October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, special features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food. Bon appetit!

Wauwatosa's dining scene has evolved dramatically over the recent years. Mayfair mall's expansion has brought with it the Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang's and Maggiano's, the Village has welcomed Firefly Urban Bar & Grill and west North Avenue has Il Mito, Alterra Café, a City Market and more.

Here is an updated account of what this western suburb brings to the dining table. While this list doesn't cover every last eatery, it includes the newcomers as well as several perennial favorites.

Alioto's
3041 N. Mayfair Rd., (414) 476-6900
This family-owned American / Italian restaurant has been in its Wauwatosa location for 50 years. The Friday night fish fry is popular, but the entrée selections give it the feel of a chophouse.

Alterra Cafe
9125 W. North Ave., (414) 259-9383
alterracoffeepro.com
If you're an Alterra fan, the menu here is familiar, with the usual assortment of coffee, tea and juices, alongside bakery items, salads and sandwiches and wraps.

Balistreri's Italian Restaurant
812 N. 68th St., (414) 475-1414
balistreris.com
Balistreri's is a local legend and its 'Tosa location is family-friendly with great, thin-crust pizza, cheese bread or spaghetti and meatballs.

Bigg's Road House
1900 N. Mayfair Rd., (414) 256-9000
biggsroadhouse.com
Bigg's offers your typical road house fare: big black Angus burgers, steaks, fries and BBQ ribs that fall off the bone. Of course, the full bar helps you wash it all down with a nice selection of suds.

Chancery
7615 W. State St., (414) 453-2300
thechancery.com
This Milwaukee chain is known as a "family pub," dishing up mainly American style entrees that please the kiddies as well as their parents.

Cheesecake Factory
2350 N. Mayfair Rd., (414) 257-2300
thecheesecakefactory.com
It's no secret that Milwaukeeans' like a "healthy" serving size and The Cheesecake Factory has some of the heartiest. Portions last diners at least two meals and the sheer size of the menu requires a spiral bound book giving diners option after option of salads, pastas, pizzas, steaks and seafood.

Chinese Pagoda
7200 W. North Ave., (414) 774-8400
The Chinese Pagoda and 'Tosa go way back. It's a small, quaint restaurant with reasonable prices and although some dishes cater to American tastes there is plenty for those who love Chinese and Chinese-American food.

City Market
8725 W. North Ave., (414) 453-0000
thecitymarketcafe.com
The café strikes a pleasant balance between warm and cozy and modern and fresh. Here you'll find your share of coffee drinks to accompany bakery items, build-your-own sandwiches, soups and salads.

Colonel Hart's
7342 W. State St., (414) 476-3070
In Wauwatosa, this bar and grill is known as the "home of the $4.95 lunch." Treat yourself to a wide selection bar food -- appetizers, pizzas, sandwiches, burgers and Friday fish fry -- while catching the game on one of 10 plasma screen TVs.

Eddie Martini's
8612 Watertown Plank Rd., (414) 771-6680
eddiemartinis.com
This is where fine dining meets old-school supper club. The breadth of experience and expertise at Eddie Martini's easily makes it perfect for everything from a business meeting to an intimate date night for two.

Edwardo's Natural Pizza Restaurant
10845 W. Bluemound Rd., (414) 771-7770
edwardos.com
Although the Downtown location closed after 20 years, the West Side Edwardo's is still serving up that famous Chicago-style stuffed spinach and cheese pie.

Firefly Urban Bar & Grill
7754 Harwood Ave., (414) 431-1444
firefly-grill.com
Formerly Bjonda, Firefly's menu features appetizers, sandwiches and entrees from its wood-burning grill and smoker, as well as a few of Bjonda's best items, including microburgers, fondue and crunch salad.  Page 1 of 2 (view all on one page)

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10 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by hallinz on April 23, 2009 at 2:50 p.m. (report)

While the food was moderately tasty, the service couldn't be any worse. My dining companion and I were taken aback when our waitress brought a water refill to our table. It was no in a pitcher, it was not a fresh glass, no, it was another glass of water that was DUMPED into the existing glass on the table. It was fairly obvious that this glass had come from another table. We ordered our food without issue until we were brought an incorrect dish. The waitress, Deb, informed my friend and I that we did in fact ask her for that dish. I politely assured that we did no such thing and still, she pulled out her ticket to show us where she wrote the number down. The number of the dish was in fact written twice on her pad, a mistake made entirely on her part. Again, she insisted the fault was ours, to the point of sending out the manager to take care of the situation. We had already created a bit of hooplah by sending back a dim sum dish that unbeknownst to my friend, contained seafood (which she could not eat due to an allergy). The manager informed us that not only do we need to be more careful when we order, but very snidely stated that when you order food in a restaurant, it is your responsibility to ask your server EXACTLY what the dish contains (their menu contained no explanations or descriptions of the dim sum and when my friend ordered "Stuffed Eggplant" she did not anticipate a scallop as the stuffing). Which was a very interesting statement, since our waitress told us this was her first week and she had never even worked in a Chinese restaurant before, so I'm not entirely sure what kind of description she would have given. We were not offered an apology from the manager nor the waitress, only treated with the utmost disrespect from start to finish. Needless to say, we will never make a trip to Peony again.

Posted by luvtoeat on Oct. 23, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. (report)

I miss Peter Piper Pancake house!!!!!!! Oh, the memories of Sunday breakfasts after church, Wish it was still there!

Posted by carriemck on Oct. 21, 2008 at 11:06 a.m. (report)

CRANKY AL'S!! 69th & North, best pizza, coffee & doughnuts ever. Try the green salad--Suzy's dressing is AMAZING!!

Posted by AJStanislaw on Oct. 17, 2008 at 2:05 p.m. (report)

Wow. I'm slightly...impressed. Nicely done OMC. I love that you included the Kahn, there isn't a better place for lunch in all of Tosa. And people shouldn't sleep on Guadalupes on Bluemound, the owner comes from the same cloth as your La Perla, La Fuente, and Botana's down on 5th. The food is excellent.

Posted by foodisyummy on Oct. 16, 2008 at 5:12 p.m. (report)

I heard there's another restaurant name Juniper 61 coming to Tosa in the near future, same owners as Cafe Lulu in Bayview. Hopefully it'll be another great addition to Tosa!