At OnMilwaukee, we consider in lifting up all voices and working with our platform to assist others’ dreams. And that is what we hope to do for Dominic the Food Reviewer. When I initial satisfied Dominic almost two years back, I was amazed by his passion, his curiosity and his desire in increasing his writing. Around time, I have not only appreciated getting to know him much better, but he has taught me as significantly as I have him. My hope is that you’ll not only take pleasure in examining Dominic’s evaluations, but also glean knowing and pleasure from seeing the environment of food stuff as a result of his eyes. — Lori Fredrich, Dining Editor

This week I went to Santino’s Minimal Italy, 352 E. Stewart St. The cafe opened in January of 2017. Whilst I was there, I received the probability to sit down and converse to the homeowners, Santo Galati and Greg Huber. 



Santo instructed me that his mom and dad arrived to Milwaukee from Italy in the 1950s. Motivated by his travels through Italy and the foods that he grew up ingesting, Santo required to convey his fashion of Italian cuisine to Milwaukee.

He also informed us that the cafe was previously an aged biker bar identified as the Nautical Inn right before it became an Italian cafe. It was quite run down when they bought it, and the pals rehabbed the overall setting up with the aid from MKE Style and design Create found in Bay Watch, Milwaukee. 

Prior to working a restaurant, Greg was in professional banking, and Santo was a private investigator. Coming in without having any background know-how about the restaurant business, Greg and Santo swiftly learned the skills they necessary to operate a prosperous cafe by means of difficult work and tips supplied from buddies in the cafe marketplace. Both of those expressed how a great deal they enjoy the respect the cafe community has for every single other.

As for the foods, all of their ingredients are new and produced from scratch, which you can notify with every chunk. The pizzas are all created with double zero flour, which is imported from Italy along with their tomatoes. Greg spelled out that they use the optimum top quality of tomatoes that you can get. The cheese arrives from Grande Cheese which is found in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. The pizza oven that they have is from Italy. It is a 6 thousand pound oven and the homeowners experienced to take out a wall from the building just so that they could in good shape it into the kitchen area. 

The decor at Santino’s is very warm and relaxed with photos of aged singers and actresses like Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren covering the walls. Aged videos are performed on the TV’s for supplemental atmosphere.




Outside they have a lovely patio, and functions this sort of as a bocce ball court that you can play on with your household and buddies. Our waiter’s identify was Tommy. He was really useful and sort and was capable to answer all my questions about the neighborhood and the cafe. 

For dinner I tried using the Paisano pizza, which incorporated toppings these as san marzano tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, Italian sausage, pesto, asiago cheese, and cherry tomatoes ($18). 



The crust on the pizza experienced the best crunch. I also seriously savored the Italian sausage which had a extremely flavorful kick to it. I could tell the substances were being fresh new, and the combination of the toppings manufactured the paisano just one of my beloved pizzas in Milwaukee. 

I also sampled the bocce ball meatball as an appetizer ($13). The 10 oz. selfmade meatball was mouth watering and massive adequate for a total food. 



For dessert I tried using the common Italian gelato, chocolate cake and mouth watering mascarpone coffee-flavored Italian tiramisu ($7). 



Santino’s was a excellent blend of higher quality foods and a welcoming ambiance. This is a ought to attempt Italian cafe if you are seeking for a delightful meal or a put to dangle out and play bocce ball with a cocktail. The costs had been realistic and the staff will deal with you like household. 
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