Cafe Calamari was one of the prime Italian restaurant's in Lake Geneva. Well not true anymore. Ordered the angel hair pasta, marinara sauce and meatballs. They used to give you two large veal home made meatballs. Not so anymore! The marinara sauce seemed like it came out of a jar and you get 4 small meatballs, like the frozen meat balls in a bag. They even have cut back on the quantity of pasta you get. So disappointing! Two friends with us had the special of Sea Bass @ $40 and the amount of fish was about 6oz. We have a home in Geneva National and time to drive to Sweet Aroma!! So disappointing !! Take a pass! Jonathons in Delavan has better far better pasta! read more

Beautiful ambiance, fantastic service, and great food. Had a wonderful time celebrating my friends rehearsal dinner here.

There you go! Nice place for high quality food. The chef really knows what they are doing. Pasta and all dishes seem to be so authentic I'm not sure how it's done with so many tables. My complements to the chef! Servers are very good and make the meal a pleasant experience. Any item is the best and my guests and I have toured the menu over the years. Great value vs price. Try the fennel based sauce. It should be bottled and sold at the restaurant. The signature salad is made table side and it's the real deal. Wonderful blend of spices, veggies and fruit/nuts. You can order a pizza at the bar only. read more

Very busy restaurant. We had a party of 8 and it was recommended to get there around 4 pm to be Seated quickly. Food (Ribs) were excellent, fall of the bone. They don't use a sweet sauce but it was excellent. Would definitely return. read more

We're on a trip and tried this place. Excellent Italian food! We had a nice table looking at the lake, and everything was very good! Highly recommend read more

served undercooked salmon resulted in food poisoning, severe symptoms on 18 July 20..called restaurant next day left message no response...patronized for years will never go there again..you will get ill and the restaurant doesn't care. FACTS read more

Hubby and I ate here for our anniversary dinner. We stayed at the ridge hotel down the street, and let me tell you this place did not disappoint . We had a Calamari app that was the best we've ever had followed by some of the BEST pasta . I can't remember the names of the dishes off hand but trust me it was AMAZING . Our drinks were Delish too! Staff was great . Bartender was wonderful ! Very pleased with our visit :) read more

Cafe Calamari - The best pasta EVER!!! - Italian Near Me - Williams Bay, Wisconsin

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This is a prime restaurant in the heart of vacation land. If you plan on not waiting go early. We showed up 5 mins before they opened and the restaurant was full in a half-hour. Seating outdoors is great. You are near the water. There is a playground across the street so kids can play before and after dinner, while the grown-ups get so quiet time for adult conversation. All the food was well prepared. Of course, if the joint is named Cafe Calamari then you need to start off with fried calamari. The Bruschetta al Pomodoro was also very nice. The House and Caesar Salads were good, not too large. For entrees we had Sea Bass, Seafood Diavolo, Chicken Picatta and Salmon. All came with fresh pasta and vegetables. The kids had Penne, which they devoured in seconds. The wine list was fine. Service was very attentive; they were very knowledge of the menu and wine selections. Cafe Calamari is the perfect place to be on a summer evening. read more

It's OK. I am a snob about Italian food as I lived in Rome. The location is great; but food is just OK

Cafe Calamari is located across the street from Geneva Lake and a park. Beautiful setting! Most of the food is Italian but they also have steaks and seafood. It is amazing! Great place for a date night, family or business. read more

I came here with a large group during a weekend of celebrating the life of a recently passed friend. We had a private room in the back and the staff were lovely and kind. The pasta came in generous portions and, this was months ago and I don't even remember what pasta dish I ordered, but three other things stand out: the delicious free bread and olive oil for dipping, the amazing fried calamari appetizer (light and crispy without being overly greasy) and the decadent chocolate mousse was so creamy and perfect. I don't live in the area but would definitely come back! read more

