Carini’s La Conca D’Oro

My husband and I went there for our anniversary dinner. I made reservations on a Wednesday night just to be polite. We tried a pizza on the recommendations of the chef and owner for an appetizer. There is a new oven from Italy and it makes wonderful pizzas to share for two. Thank you for a nice evening.

Delicious dinner at Carini’s. We ordered the Sicilian Chicken and Egpplant Parmesan and both were delicious. The chicken was pounded thin and was perfect — just the way we like it and so hard to find that way! We also had a chocolate hazelnut dessert that was absolutely delicious. The owner also came by our table to say hello and make sure our food was OK. Very nice touch! We came here because of a City Tin and will definitely be back!

Food is awesome. My favorite is San Pietro. A shrimp dish with Angel hair pasta. The bread and olive oil is very good. Prices on the high side, but worth it. The service is spotty. They seem to go through a lot of wait staff. Highly recommended!

Ate here for the first time.
Had the fried eggplant app, delicious!
Diavola pizza, +mushrooms + kalamata olives, was amazing. Fair prices, excellent service, A+, will return soon!

I’ve been driving to Sheboygan the last four years to get my fix of Napoletana pizza. I heard about Carini’s from a friend and gave it a shot tonight. I ordered the Diavolo and realized I’ve been missing out. Amazing pie! The crust was crisp and chewy on the inside, sausage was cooked perfectly. The staff was friendly. If you get the chance check out the oven in the back. I got to watch my pizza being tossed, topped, and then fired in 90 seconds. Great place!

Hadn’t been here in years but glad we stopped. I was thinking of the wonderful seafood entrees to try but The full menu page of pizza choices caught our eye immediately and all four of us ordered our own choice to share. Italian sausage was amazing and the crust was excellent. Fresh mozzarella cheese is always a good sign of quality. Will be back soon.

The owner is very nice! We went here for lunch and it was good. I would like try this again at dinner.

Get the pizza! By far the best pizza I’ve had since, ever. Hand tossed right in the open view kitchen by a talented pizza maker and then placed expertly into a 900° wood fired pizza oven. These pies will ruin you for anything else, soooo good. I recommend the Margherita.

Like the place but had a few problems.
Our waitress was very nice, but English was not her strongest skill! She was actually really trying hard, and working hard to be a great server, but we did make some ordering mistakes because of not understanding her that well. Luckily the errors were correctable and we got what we originally wanted!
The calamari was extremely good and it came out lightning quick… So quick I thought maybe that it was supposed to go another table! Loved the dipping sauce it came with too. Bread and oil came next. Here’s a warning — the oil has a very strong garlic spice that will stay with you after you are done eating, and maybe until breakfast the next day! Some may like this. I will admit to a low spice tolerance.
My Veal Parmesan was good. However the red sauce was top notch! I gotta believe that anything on the menu with this sauce is going to be good!
One thing that did bother me…
We came in a few minuets after 8pm on a weeknight. It was reasonably busy for a Thursday evening, we got a nice table in the front room with a view of the street.
By the time we were finishing our meal however, the place had completely cleared out except us. No big deal, except the staff must have been a hurry to get out (even though it wasn’t 9pm — closing time). The TV’s in the barroom were turned off (like most men, I was keeping an eye on the college FB game while spending time with my wife)! The bar stools had been all pulled out and the bar tender was busy sweeping the floor. Lights in certain areas were turned down and when I wanted to use the restroom, I had to zig zag around the obstacles that had been moved so they could clean. Really felt like they wanted to get out of there, and it took away from a nice dinning experience.

Okay, so I love pizza. Like, LOVE. And hands down, without a doubt, Carini’s has the best pizza I’ve ever had in my life.
My bf and I discovered it a few months ago and walked in intending to order pasta. But as soon as I spotted their Acunto Mario wood fired pizza oven from Naples, I had to try the pizza. We both ordered a pie and declared it the best pizza we’d ever had. Thinking we might have oversold it, we went back 3 days later – I think it was even better the second time. We’ve been going once or twice a week for a few months now and it still can’t be beat.
The dough is perfect (not too chewy or too hard, just the right amount of flavor), the sauce fresh and light and flavorful, and their cheeses and meats give every pizza a different flavor. My bf has ordered just about every pizza on the menu (and loved every one of them), but I just keep ordering the Domenico. Cheese and pepperoni have never tasted so good.
I can’t recommend this place highly enough. Eventually I’ll get around to ordering the pasta, but for now I’m loving the pizza.

Simply the best pizza in Milwaukee. We had the Diavolo, Margherita and simple sausage & pepperoni. Wow. The crust and over worked in perfect harmony. No one else comes close !!!
We r going back soon for pasta !!!
One suggestion: Need table cloths. With bread and oils. The table was a mess with nothing to clean it up.

Ordered a spaghetti and meatballs to go and was shocked to be charged 25 dollars. Very over priced. I did ask for 2 extra meatballs but really $ 25 for noodles and meatballs. No bread or salad. Really???. Last time I go to this restaurant

Outstanding food and service. Everything was so fresh! I can’t wait to try the pizza.

