Tenuta's Italian Restaurant Reviews

A pleasant surprise tucked down a side street. Quiet little candle lit tables and relaxed decor and fantastic staff. Everything we had was delicious, from appetizers to desert. Prices were reasonable especially for the portions. Truly a favorite place! Now to deal with the food coma...

the Italian food was absolutely amazing! the service and ambiance were great. cannot wait to go back

Same consistent service and food every time I go. I take people from out of town here to show them some really good Italian food. Quiet and intimate, it feels like a hidden gem.

Delicious. We loved our wine, appetizers, main entries and dessert.

Their meatball appetizer is the best, also love the lasagna my wife loves their chicken piccata, you don't want to miss this one

I almost don't even want to review this hidden gen of Milwaukee because I want to save it for myself.
I've never had a bad dish here and the service is amazing.

Excellent food and service
Staff friendly and knowledgeable. Would recommend this restaurant to family and friends

Another 5 star experience. This is my favorite restaurant. I lived in the area for years and almost always only order pizza for takeout. By far the best deep dish in the city. On the rate occasion we have a chance to dine in we are blown away by both the food and the service.

The food is always superb! Friendly and attentive staff.

One of coolest places you've never heard of.
Unless someone tells you about it, you'd never come across it. This authentic Italian family owned restaurant is tucked away deep in a Bay View, WI. neighborhood. The staff were awesome, the food was amazing. We had a great time meeting up with friends for a great meal, I highly recommend searching for the gem. Thank you everyone at Tenuta's!

Absolutely amazing pizza!! The stuffed pizza was wonderful!

Amazing food, very friendly and helpful staff. Beautiful atmosphere makes for comfortable dining.

Excellent service. Outstanding Deep Dish pizza. Warm and inviting atmosphere. I will absolutely return.

My chicken parm was excellent. Everyone else thought their dinners were too.

Great atmosphere and an excellent Italian menu. Highly recommend reservations!

Spectacular service and food. The meatballs were to die for.

Small, cozy place. Recommend reservations. Have eaten here several times and and enjoyed it every time. Thin crust pizzas and the pastas that are made in house are the way to go. Decent beer selection which is very reasonably priced.

We recently contacted Tenuta's to place a large family meal order to celebrate our wedding. The catering manager was amazing. She was so sweet to handle our order personally in order to ensure that it was ready for pickup shortly after they opened for dinner service. Also, since we mentioned that we were having our meal in a hotel, they tracked down plates and plasticware to accommodate our family. This is our favorite restaurant, hands down, and they never disappoint. Definitely one of the best in Milwaukee, not just for Italian.

Absolutely wonderful experience food and service was fabulous will be going there again soon perfect

Best meal we had on our recent trip to Milwaukee. A+++ Yum!

My husband and I really enjoy their food. So we decided for our wedding that was in June that we would like to cater through them. We had spoken with Brenden through this entire process. He was very nice and helpful through the whole process, they were very reasonably priced, and very flexible during our planning process. Come the day of the wedding, we got a nice surprise that the chefs would actually be cooking the food fresh on site, Brenden came early and helped set up some of our tables too! Then at the very end that also surprised us with a nice bottle of wine! I would definitely recommend them for any catering, or even just having a nice dinner at the restaurant.

Best food I had in Milwaukee by far, they treated us very well I highly recommended everyone to stop by and try this place!

Was an amazing dinner my drink was so tiny though. I get that it was classy though.

Cozy , quiet, candlelight & good food. If you're looking for something like the movies that's affordable this is it.

We always have a wonderful dinner at Tenuta's, no matter what we order. If you're thinking of going on a Friday or Saturday night, I strongly recommend calling to make reservations, though there is a full service bar as well. On Wednesdays, they do a special on full bottles of wine, which makes it an ideal night to visit.

Very nice, Italian, classy meal. Good atmosphere. Great for state night.

Pizza was great. Service was good. Waitress was wonderful but the girl cleaning plates through out the night was abrupt and sloppy actually spilling on one of our guests. The dinners were nothing special. Will go back for pizza only.

Best Italian food in the city...I took a star away for their seating. I'm a bigger guy and the chairs are kinda sketchy. Not a sturdy chair.

Excellent wine suggestions and attentive service. Truly a gem and fantastic "date night" ambiance

Their deep dish pizza is better than slot of the deep dish I've had in Chicago. Way better than giordano's or Lou malnati chains.

This place is amazing, best Italian restaurant in Milwaukee

I came in with my partner and their sibling recently. I recently moved to this area of Bay View it is very nice to have a local and delicious restaurant to walk to.

We were fortunate to snag a spot, since it is typically more busy on Thursday evenings. We sat in a comfortable corner, responsibly further from other guests. We had a few Peroni's (which they offer on tap) and a glass of Cannonball Cab. For appetizers, the Fritta was crisp and aromatic...but we were impatient and all burned our tongues. For our entrees, we had the Carbonara and Calabrese. Heat lovers will rejoice with the sharp and spicy flavor the Calabrese brings. The Carbonara is very savory, with a sweeter aftertaste with the peas. All in all, I was so shocked I hadn't tried Tenuta's before living in BV for over four years.