Had a wonderful experience here! The drinks were amazing, the bordelaise steak was perfectly cooked with amazing mashed potatoes. The house salad dressing was amazing with the salad. The best flourless chocolate cake! And the tiramisu was also absolutely amazing. If I had to give one negative review, it was that the calamari had bland cocktail sauce instead of an aioli sauce and you would think this place would have the most amazing calamari, hence the name. Besides that, I'd come back here over and over again! read more

This is my third visit and my last. I asked for a "large" platter of grilled vegetables as my entree. I even placed my hands to display my meaning. The waiter seemed to understand and even asked if I wanted a balsamic demi-glaze, nice touch! What I received was a side plate of about 75 cents worth of steamed veggies for 15.95. I don't mind the screwing too much, but to get steamed, nasty tasteless veggies instead of the grilled I ordered was a "here, shut up and eat" moment that I did not appreciate. My friend ordered the pasta with Italian sausage. He got the sausage alright. The pasta was served in a soup bowl much too small for the volume of pasta. There was virtually no sauce and the pasta was sitting in water that had not been allowed to drain properly. We waited for the waiter to return, which he didn't necessitating the summoning of the hostess who reported to the waiter and this took several annoying minutes. The waiter agreed, apologized and returned with a scupper of sauce. This did nothing to resolve the water issue so he exchanged the dish with the same problem. Ten minutes later he complained to the waiter who agreed and removed the dish. A lady came out and apologized which was appreciated. Problem is, we came there for dinner, not apologies and excuses. Poor quality, slow service, high prices, small volume. You would think grilled veggies and pasta aren't too terribly challenging. read more

It's crazy that little old Williams Bay has become the foodie capital of the Lake Geneva area. No better place to start with this amazing Italian restaurant. The house salads is the most decadent and favorite I have ever had. read more

The cafe is so beautiful and picturesque. The view from the balcony is really nice and I really enjoyed the food a lot. It would be five stars but they were not super aware of social distancing. There were people sitting right behind us and less than six feet away to the left. The highlight of the visit was our waitress, Rachel, who was so sweet and attentive. We overheard her telling a friend about an ex husband and Rachel, I just want you to know that you're hot af and can do soooooo much better, girl. Your hair was also on point. Do request her if you come in! One of my favorite waiters ever, PERIOD. read more

The food was excellent on a Monday evening. My friend had the bbq rib's special and I had the shrimp and chicken giamberti. Oysters Rockefeller was great! read more

This is an elegant place with a lovely ambiance. Nice wine selection and yummy bread and olive oil on the table. My actual meal was fine but the sauce could have had more flavor. The meatballs were amazing, however. My husband had a meat sauce and sausage, which were flavorful. read more

Cafe Calamari - Italian Near Me - Williams Bay, Wisconsin

Cafe calamari should have excellent calamari- and it certainly doesn't! Too much breading and a bland boring sauce. How about a lighter breading and some aioli? Especially if your cafe is named after the fish. Let's make the calamari a star! Mussels? Skip them, no flavor and no meat. Now let's get to the good stuff: house salad, very good don't upgrade. Pasta, prime rib & steak all excellent. Flavors and huge portions. I would skip the apps all together and just enjoy the ambiance and the main dish! Also, the service was excellent. Luis made the birthday event especially great. read more

We recently took my son and his wife for dinner here (for their anniversary) It was wonderful. Service was excellent and the food was served hot and very delicious. The waitress was cheerful and helpful. read more

Off to a good start by them having a very pleasant greet gal - she was great. Added menu pics because the prices I found online were less than actual and then I deleted while trying to post - ugh. Anyway, not a huge increase but still more. Waited a while for the food but it was good. Would probably come back when on the area. read more

Cafe Calamari - Took the group. One is g-free and they had a dedicated menu which is great! Good food. - Italian Near Me - Williams Bay, Wisconsin

Was my son's 20th. Looked for a special place and found it. Wonderful Italian food including one of the best steaks I've ever had. Personal and attentive service. Nice wine list and choice of cocktails. If you are staying near Lake Geneva, make sure to have dinner at this little gem. read more

