At OnMilwaukee, we believe in lifting up all voices and working with our platform to assistance others’ dreams. And that’s what we hope to do for Dominic the Foods Reviewer. When I to start with achieved Dominic almost two decades back, I was impressed by his enthusiasm, his curiosity and his curiosity in enhancing his composing. Over time, I’ve not only relished obtaining to know him far better, but he has taught me as a lot as I have him. My hope is that you will not only take pleasure in looking through Dominic’s opinions, but also glean understanding and pleasure from seeing the earth of foods as a result of his eyes. — Lori Fredrich, Dining Editor

This week I went to Santino’s Little Italy, 352 E. Stewart St. The cafe opened in January of 2017. Whilst I was there, I got the possibility to sit down and chat to the entrepreneurs, Santo Galati and Greg Huber. 



Santo advised me that his parents arrived to Milwaukee from Italy in the 1950s. Influenced by his travels during Italy and the food that he grew up consuming, Santo desired to deliver his design of Italian delicacies to Milwaukee.

He also informed us that the restaurant was previously an aged biker bar called the Nautical Inn just before it became an Italian cafe. It was fairly operate down when they bought it, and the good friends rehabbed the whole making with the support from MKE Layout Create situated in Bay See, Milwaukee. 

Prior to jogging a cafe, Greg was in professional banking, and Santo was a non-public investigator. Coming in with out any history understanding about the restaurant business, Greg and Santo immediately learned the skills they wanted to run a profitable restaurant by way of challenging function and guidance provided from close friends in the cafe industry. Equally expressed how a lot they enjoy the regard the restaurant local community has for just about every other.

As for the foods, all of their components are fresh new and made from scratch, which you can convey to with every chunk. The pizzas are all made with double zero flour, which is imported from Italy along with their tomatoes. Greg stated that they use the maximum top quality of tomatoes that you can get. The cheese will come from Grande Cheese which is situated in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. The pizza oven that they have is from Italy. It is a six thousand pound oven and the owners experienced to get rid of a wall from the building just so that they could in shape it into the kitchen. 

The decor at Santino’s is very heat and comfy with pictures of aged singers and actresses like Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren covering the walls. Old flicks are performed on the TV’s for more atmosphere.




Exterior they have a stunning patio, and things to do these as a bocce ball courtroom that you can play on with your family and pals. Our waiter’s title was Tommy. He was quite practical and form and was able to remedy all my questions about the community and the restaurant. 

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



The crust on the pizza experienced the great crunch. I also definitely relished the Italian sausage which experienced a extremely flavorful kick to it. I could explain to the ingredients ended up fresh, and the combination of the toppings built the paisano a person of my favorite pizzas in Milwaukee. 

I also sampled the bocce ball meatball as an appetizer ($13). The 10 oz. handmade meatball was delicious and huge sufficient for a whole food. 



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



Santino’s was a great combination of high quality food stuff and a welcoming ambiance. This is a have to try out Italian restaurant if you are hunting for a scrumptious food or a position to dangle out and engage in bocce ball with a cocktail. The selling prices have been fair and the employees will address you like family.