Cafe Calatrava

Came here for Downtown Dining Week. I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious and hearty their options were. The heirloom Tomato basil soup was to die for and the Margherita Flatbread was delicious and obviously homemade. The dough was out of this world.

I’ve been meaning to write a review of my dining experience at The Milwaukee Art Museum’s Café Calatrava for the last two weeks.
I’ve been dining there sporadically for a number of years. The food has changed radically over time as the head chefs have come and gone.
This past visit reminded me that Jason Gorman, of Potawatomi’s Dream Dance fame, was now the head chef!
Based on what I knew of him, I was looking forward to a good meal; at least.
The meal turned out to be great! I ordered the lamb burger. It was served on incredible focacia. Whether it is made in house or not, it is quite good.
The sandwich was perfectly prepared, served hot, and seasoned well. It was served with a side of wonderful potato chips.
I already look forward to my next visit to this incarnation of the restaurant. And I certainly hope Jason stays on for a long time.
My only complaint was that my server did not check back with me to see how my meal was in a timely manner.
I have long had issues with service here for a long time. It is much improved but still needs a touch up.
All in all, I highly recommend this version of Café Calatrava. I don’t think you will be disappointed!

I loved the view and menu choices available, but the service left a lot to be desired. No refill on my water and we waited 15 minutes to get our bill. We walked up to the counter and had to hunt someone down just to get the bill to pay for our food.
We also had an extra serving of toast to pay for because the waiter mistook my asking for wheat toast (it came with the brunch) instead of white as asking for an additional side of wheat toast. I’d have mentioned this to the waiter if he had ever come back around to see to us.
I’m sure I’ll be back again at some point, I just hope the service is better next time.

There are many excellent gluten-​free choices on the menu of this hidden Milwaukee gem. Particularly now, while the museum undergoes massive renovation and there is very little art on display, it is still worth it to make your way underneath the museum’s massive – and deservedly famous – Windhover Hall to the intimate Café Calatrava. Here, you can enjoy a glass of wine, appetizers, a light lunch or a substantial meal. Many of the items are marked gluten free, some are vegan.
Today my husband and I had lunch here with my mother-​in-​law. She enjoyed a bowl of corn chowder, which she said was delicious – she ate the whole bowl, and that is unusual for her. My husband had a wonderful cubano sandwich and I had an excellent chicory salad. The salad’s fresh corn kernels were sweet and juicy, the blueberries plump and tasty, and the sunflower seeds added just the right crunch. I would definitely order the salad again.

The art and the view are excellent, but the food is disappointing. The hamburger is served with only one degree of doneness, not cooked to order. The potato chips were very stale. If the convenience of eating at the museum is paramount, eat here. If the quality of food is important, then eat elsewhere before or after your museum visit.

Lovely place for lunch even if you’re just «passing thru». Delicious creative seasonal menus (chilled yellow watermelon soup!), artful presentations, locally sourced meats, produce and craft beers, and the view, well that’s simply spectacular. Professional, courteous waitstaff as well.

A really beautiful setting. Sweeping view of the lake. Modernism décor. The food is well thought out, beautifully presented, and simply delicious. Dishes of note include a burger, salad and cheese plate.

This is a great spot for lunch when you’re visiting the art museum. The café is small and well staffed with friendly locals. It’s an upscale place which is unusual for a museum café. Plus every table has a great view of the outdoors and Lake Michigan.
The menu is varied with small plates, sandwiches, brunch on Sunday, and plates that would rank as entrees. For a starter I tried the fried green tomatoes which were fine and then had a salmon brunch special which was well prepared and generous in size. There’s plenty of more things to try on future visits.
This is a nice room in a really special building, one that maintains the tone of the fine arts museum you are in. This is not always the case at museum cafes; no-​one would say the basement cafeteria at the Metropolitan Museum in New York does that. So you can take a lunch break here without forgetting the art works you came to see.

Fresh, locally grow items on the menu, just in love with the Panzanella salad.

Delicious food, amazing view. Prices aren’t that bad considering that it’s a museum café.

The café has a great view. This is a special place in an incredible museum… located in WI? Not a typo, WI.
Even the water is special: water with cucumber slices.
We shared the mandarin salad and were really happy with our selection.
They also carry Sprecher beer… yes beer. And it is delish.

I was here with my girlfriend. The food was very good, But the service was very bad. That’s why I gave 3 stars, otherwise I could give 5 stars. I asked twice to give us a straw, but there was no respond for my request.
I definitely go there to have a lunch If I visit Milwaukee again.

