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Chef Paul Bartolotta’s Faith in Milwaukee Keeps Paying Off

Three decades after his late brother convinced him the city craved something better, the chef's restaurant group serves thousands of guests each week across fine dining, supper clubs and an airport outpost. His newest steakhouse is a testament to just how right his brother was.

Paul Bartolotta’s European steakhouse, High Stakes by Bartolotta, opened in downtown Milwaukee in September with a menu that would fit in on the Vegas Strip: caviar, langoustines, foie gras crème brûlée and a Filet Oscar topped with Dungeness crab and Sauce Foyot. Bartolotta admits the response caught him off guard. “We’re offering more luxury products on one menu than we ever have, and people are embracing them,” the co-founder, chef and owner of The Bartolotta Restaurants told Observer.

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High Stakes joins eight other Bartolotta restaurants in the Milwaukee area, including the supper club Joey Gerard’s, two Mr. B’s steakhouses and the flagship, Ristorante Bartolotta dal 1993. Three decades in, Ristorante Bartolotta dal 1993 is having the best financial year in its history, according to Bartolotta, who credits constant reinvention.

The group also co-owns The Commodore with HF Hospitality, which made Wine Enthusiast’s list of the 50 Top New Restaurants in 2025 and received a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. Its catering arm has been the exclusive caterer at the lakefront venue Discovery World since 2006. In October, working with SSP America, the group opened Bartolotta’s Bar & Ristoro at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Across all its operations, the company serves about 17,350 guests a week.

Bartolotta, a 2026 Nightlife & Dining Power List honoree, first made his name as part of the generation of chefs that brought Italian cooking to the upper echelons of American fine dining. He cooked at San Domenico in New York and was executive chef and managing partner at Spiaggia in Chicago. Scott Conant and Michael White both trained under him, and he won........

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