Cafe Calamari - Italian Near Me - Williams Bay, Wisconsin

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I've never left a meal more conflicted. We had reservations for 9 p.m. - later than we would have liked but we made them day of and understood this restaurant to be popular. We arrived a few minutes before 9 and were told our table wasn't ready and to wait at the bar. There were several open tables, but OK, that's fine. We ordered cocktails and waited. 9 became 9:15. 9:15 became 9:20. Finally, a member of our party spoke up to the hostesses. We were 20 minutes past our reservation and there were still several open tables. After my friend objected, we were seated immediately to one of the several open tables. And then, more waiting. Waiting for appetizers. Waiting for drinks. Waiting for our meals. Add in some snootiness one of our friends received over a simple question on preparedness on his salmon, and the service completely struck out. But the food. The sea bass special was PHE-NOM-EN-AL. Encrusted in crab, it was almost worth the fortnight we waited for it to be placed it front of us. It surpassed our expectations and then some. If it weren't for the fact that we didn't get the chance to leave until 11:15, I'd be looking back at one of the best meals I've had in 2017. Instead - a polarizing mixed bag that left me not knowing how to feel. Full and satisfied, but mistreated and frustrated. read more

Went here for Valentine's Day with my girlfriend, our service was excellent and the food was delicious. They were very helpful and friendly when asking for suggestions. I highly recommend this restaurant for a nice classy night out. read more

Cafe Calamari - Bruschetta Al Pomodoro - Italian Near Me - Williams Bay, Wisconsin

We were very pleased with our visit to Cafe Calamari! For starters, all crew was appropriately wearing masks and the tables were distant enough on the outside patio. They actually had custom restaurant masks, which certainly goes to show the restaurant concern about the current COVID situation. The staff was super friendly and service was super fast too. The food tasted delicious, everything was fresh from the bread to the pasta. I recommend the scallops! The views from the patio are the cherry on the top. Will certainly come back when visiting the Lake Geneva area again! read more

I love the atmosphere. I love having a restaurant to drive your boat to. The staff is always pleasant. The management has always been very accommodating. The food-a bit odd-I'm sorry to say-and hit or miss. The pork chops in the pear sauce is literally a jar of caramel sauce. The Carbonara was also quite heavy with peas, ham and an Alfredo sauce. The tortellini was also glued together in a thick paste. The carrots are literally the baby carrots from the bag and I can't tell if they are fresh or frozen. The salads are good, especially their specialty salad. Their prime rib is the best we've had in years. I think my mojito was made with gin which was awful. On another visit I've had their sangria and that was excellent. Unfortunately, if it wasn't for the location, I wouldn't be back for dinner. read more

Had dinner on July 6th with a group of 14. WORST dinning experience over. Appetizers arrived before drinks. Lobster Bisque tasted like it was thickened with too much flour. Most of the food arrived cold. Pasta had NO flavor. Jumbo Scallops were medium sized, not at all jumbo. Wine sauce on mushroom appetizer was overpowering. Waitress was rude. When asked for a fork, she questioned why the patron needed another fork. She made excuses for the poor food. When we asked for the manager, she told us she was one of the managers. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE! It was a total waste of money. read more

Severely disappointed. The "calamari," was undercooked. Everything needed salt. 6 adults, 2 kids 500.00 terribly spent.

Amazing food service and view. Friday night prime special is recommended at a great price. The chicken dishes are so moist and tender. Homemade desserts. My favorite restaurant by far. read more

Cafe Calamari - Highly recommend Amazing prime rib with sicilian crusted herbs. Friday night special! $23.00 comes with two sides - Italian Near Me - Williams Bay, Wisconsin

We discovered the Cafe Calamari down the road from our B&B. We were celebrating my girlfriend's birthday weekend and stopped for dinner on Sunday night. We hadn't made reservations, but were seated immediately. The staff were all awesome, polite and very friendly. Our waiter Tony was super personable. We ordered and the food arrived very quickly. The appetizers (calamari & bruchetta) were done perfectly. Dinner arrived shorty after and my pasta primavera was delicious. Afterwards they brought a birthday treat complete with candle (and NO singing...YAY). It really made my girlfriend's night. We will definitely be back!!! read more