I think the main attraction here is the view – that and the chance to rest a bit from traipsing around the museum. The menu is inventive but limited. The service is always friendly but not always efficient. The prices are pretty reasonable. All in all, it is a pleasant East-​Sidey kind of place, worth a visit in any location. As it is, we keep coming back to it fairly regularly, both when visiting the museum and when tired from walking along the lakefront – because in the end, you can’t beat the view.

Came to Café Calatrava for Milwaukee Dining Week. Myself and 3 friends went on a Sunday afternoon and it was absolutely gorgeous out. We were seated at the best spot in the place, with direct views of the lake and surrounded by windows.
We had the chicken pallerte and it was so good. This place serves «cute» food, meaning small portions but oh so pretty looking. With a $ 35 value, we were given a 3 course meal at the dining week price of only 10 bux. So worth it!
Café Calatrava is an excellent place to eat, even if you don’t check out the museum — go for the food and the views!

Beautiful space, and glad we came when it wasn’t too warm, otherwise we’d likely have sat outside (also beautiful, right on the lake) and missed the amazing room.
We arrived on a Saturday at 11:45, and had a 5 minute wait, not bad at all. I figure the people after us had to wait at least 30 minutes for their table. (They do take reservations! I highly recommend you do that.)
The food was alright, they have a decent wine selection, but you really want to enjoy the view here.
I had the Roasted Portabella and Spaghetti Squash entrée. It was ok, I thought it was a bit oily for my taste though. Husband had the Salmon Burger, recommended by our waitress. Again, nothing spectacular, but the view sure was! Price point was on par with what you’d expect from a sit down space in the museum.
I’d go again, think you should check it out too.

We sat down and after looking over the menu we realized that it was Brunch only and really nothing for vegetarians. After sitting there for 5 minutes without water or a waitress, we decided to leave. No one even noticed we were leaving. And their pop doesn’t have free refills.

An awesome and comfortable addition to the museum great for a meal and some r&r…The prices are reasonable, the food is delicious (and very inventive), the service is good, and the views (and light) are inspiring. Definitely a place to stop in when you need a real meal.
P. S. The small snack café is also awesome. I especially liked the social consciousness emphasis that you notice in the food and drink that they serve with a lot of things fair trade and environmentally sustainable.

I would go to the Café Calatrava even if it was not part of the MAM. The setting and views are amazing with many windows and great views. You are dining in a work of art. The service is good, and the food fresh and tasty.

Love this place! Beautiful view and the menu is very inventive. It seems to change to go with the special exhibit. Have had everything from pizza to salands to sandwiches which are always a little out of the ordinary (in a good way!). Always a fun surprise after a day in the galleries!

I had always wanted to see the wonderful Santiago Calatrava designed Milwaukee Museum of Art. My goal was to view a retrospective of Andy Warhol paintings done in the decade before he died. The building, right on Lake Michigan, is almost luminous. Light is everywhere. And the exhibit did not disappoint.
But I had a wonderful surprise. I came up on Megabus from Chicago, walked to the museum from the museum from the Amtrak Station where the bus stops, and I was really hungry. When I am hungry not any kind of great art will do. I had to eat!
In the basement I found the Café Calatrava. The small restaurant may not have more than 20 tables. But there is not a bad table on the premises. Anywhere you sit you can see the waters of Lake Michigan right there.
My server was Elizabeth who greeted me with a smile, competently answered my questions, and took the order for homemade beef vegetable soup and macaroni and cheese. The soup was truly homemade and was about the richest and most wonderful beef vegetable soup I have had. I did not want it to end.
Very quickly Elizabeth served the macaroni and cheese. You know there is macaroni and cheese and there is macaroni and cheese. I confess that in moments of culinary desperacy I have put down quite a few packages of Kraft mac and cheese! Anyway, this was the most luscious mac and cheese that I have eaten. There was a sprig of rosemary in it, fresh parsley sprinkles, and the top had dollops of goat cheese. I thought that the cheese that was in it must have been aged sharp cheddar but I wasn’t sure. I wondered at one point if sherry might have been used in the preparation Anyway, I didn’t want this to end either.
At the end, I was too full for dessert, so no comment there.
When Elizabeth returned with the bill I did learn that this establishment does not accept American Express but, hey, as a true American I do have more than one (very used) credit card. So I handed over my Visa. I think she said that only Visa and Mastercharge are accepted (strange because in the rest of the museum I used my American Express). Also, I would have liked a small house salad but they do not exist. Five or six entrée salads were on the menu.
Those were just little things. I go to many art museums and I have learned never to expect much from the food services. I gave this restaurant a five rating because the server was excellent, the food was a wonderful surprise and was good on the palatte, and because the location by the Lake in a major architectural effort was stunning.
Go to the Milwaukee Art Museum for their good exhibits and displays. But build in a special stop in the Café Calatrava. I think you will enjoy it.