I was searching for something as Italian as possible, this restaurant delivered. :)

Tenuta's physical space is small, intimate, cozy and cafe-esque with a bar and patio dining, and as far as I'm concerned is quite authentic as an Italian restaurant. Typically, I'd avoid a place with such a description fearing I'd be one off 10 people in the place or the noise would be too loud to have a conversation. I'm glad that neither of these are realities with Tenuta's.

The food. I love Italian food, and quality, from scratch food that's not processed -- that's what Tenuta's serves. I've been a regularly returning patron for the last few years usually trying something new each time. The pastas are good, but oh my, the pork chop was fantastic; better than I've had at expensive chop houses and at a third the price.

House special pizza on thin crust to go -- absolutely delicious. The crust was a "beefed" up cracker thin (close to cracker thin but with heft) and held together well, and complimented the toppings and vice-versa. This pizza would have been better only if I had eaten it there immediately when served instead of 30 minutes later. What impressed me the most about this pizza was that it held up extremely well during a nearly 30 minute drive. It was still hot, crisp and firm with no hint of sogginess due to the oil or toppings that I've experienced with everyone else's thin crusts.

Tenuta's is my go to place for great pizza - all crusts are good but virgin is my favorite crust, which is significantly thick (3/8-1/2") but not a deep dish. I find the pizza travels well but I prefer to dine in for non-pizza selections.

My go to Italian restaurant for when I really want a classy experience.

Yamas is beautiful the service is wonderful and the food is delicious.

I can always count on rich flavors and this time that I was there, I brought people who halfway through Rory talking about what they want to do next time they are there. Instantly hooked 2 more.

Delicious Italian food, Nice atmosphere, Over the top great service.

During Covid pandemic . . . adhered to social distancing, inside and out, all employees wore masks. The service was perfect. We decided on wine and PIZZA. Best we've ever had!

We've been going there for years. Haven't had anything that wasn't absolutely delicious!

Our neighborhood Italian. Fantastic homemade pasta, great pizza. Give the burrata appetizer a try!

Very nice place for dinner after a long day of work.

Their pasta was excellent and the service was very polite.

You need to park on the street but to be honest it was not complicated to find a space.

We thoroughly enjoy dining out and unfortunately our experience at Tenuta's was not a good one. The service from our waitress was fairly slow and our drinks were not refilled at any point during our meal, even though a few people at our table had requested refills, including myself.

The spaghetti sauce was somewhat overly thick and dry and the cheese on the pizza was dark brown throughout (overcooked), with a burnt crust and foil stuck to the bottom. When I asked for the pizza to be taken off of our ticket, our experience with Tenuta's went from mediocre to bad when the manager arrived to our table.

Although the problems with the pizza (overcooked, burnt crust, foil) had already been explained to the wait staff, the manager proceeded to ask for an explanation as to why we wanted the pizza removed from our ticket, in lieu of being apologetic. The manager then became defensive and argumentative during the explanation, stating he had personally inspected the pizza and it was not overcooked or burnt.

In order to avoid the confrontational manager causing a scene at our table of 6, I politely advised him to just leave the pizza on our ticket, at which point he said no, I will take it off and he walked away. The manager never introduced himself, nor did he apologize for the staff serving burnt pizza with foil stuck to the bottom.

The only thing good about the $130.00 meal was the company at my table and we went elsewhere for desert.

Stuffed pizzas = amazing! Their dough and sauce are top notch as far as pizzas go.

The Burrata antipasti was amazing! Would definitely recommend

Small and cozy. Friendly staff and delicious food. Best traditional pizza in Milwaukee County.

Beautiful neighbor hood setting. Great wait staff. And oh the food ..... Nothing but Greatness. Been there for fancy food and pizza all of it so good! The Best Italian restaurant Milwaukee has!

Make reservations! No cappuccino on a Friday night. The pics show what they might have available. Great place overall. I would definitely go back.

Very authentic Italian food! I was so impressed with the ghocchi dish as it tasted homemade and so fresh! Definitely will be returning to this restaurant. Service was good, too, and found it be quite charming overall.

Spectacular take-out spot for pizza and pasta. (Also a lovely place to dine out, but I'm usually here to pick up).

Super-friendly staff, and the bar is a chummy community. Arrive early for pick-up and grab a drink. Or better yet, order when you get to the the bar and stay for a couple.

4.4

Very warm and cozy. Food is great and bar tenders really know their stuff!

Amazing pizza and great Italian food. I loved the lasagna just as much as I loved the pizza. Wonderful little place definitely a must go.

