Based on a friend’s recommendation, T. Mario and I checked out Tenuta’s Italian Restuarant recently. This Bay View establishment stood out from your standard pizza joint in a lot of ways. For one, they had a full menu of Italian dishes; I would go so far as to say that the pizza isn’t their focus. Another huge difference is the atmosphere. When you first walk in you’ll immediately notice that the lighting is much dimmer than your average restaurant. There are candles lighting every table and the lights were turned down to the point that someone with shitty night vision would be in total hell, crashing into tables and whatnot. While this would be hilarious for me to watch, I can’t imagine the poor bastard who couldn’t see would be enjoying it very much.

Not that there’s anything wrong with dim lighting. There are plenty of times when a more intimate setting would be appropriate. Like if I was having dinner with a nice lady instead of a dude friend. Anyway, T. Mar and I got a table and commenced with the romancing.
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One of the last places you would look for a good pizza place is in the strip mall attached to a gas station. But that’s exactly where Times Square Bistro & Pizzeria is located. Snuggled between a Mobil and a liquor store (a few blocks from the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower), Time Square’s main goal is the quick by-the-slice type service. But don’t write them off as a strictly slice place; there are a few other surprises in this strip mall pizzeria.
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I’ve been fortunate enough to basically live down the street from Zaffiro’s Pizza my entire time in Milwaukee. The East Side is full of pizza places, and they all stand out in their own way. And for the most part, the pizza is what is going to be bringing you back to Zaffiro’s.

Right when you walk in, you’ll notice that the place is pretty small. The bar along the left is usually full, as is the dining room in the back. The red and white checkerboard tables are extremely close together, so don’t be expecting a quiet, romantic dinner with your sweetie. If you come in on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night, expect to wait almost a half hour for a table. It’s worth the wait, trust me.
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1800 E. North Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53202
http://www.pizzaman.org/

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to realize that you’ve neglected one of the best pizza restaurants in Wisconsin. Pizza Man burned down Monday night/Tuesday morning (01/19/10). I was drinking at the bar next door, Cush, mere hours before the fire started and thinking about how I haven’t been to Pizza Man in nearly 5 years. When I woke up to the news that it had burned I was devastated.
Pizza Man’s thin crust was so delicious that it brought a clientele to the east side that would normally hide their children in Brookfield until they were 18. It was typical to see a family strolling out of Pizza Man late on a Friday night (a neighborhood dedicated to binge drinking in it’s highest form). Not only was the pizza fantastic but the interior was amazing. Set like an old brick cellar with a huge wooden bar when you walk in, Pizza Man was a sight to be seen. It also had a outdoor seating area covered by trees and an ambiance that brought back memories of New York City.
I haven’t eaten there in a while and therefore cannot offer a fresh review but I will give you tales of it’s greatness through fond memories some of my friends have as well as my own.
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There’s something about a hidden treasure that totally gets my rocks off. 

In the same way that I immediately recognize that I want to do the sex to the uptight girl in glasses in most ’80s movies — even before she lets her hair down, smokes a spliff, fast dances and totally blows off finals to go to the beach! — I feel I’m able to look beyond the implied swank of a restaurant hot spot in favor of an understated and time-tested dining venue. In doing that, I find value in a place like Lisa’s Pizza, a valentine of local pizza that’s given me one of my best Milwaukee dining experiences to date.
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Around noon on New Year’s Eve, T. Mario and I decided to try out one of the pizza joints in town that we had been meaning to go to. Unfortunately, the three we had in mind were all closed until later in the afternoon. Seeing as we’d lost about an hour on this quest, we decided to just stop at the next pizzeria we found. Luckily for us we didn’t have to wait long. We came across Angelo’s Pizza on the corner of 16th and Wells on the Marquette campus.

Now I had heard of Angelo’s before, and good things about it too. But I was under the impression it wasn’t open any longer. When I first moved to Milwaukee, my dad had recommended going there for pizza, but he couldn’t remember exactly where it was and the Internet didn’t provide any results. Which is weird, because now a Google search for “Angelo’s Pizza Milwaukee” will show you exactly where the place is. So anyway, the place still exists, and I was finally able to see what my dad was talking about.
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Like abortion, religion and Brett Favre, I’ve found Pizza Shuttle to be a rather polarizing topic. 

Since it was berthed on Milwaukee’s East Side in 1985, Shuttle has cultivated a loyal following — one cheap and overtly cheesy thick crust pizza at a time. Equally, it has garnered its fair share of hatred through over the years with its spotty service, Chuck E. Cheese for adults-type atmosphere, and hit-and-miss quality that makes the Son of Sam murders seem consistent by comparison.

Love it or hate it, if you live in or near Milwaukee, you almost certainly have an opinion of Pizza Shuttle. Here is mine.
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I had been anxious to try Maria’s for a long time, so when the opportunity finally presented itself, I jumped at it. Unfortunately Maria’s is closed on Mondays, so T. Mario and I had to settle for Steny’s instead. But less than a week later we made a second attempt that was moderately more successful.

First off, Maria’s is kind of a pain in the ass to get to. It’s about a 25 minute drive from the downtown Milwaukee area any way you drive there, so you’re probably going to have to go out of your way for it. But I think there is enough reason for you to take that trek down Forest Home Ave to soak in everything that is Maria’s Pizza.
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Steny’s calls itself “A Milwaukee Phenomenon” on its Web site. Beyond the fact that it still considers itself a phenomenon after being cited for six critical health violations, there’s nothing remotely phenomenal about Steny’s.  

After Ronnie and I sampled a Steny’s slice (which he likened to “a dried fetus”) during the Iron Pizza Competition, we decided to give it a fair trial Monday… after finding out that Maria’s and The Olive Pit were both closed. Upon arriving, there was an early sign that this wouldn’t be a great experience. Not so much a feeling, a signal or an omen — a literal sign.
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You probably wouldn’t expect to find some tasty pizza in the lobby area between two big office buildings, but that’s exactly where I found it this week. Then again, Sababa Cafe isn’t really a pizza place; they just happen to serve it. The menu is mostly of the salad and sandwich variety that you would probably expect from a restaurant tucked between two fairly busy office buildings; they even serve breakfast and coffee shop standard drinks. Seeing how diverse the menu was, I was curious how good the pizza could be. Read more »