Really disappointed with the food here. The tomatoes in the bruschetta were tough and flavorless; the mozzarella cheese was pasty and stale. The pasta primavera was undercooked, so also the bread roll. read more

We had the mushroom puff appetizer, a pasta dish and the pork chop dish and it was all outstanding. Staff was friendly and attentive. All in all it was very affordable for near-upscale dining (we did not order drinks). Next time we are in the area we will definitely be coming back. read more

Nice outside eating area..staff & Food, good. However..who charges for refills on Soda? read more

Nice initial vibe inside and cool chandeliers but really dark. It was hard to read the menu. Our first waitress really pushed this mushroom appetizer making it sound so good, but it had so much breading on it I wasn't even sure there was a mushroom in there at all. I ordered jumbo scallops on a bed of lemon sauce angel hair pasta. The scallops weren't jumbo but they were the only edible thing on the plate. The pasta had zero flavor. I mean I think they took it from the boiling water and just plopped it on the plate. I asked for some sprinkle cheese and lemon sauce. I never got the cheese and waited 15 minutes for her to bring out more sauce. The meal wasn't hot when it came out originally so after the wait for sauce, it wasn't worth even finishing. No one in our party enjoyed their meal. Every kitchen can have an "off" night, I understand that. Maybe they were short staffed or had an inexperienced chef that day but come clean and tell us that. My biggest complaint is that our servers (and one said she was a manager) did nothing but defend the kitchen. She continued to inquire if we were enjoying our meals but totally dismissed every comment we made that said we didn't. I have to believe we weren't the only ones disappointed that night. For what we paid, I expected a whole lot better experience. I will not return. read more

Cafe Calamari is our favorite place to eat in Lake Geneva everytime we visit from Chicago. We came to celebrate a birthday and had an excellent dinner. Great homemade salad dressing, chicken, seafood dishes, and tiramisu. Overall excellent food and excellent service. They never disappoint! read more

Nightmare Experience This is one of the worst restaurants I have ever visited. Being a Chicagoan the fact that customers were allowed to smoke in the restaurant was very disturbing to me. I wanted to bring a bottle of wine however they charge a $25 uncorking fee. What, that is a nonsense. The service was very below average especially when I complained about my entree. I ordered the salmon which arrived drowned in a bitter orange sticky sauce. The house salad was terrible and they charge $5 to upgrade to the caesar salad. The prices were expensive about $30 for an entree. Over all, I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. There are far better selections in the area stay away from this rip off place and save yourself the nightmare experience. read more

I was soooo flippin' disappointed with this place. I looked at the Yelp reviews, and some of them looked fishy....So, I thought I'd give it a shot and find out for myself. Outside, the parking lot was lined with Range Rovers, Mercedes, BMW's and the like.... Definitely a money crowd. Looked like a nice, inviting atmosphere across the street from the lake. Inside, it was busy with a buzz of activity. Seemed nice inside too. We ordered a couple of Martinis at around $9 each. Both were delicious. I had the Gin and Sin and my man had the Apple. Yummy strong liquor. We met my folks there, and my mom had the Victoria Secret Martini, also very good. Drinks score an A+. Basically, the night started out amazingly awesome and dwindled into blegh disappointment. Had I stopped at the appetizers, bread, and salad and ignored the entree--this place would've been a 4-5 star. Bruschetta was about a 3.5. Shrimp Cocktail -- ginormous shrimp (3) --tasty sauce 4.5 Some cheezy pocket something or other (lol)--- greaaaattt. 4.5 Warm bread. Yum. Homemade signature salad. Super tasty. Happy and loving it. Ordered Butterscotch martini, super good, perhaps too much like dessert. But, still. Liquor in a cup. Good times. Then the entrees came. I ordered Chicken Victoria, which was supposed to be Chicken with tomatoes and artichokes in a cream sauce with a little pasta. It was some of the blandest sh** I've ever tasted. No flavor. And it was $22. Horrible entree for the price. My dad ordered some pasta that had chicken and shrimp in it, and he also thought his was bland and unremarkable. My fiance ordered the tilapia and said it was so plain he could barely get it down his throat. I tasted it and agreed. And that was pricey too. I felt awful for my parents who tried taking us out to a nice meal and the food was NOT worth the price. Just because it's in the Lake Geneva area doesn't mean they can charge skyrocketed prices for mediocre food. I thought the entrees were crap in general. And with the price tag attached. Pure awful. I would never return here again. If you are forced to, stick with the drinks and appetizers. On a side note, apparently the Chicken Marsala is pretty good. Sadly, the rest of the entrees don't meet expectations. read more

