Milwaukee Street welcomed a new edition to its happening nightlife scene earlier this year with the collaborative effort and consultation of some of Milwaukee's biggest and brightest visionaries Chef Christopher Summa and local businessmen Omar Shaikh, Tom Wackman and Demetri Dimitropoulos.

Their creation, Carnevor, 724 N. Milwaukee St., is a cavernous, dark and very trendy and modern restaurant which features a menu filled with carnivorous entrées and an equally substantial wine and specialty drink list for the nightlife see-and-be-seen crowd.

Two recent visits to Carnevor left us wanting more from the restaurant. The service here is superior, but the food was inconsistent and was missing the shimmer that the interior design, the hype and the abovementioned quintet promises.

Carnevor carves its menu into six sections: small plates, shared for the table, soups and salads, Carnevor prime cuts, other meats and steakhouse sides, and the offerings range from, of course, steak ($29-$75, with Kobe Beef rounding out the high end) to seafood and even pork chops and Cornish hens.

Vegetarians will feel more comfortable in another setting, since nearly every item on the menu contains either meat or seafood (hence the moniker), but we were pleased with the variety of offerings here.

The seafood fix (small $39, large $75) was by far the best we have had in Milwaukee, even at seafood specialty houses. The platter featured shrimp, king crab legs, oysters on the half shell and green lip mussels with dipping sauces, and was the most reasonable purchase on the menu for quality and flavor.

Seafood fritti ($11) was a dredged and fried montage of calamari, shrimp and scallops and was very good, but the shrimp were a little fishy, and the sauce, which was a bottled product, did little for what otherwise was a very enjoyable dish.

Woodland mushroom soup ($6) was sold to us as a cream base, but arrived as an insipid broth with mushrooms and large garlicky croutons. With an overpowering taste of black pepper and parsley, my dining companion found it unpalatable.

The aromas and first few slices of each cut of meat in the entrées section were enticing and you can tell immediately that the grade of product here is the best, but the kitchen seemed to be unpredictable with cooking temperatures. On two separate occasions, I sampled the 8-oz. filet ($29) because on the first visit, it arrived just a little overdone, but the flavor and tenderness of the meat were still excellent.

A second try yielded amazing results, with a tender, succulent, perfectly cooked medium-rare piece of meat with a delectable crust on the outside and buttery and juicy beef on the inside. When cooked to temperature, this was, undoubtedly, one of the better steaks I have had in town.

The veal chop ($35) was also upped from medium-rare to medium, but was not as forgivable because even the reduced veal au jus could not repair the juices lost by cooking to another temperature.

Tuna steak ($23) was served just a little on the medium-rare side of rare, and was crusted with ground peppercorns rather than cracked black peppercorns, which didn't give it the extra pop we expected, but it was still good in the accompanying wasabi mustard sauce.

Sides at Carnevor are a la carte, and feature some novelties such as a cumin-laden creamed corn ($6), exotic mushrooms ($7), potato leek gratin ($7), and truffled mashed potatoes ($7). Our favorite was the corn, which was simple and creamy.

The potato leek gratin was delicious, but a little tough and difficult to cut and chew. The truffled mashed potatoes and exotic mushrooms were best when combined, since the mushrooms were a little dry and the potatoes were a little oily, but together they were heaven, and worked wonderfully with the tender, delicious, carnivorous filet.

Carnevor is open Monday through Wednesday 5-10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday 5-11 p.m., the lounge is open until 2 a.m. Reservations recommended. Attire is business or smart casual. For more information, call (414) 223-2200. The Web site is carnevor.com.

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

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by OMCreader on Aug. 25, 2006 at 11:40 p.m. (report)

RE: BIG D said: glad to know you value your own opinion so highly.....I;ve never seen someone post a full page synopsis of their one dining experience

Posted by OMCreader on Aug. 5, 2006 at 9:40 p.m. (report)

Not up to Par said: I dinned recently at Carnevor last week with my wife, celebrating 10 years of marriage. We had high expectations of Carnevor, hearing mixed reviews from numerous people we talk to on where to go that's new and delivers. Unfortunately, they did not. Everything from the appertizers to dinner to dessert and the wine, was okay. Not anything to get excited about. The service was slow, we only saw OUR waiter once after he took our order, having the other employees take care of us. I thought this was a little inconsiderate knowing that he was going to receive the tip, not the other employees. I will not make a repeat trip to this establishment. I rather go to either Lake Park Bistro, Moceans or the new Capital Grille. All are superior to this place in reputation and their delivery. Sorry

Posted by OMCreader on Aug. 3, 2006 at 9:56 a.m. (report)

stach said: Went there for dinner last night. The food and the service was great. I had the filet and my friend had the prime rib. Our only complaint was that the meats were both very salty. I had read a complaint about this by another "commentor" so I questioned the waiter and he said that the meats were "lightly seasoned"...didn't turn out that way. The meal was good as long as you cut the incredibly salty layer off the meat. The truffeled potatoes and mushroom sides were awesome as well as the doughnuts and chocolate tarte for dessert. Overall, 4 of 5 stars.

Posted by OMCreader on July 28, 2006 at 5:33 p.m. (report)

Critic said: best restaurant in Milwaukee right now!

Posted by OMCreader on July 16, 2006 at 11:49 a.m. (report)

incredulous said: honestly, you ordered your steaks WELL DONE?! How on earth can you expect anyone to take your comments seriously after ruining a prime cut of beef by removing all fat and flavor from it?