Third-rate caffe
For my birthday meal with my parents, I decided to try a restaurant in Milwaukee that I’d passed after Summerfest last year. It looked nice from the outside and was recommended by a few people online. The meal didn’t go all that well. Perhaps the lack of a real website should have been a warning (they do have a menu listing on Foodspot).
We were lucky enough to find two parking spots directly out front, so things did start off on a good note. That didn’t last long, however, as we found three grungy pieces of silverware before the waitress even came. When she did come, she didn’t introduce herself or take us through the menu. She simply asked if we wanted something to drink.
On the table was a small plate of olives, a glass of bread sticks, and two smaller carafes of spiced oil and balsamic vinegar. I have a feeling the bread sticks were made by Alessi, and stayed there between guests at the table. The olives were decent, but not refilled once during the meal. A bread basket eventually arrived at the table, but was full of bread that was no doubt frozen just an hour prior. The butter accompanying it was well-flavored, but it wasn’t obvious that the butter was better suited for the bread sticks by the way it was served.
We ordered scallops as an appetizer, and were served four U-10 (that’s what the menu said at least) scallops. The waitress neglected to bring appetizer plates despite our bread plates being littered with breadcrumbs and oil. The scallops were cooked correctly, but lacked seasoning. Someone had neglected to salt them it seemed.
After our appetizer, a long wait for dinner began. It was at least a half an hour before our entrees were served. The waitress said nothing about the wait, and certainly didn’t apologize once our food arrived. It was as if it should always take a half hour between courses. Was our bread refilled during that time? No.
The entrees proved to be just as saltless as the appetizer. I’m not one to smother my food with salt, and definitely not the type to reach for salt right away at a restaurant. I had to this time. I ordered duck ravioli with duck sausage. The sausage was great, the ravioli was pretty good. The pasta tasted fresh and the cream sauce was well done. It just lacked salt.
My dad’s osso bucco was decent, but was lacking the vegetables advertised on the menu. Well, not completely lacking, there was just a scarcity of roasted vegetables and to not have that many is disappointing. My mother’s meal was an atrocity. She didn’t say much about it at first, but eventually let me try it. It was disgusting. She ordered pappardelle pasta with seafood in a butter sauce. The pasta tasted like it had never been drained and no sauce had been put on it. It was that watery. It also lacked seasoning.
The waitress did come back at some point to ask how things were. I said so-so, but she didn’t inquire further. So-so? Wouldn’t you wonder why? Apparently not her. When the hostess came over, my mother let her know that her pasta was pretty gross. The hostess said “Can we re-toss it?” and my mother declined. No other option was given. When the waitress came back over, my mother let her know what she had told the hostess. The waitress said “Aww, I’m sorry.” and basically moved on.
When the waitress asked if we’d like a dessert, I replied that we didn’t want to risk it. She didn’t inquire further and went to get the check. No offer was made for a free dessert or even a discount on the meal. No effort at all was made to make up for the the quality of the food or the service. Needless to say, she got an extraordinarily small tip.
I won’t go as far as saying that I was disappointed by the meal. Perhaps I would have been if I paid for it. To be disappointed would imply that I expect every meal to be excellent. I don’t. I realize that some places are better than others and that certain places just aren’t good. I expected Third Ward Caffe to be good, I realized quickly that it isn’t.