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The California wildfire smoke impacting our region and Friday’s rain did not make it an easy day for festival goers in Milwaukee. Festa Italiana kicked off at Henry Maier Festival Park Friday. “This is the place to be,” said Sandy Winard, the executive director of Festa Italiana. “I mean, if you’re not Italian, you’re an official Italian as soon as...

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Our family recently learned of plans to end the MPS Italian Immersion Program as envisioned by our father, Tom Balistreri, and approved by the Milwaukee Board of School Directors in 2004. The proposed change would convert the Italian immersion school from an immersion program into a diluted “world language model,” merely consisting of one language...

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Nessun Dorma, named for a famous aria in Puccini’s opera Turandot, lived up to its name when a companion and I came for dinner on a Wednesday. We noticed a keyboard in the corner of the bar and to our surprise, at exactly 7:30, a young woman with blue hair dressed in jeans, a sweater, and boots, stepped up and began singing an aria. She had a beaut...

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The owners of Santino's Little Italy in Bay View in Milwaukee are planning to open a second concept just two blocks away in the former Bay Street Pub, which closed in November 2024. Calogero's, 338 E. Bay St., will serve Italian cocktails, wine and small plates, building on the popular Italian pizza and pasta spot by owners Greg Huber and Santo Gal...

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In search of a big bowl of pasta like Nonna used to make? A plate of veal saltimboccacca? A warm Italian smile on a cold day? We hear you. And we’ve pulled together a list of spots where you can get one or more of the above. Some of these eateries have been around for decades. Others are newer on the scene. In either case, they serve us well as the...

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3rd St. Market Hall will welcome a new vendor that’s inspired by one of Milwaukee’s most iconic TV personalities. Fonzarelli’s Italian Deli pays homage to the classic Italian style sandwich shop that has deep roots in Milwaukee’s Italian-American food scene—a tradition that goes back over 50 years. The concept is led by Tim Szuta and Greg Kieckbusc...

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They talk about Chicago, but Milwaukee has some of the best pizza west of Italy. This year, West Allis’s Flour Girl & Flame won several Shepherd Express Best of Awards, as did Balistreri’s on the West Side. On the East Side, there’s Carini’s and Zaffiro’s. Many swear by Papa Luigi’s in Cudahy. With its Italian American history, Bayview seems especi...

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Festival season may be behind us, but the organizers of Festa Italiana still want to give people a little taste this fall. Taste of Italy is another fundraiser that helps support the Italian Community Center (ICC) in Milwaukee. Over 100 volunteers spend weeks prepping meatballs, stuffed shells, calamari and more.  You can also taste a dozen differe...

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He was a most unlikely Civil Rights leader. Father James Groppi was an immigrant’s son, the eleventh of 12 children who grew up behind the family’s grocery store in the Italian section of Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood. Early in his priesthood, Groppi made a trip to Selma, Alabama, that stirred his conscience. The young cleric came back determin...

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Since 1946, Glorioso's Italian Market has been a staple in the Milwaukee community. Owned and operated by Teddy and Rosemary Glorioso, the locally owned grocer has made an indelible mark on the East Side community and beyond, selling high-quality Italian products and providing exceptional customer service. Nearly 80 years after founding the local g...

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