOZZARELLA?! Plus it’s only of the only actual appetizers on the menu! I still can’t even believe it — but low & behold — they were OUT of mozzarella.
So, we split a salad instead, and then got our entrees. He never asked if we wanted a refill on our drinks, another glass of wine, anything. The food was good but nothing over-​the-​top amazing. We actually ended up saying that maybe we should have just gone to Maggiano’s instead!
Like I said, the food was good, but the service was so horrible that it put a really bad taste in my mouth and I’m certainly not in a hurry to get back there anytime soon.
Also (and I’m sure this is hard to change since it’s a very small restaurant and it’s in a very old location) you have to pretty much walk INTO the kitchen to get to the ladies room. Just weird.