Delicious food great service atmosphere...nice ambiance

We came here for our anniversary, and we could not have had a better meal. The food was excellent, as well as the service. Our waiter was friendly and energetic, and we received some sort of service from each person that was working. If someone noticed a empty plate or glass of water, they would quickly take care of it even if it wasn't their table. We ordered the scallops and Funghi dish, and both were excellent!! Exploding with flavor, and you can tell everything is handmade fresh. We also got a pizza to go, as others had them and they looked great, and even after heating it up the next day it was still great!

Cute little restaurant in heart of bayview residential area, food is good but needs garlic

Though the food was good, we were rushed throughout our meal. Their menu kindly suggests keeping your visit to 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The waitress had her hand on my plate already then asked me if I was done, which I still had a half a plate of food left. They had our check on the table within an hour of ordering our meal, which included an appetizer, and we all still had glasses of wine to finish, and try to enjoy. Attentiveness is one thing but we barely could have a conversation for 5 minutes without being interrupted. For the amount of money we spent and a still generous tip, we expect to be treated like a valued customer and not pushed out the door. Doubtful we will be back.

We had them cater our early Christmas dinner yesterday. I can't believe how kind and considerate they were. We live an hour away, they let me pick up the food when they weren't open for regular business hours. I got the food home and warmed it as they instructed and it was absolutely delicious. Everyone that ate truly enjoyed. We had lasagna, eggplant parmesan and spaghetti with homemade meatballs. The best Italian food around. The restaurant was so adorable and authentic I really hope we will soon enjoy that atmosphere soon. Thank you to all the staff that helped on December 4th 2017. You made our early Christmas dinner special.

Delicious menu, reasonable prices, very good service. Can't wait to go back

Best Italian in the state. Calabrese is to die for!!

Only live 5 minutes away from here and didnt realize it was tucked away in the midst of a residential area. Will have to return, I loved everything.

Top notch service and food!! Excited about their growth. Great place when in the city! Yum!!

Amazing Italian food! Small, cozy place so make a reservation ahead of time. Great wine selection and awesome service.

This is a Wonderful Place! The Waitress was very helpful in making our selections, and everything was delicious!!

Pampered from the minute you walk in the door! Impeccable service,outstanding food. So happy with the addition of the extensive beer list that includes some of their own craft selections! (I never was a wine person) Chef Justin is amazing! What to order?...close your eyes and point...,EVERYTHING is wonderful!!!

Amazing Italian food! I have been here several times and everything has been delicious. The best spaghetti and meatballs in Milwaukee!

Met family here for dinner Saturday night, wonderful food wine and service. Try this place for a relaxed dinner out.

Delicious!!! Authentic!!! Such a nice atmosphere and over the top service! I had the carbonara and the antipasto my husband had the spaghetti and meatballs! We can't wait to go back!

Food and service have been great for years. It's one of those great places that feels fancy but they don't charge an arm and leg but if you are more casual you don't feel out of place. It's not inexpensive, but the price is fair for the amount and quality of food.

One of my top places for tasty Italian food. Service is always prompt even when they have a full house. Nothing but great experiences here. The place has a nice atmosphere. Feels like a place in Los Angeles I liked.

After thoroughly researching Italian restaurants in Milwaukee, I took my girlfriend and another couple to Tenuta's for my girlfriend's surprise birthday on Nov 19th, 2020, . Tenuta's sounded like the overall best choice, and was very excited for the opportunity. I made reservations for four, advised them that we'd recently visited Italy and that this was a birthday celebration, and that we were coming from Sheboygan and were looking forward to an authentic experience.

We were seated at a small table adjacent to the bar, best suited for two. It was quite cramped. We were greeted by the hostess after a few minutes. We didn't see a server for at least 10 minutes, so I asked the hostess to put in a pizza for our group while we waited. Eventually a server appeared, and she seemed rather distracted and uninterested in our table. We had to sort of guide her through a basic dining experience (we had to ask about the specials, etc).

We understood that it might be a busy night, but even after the restaurant was half empty, the entire experience felt awkward. Each round of drinks came piecemeal, often waiting 10 minutes for a simple Guiness despite the fact that the reasonably-sized crowd had largely dissipated and we were less than 6 ft from the bar.

Essentially, we felt like an afterthought or a bother. We did order several pasta dishes and deserts, and honestly the flavors and portions of those were great. Hence the 2 stars. But the service seemed systemically dysfunctional to the point where I'd be hesitant to return.

Maybe the server/bartenders are new, or were both having bad nights. But some gesture or courtesy could have been made to smooth things out, especially since we again mentioned it was a birthday party and we'd traveled an hour to try the restaurant. But no effort was made. If this is their standard of service, and they seat people at tables clearly too small for the group, and don't offer a gesture or kind word when service is lacking, then I definitely wouldn't recommend it, despite a cute location and appealing menu.

There are just so many other highly rated options in Milwaukee that we're likely to try others before risking another trip to Tenuta's.