Last week I went to Lake Geneva for vacation with my boyfriend, everything was good except we got a terrible experience in this restaurant, this place is the worst Italian place I've ever been, place smell so bad...food was bad and it was overpriced! I had the sea bass and the taste wasn't good, I only can taste the butter, fish was overcooked too. My boyfriend got a salmon with pasta and he said it's uneatable! I tried a bit of his meal and it's really taste bad, really can't find the salmon can be worst than this place! Service was bad, the waitress gave us a dirty look when my boyfriend decide to talk to the manager to complain the food and their bad service. Also, they would charge you $25 bucks if you decide to bring your own bottle of wine! I understand restaurant could charge on your bottle but I don't think it's 25 dollars, also another 5.95 if you wanna just share one meal, we didn't do that but I think it's really a big rip off, I've been so many nice restaurant, they wouldn't even do that!! If you wanna enjoy your vacation and have a good meal, I suggest you better stay away this place in your life!!! Don't waste your money with bad quality of food and service, even Olive garden taste better then them! read more

Thanks to restaurant.com for bringing us here the other night. I went here before I read the reviews because I believe sometimes you just gotta try things on your own first. The problem is, I just don't know what to say. Our server was wonderful, very nice, no rushing, polite, offered to bring the SO soup when he didn't like the salad. Very nice guy. The bathrooms, very clean, very warm. Considering they sat us by the windows and the wind picked up off the lake, we were kinda freezing. The place was decorated cute for the holiday season, there was a huge crowd at the bar. But the food, the food really wasn't that good. Honestly. Its sad to say but everything honestly was over priced for the quality. I would have been happy to pay $70 if I walked out of there thinking that was the best Italian food I had ever had but....it wasn't. The bread was the best part. I've never been at a loss for words in reviewing a restaurant because this place has been here forever and its always busy. I don't get it. Alright, lets break it down. Calamari and Bruchetta for the appetizer says the Calamari was great. I'm not a fan of calamari so I went with the bruchetta. Bruchetta...eh, it was ok. House salads, too much dressing. I think if they layed off the dressing, it would be more flavorful. Chicken Parmesan -- yes, the SO got a lot but again no flavor. Tortellini -- Decent but again too much sauce. I can't say I'll be running back to Cafe Calamari soon if ever but thanks to restaurant.com for giving us this opportunity. read more

Honestly, I am very surprised at some of the reviews about this place. I just went there last week and thought everything was phenomenal. We had a reservation but the place was packed so our group had to wait about 10 minutes, no big deal. We got our first round of drinks at the bar, which were a bit pricey but comparable to any other restaurant along the same tier. My house vodka & sprite was only $4. Our table was clean and the server came out right away to visit us. She was great and gave us all the time we needed to order but started us with bread right away. The entrees are pricey. I had the chicken portobella which was one of the lowest priced and it was $17. It does include soup or salad, of course with I think $2 more for Caesar. The meal was awesome. The chicken was perfect and the sauce was delicious. Of course I tried everyone else's food and I can say that the tortellini was also done well and they know how to cook a scallop. I really enjoyed our meal here. It was relaxed and pleasant, with good drinks and great food. The only reason I wouldn't come back every time I'm in the area would be the price. read more

This place is nothing special. Food comes out in minutes - which means it's all nuked. No flavoring or seasoning on anything - hard pass