My boyfriend & I got a pizza from Carini’s last Friday night. When he called to order it they asked when he wanted it to be ready because with their new wood-​fired oven it takes 90 seconds to cook the pizza, so they’d wait until he got there to fire it up basically. Since he lives just a few blocks away we thought that sounded pretty great to be able to have it so fast on a Friday night, but when he got it home a few minutes later we were both super surprised and very disappointed that the pizza was cold. I’d love to even call it warm, but it just wasn’t. The flavor was amazing but, I don’t want to have to turn on my oven at home to heat up a pizza that I just ordered from a restaurant. If I wanted to do that I’d just get a Digiorno & call it a night. We also tried to heat it up slice by slice in the microwave which definitely helped temperature wise (obviously) but as you fellow pizza lovers know, it comes at a price and the crust was soggy as a result. We may try it again at some point but definitely dining in. I just don’t think a pizza should cool off THAT significantly in less than 10 minutes … major bummer overall.

Real nice neighbourhood restaurant that has been around for a while but keeps everything fresh. My wife and I enjoyed going there since moving to MKE five years ago and have never been disappointed. They offer a variety of Italian food from simple to fancy, and just added an authentic wood fired pizza oven, complete with Italian pizza chef! Like I needed another reason to go… The owner will likely stop by and greet you regardless how busy. Try the peach Bellini, always reminds me of our travels to Italy.

This is an absolute must if you like Sicilian cuisine. The calamari steak — incredible. The spedini (they make at least 5 varieties) are the best in the city. And their newly added Neapolitan pizzas are absolutely perfect. Get this place on your list immediately.

My wife and I joined her sister and my brother-​in-​law here last evening for dinner. Our basis for trying it was my brother-​in-​law (who is from Italy) having encountered their pizza chef (Alfredo) and, following their conversation in their native tongue, was impressed with his culinary history and commitment to the methods of the old country. The Neapolitan pizza offering are something new, enabled by importing a real wood-​fired brick oven.
Wow! What a wonderful experience! We shared the calamari and antipasto apps (very good); the garlicky dipping oil with the bread was divine. Three of us had the side Caesar salads – very good but even better with the extra anchovies Alfredo had given us to sample. Three of us enjoyed a full-​bodied red (can’t remember name, but I think #202 on their wine list); my sister-​in-​law stayed with their house Pinot Grigio (quite nice). Dinner was pizzas (each generously individually sized). They’re not listed on Unilocal’s menu yet but just awesome! Wife & I had a Quattro and a Carini (the latter with Anchovies added. I’m a pizza maker – a pretty decent one, self-​taught with Gemignani’s Pizza Bible. Gotta say: Alfredo has inspired me to continue my education. We just loved this place, and will be back. It is comfortable and unpretentious, very fairly priced, great food and service. What a find!

The main reason Carini’s is my favorite aside from very good Classic Italian dishes, is the owner and staff. I have been here 3 times and always had great service. The stand out was when I brought a large group of my friends to celebrate my mom’s moving back to PA. The owner continually checked on us, laughed with us, made my mom feel very special and bought our entire group a round of drinks! We had such a fun night! This experience makes Carini’s untouchable in the Italian Restaurant category! You can keep your stuffy, expensive Bartolottas. I’ll take the old school family oriented Carini’s.

Totally legit old school Italian in N. M’waukee. Family owned and really friendly. They label their own «Chianti» (Sangiovese) from California. We (3) had a calamari app and Veal Marsalla, Veal Parmigiana, and Spiedini. The were perfect. There’s a reason these are classic dishes. When done right… boom! Finish with canoli and you’ll be happy. After drinks and a couple of bottles of wine, we happily ventured back out into the snow storm to our cozy hotel.
This is a can’t miss!

The lunch buffet at Carini’s has been on my to-​do list for several months. I was intrigued by what I would find in an Italian buffet that didn’t focus on pizza. I finally made it in a couple of days ago.
There were four cold salads, including a Caprese and a pasta salad with bowtie pasta. They kept the cold section covered so it remained sufficiently chilled.
There were also two soups, a white bean soup and an Italian Tomato soup. I tried the Italian Tomato soup and loved the savory flavor of the broth.
The entrees included Eggplant Spiedini and Chicken Parmesan.
The Eggplant Spiedini was sliced eggplant rolled and stuffed with bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. It was tender and delicious served with their marinara sauce which is made from scratch.
The Chicken Parmesan was made with thin cut chicken breasts, lightly breaded and topped with a small amount of marinara sauce so avoid saturation. The chicken was perfectly cooked and very tender. I didn’t want to get another five or six from the buffet but I knew it would result in an uncomfortable feeling which would ruin a beautiful, sunny day, so I stopped after two.
At $ 9.95 this was a great value for fresh food of this high quality.
I overheard the server tell the table next to me that the desserts are made from scratch, too, including tiramisu and cannoli. She said the shell of the cannoli was also made there from scratch.
I couldn’t resist, and I was glad I made the call. The cannoli was large and delicious. I tried to eat it with a knife and fork, but Pietro (the owner and chef) said «it’s a cannoli. you have to pick it up with your hands.»
Pietro spent several minutes talking with me, telling me the history of the restaurant and his story. He moved here in 1968 and worked in several restaurants until he bought the restaurant in 1996. He still does the cooking along with an assistant or two.
Carini’s specializes in seafood dishes as well and fresh seafood brought in daily. Weekends are much busier than weeknights.
The front windows also open so you can eat in a covered patio setting.
Carini’s La Conca D’oro is one of the rare ethnic treasures serving up classic dining in a city that sees more «modern dining» places opening.
Let’s not forget the classics.