Kasana

After all the top rates reviews, I was a little disappointed with the food and a whole lot disappointed with the service.
Food: Above average but nothing to rave about. The lamb chops with rice outshines most of the other tapas. Empanadas are ok, I’ve had better elsewhere (hint: LM)
Service: Excellent table service. I was with a party of 12 and we were well taken care of. However, my gripe us about what happened later. I signed the bill with gratuity not realizing that it had already been added. So, a hefty 40% for the whole table… yikes. I know our waitress brought this to the attention of the owner but neither stopped me to tell me I shouldn’t have added. Sneaky. I didn’t realize this till after I was home that night. I spoke to the owner a few days after, giving her the opportunity to say that they would be gracious enough not to add the extra tip but she never did.
Don’t care about the money but if I was the business owner, I’d have been fair and pointed out the obvious mistake to my customer.
Will I return? Probably not.

Kasana is amazing! My husband and I go there all the time and we love it. Definitely try the brussels sprouts and the gambas al ajillo. Ana is welcoming, kind, and makes you feel like you are coming over to her house for dinner. The food is all so fresh and healthy too, so there’s no guilt after you eat a nice big meal there :)

If I could give this a 4.5, I really would. Everything about the service here is outstanding. I went here for a birthday dinner and was pleasantly surprised by the musician singing to me and the free desert. Not only this, but they were very accommodating to my food allergies. The only complaint I have is that some of the food seemed pre-​made because it was lukewarm and a little dried out. The flavors, however, were extraordinary. The greatest was the paella, a special for that night, and the Root 1 wine. The chocolate truffle and flan were great choices for desert. The ambiance was gorgeous too. I will be returning!

We are gluten-​free and in the mood for something different, so we decided to try Kasana… We are so glad that we did! We enjoyed the ambiance, and the food was amazing. We enjoyed three small plates. Our server was super, there was a flute and guitarist playing, a yummy beverage … all of this led to a fantastic all-​around experience. Prices were reasonable. Bathrooms spotless. We will definitely be back. We are planning to visit again with our adult kids as a special place to visit over the holidays. Five stars!

Bottom line:
Drinks were wonderful and strong
Service was friendly and fast
Food was tasty and presented well
Went here with a large group of 11 people for a business dinner. I had caipirinhas and we all shared tapas. Best tapas were the manchego with blueberry compote, the cheese empanadas and the leak and ham chips. I didn’t order any of those but they were better than what I did order.
Especially the manchego balls — they’re a must have!
Nothing was bad by any means. I wouldn’t order the Brussels sprouts again but only because I felt like I could get them anywhere — just nothing special.
Really friendly and fast waiter. Perfectly Attentive!
I don’t often give 5 stars but I couldn’t find any faults and they definitely go above the expected. I would love to go back next time I’m in town!

Just want to let people know this place is horrible! Food was bland and looked very unappealing. Sent most of it back but was still charged for EVERYTHING. Definitely not third ward quality and will never return. Owner came over to talk to us but didn’t seem to care that we didn’t enjoy our food. This place is horrible.

Was served incorrect app and waitress was completely clueless. The ‘chorizo’ tapas was bland and appeared to be a local brat sliced up and put in a bland broth with a few green bell peppers. empanadas (we ordered chicken and received just cheese) appeared to be something I could buy in the frozen food section at the local pic-​n-​save. not third ward quality!
And live jazz on thur/​fri 6 – 9 didn’t see or find that at all? thanks for a disappointment… it was really quiet at least if your looking for that, we were there at 8pm with only one other couple in the place on a Friday night.

Found this place by accident one day while strolling through the 3^rd Ward. Dropped in for brunch. Food was excellent and service was great. The owner came to our table to say hello and check on us. The atmosphere here is fantastic and I can imagine it would be an excellent venue for a special event.
I’ve been back a couple of times since that first visit. Definitely a winner.

It’s elegant, fresh and yummy. I love the décor, setting, music and drinks.
The food items I ordered (same every time I went there) were very good.
The pizza wasn’t impressive as I thought it would be.
The service is excellent and so is the owner! :)

If you’re ever in the 3^rd Ward of Milwaukee and you want great homemade food this is your place! It was hands down the best food we had while we were there! Great Customer service, beautiful atmosphere, and the food… you can tell it’s made with love (homemade). Thank you for a great experience while we were in town!

Wonderful place. I always feel welcome throughout my stay here. The food is nice and well-​paired with similar flavors. The food focuses on Argentinian and Brazilian.
Be prepared to eat a lot of yucca chips. They use these as «filler food». The ambiance is pretty nice. Lots of light for being in the basement. I felt the music was a little loud and piercing. They could use a better sound system.

Perfect place for date night or just come here for the best Empanada’s
Can’t believe I didn’t write a review about this place. I also can’t locate the pictures I took so I may just go back there again
The ambiance is quite different than usual restaurant settings but very pleasant. I love this place just because of the fancy couch seating they have. Makes me feel beautiful :)
This is a great place for small groups as well so you can share. Hands down the best empanadas, loved the chicken wild rice and all other appetizers we tried. We were amazed by how big the deserts were as this is a small plate dining restaurant and everything was pretty small portions except the giant Tiramisu desert

Perfect! Fabulous beverages. Delicious food. Friendly service and very attentive.
And don’t forget the Tiramisu.

Came here for Easter brunch with the family. The décor was defiantly nice and elegant. The staff was all super friendly and went above and beyond. We had made a reservation and due to other tables taking their time, we had to wait about 20 plus minutes to sit (defiantly not the restaurants fault at all– just pokey eaters). They saw we were getting ancy and they started searching for extra high top tables and chairs to put together for us. We said we were fine with waiting for a low top table, but the gesture was genuinely nice and shows how much they care about their customers. I’m only not giving them five stars because of their brunch options. They had a good mix of traditional and ethnic food, I suppose I just wish there was more options for the traditional kid in me. They didn’t have any egg options and only one type of pancake with walnuts and blueberries inside. That being said, it was the best quality of brunch food I’ve had in a long time. I defiantly need to go back to try their normal menu !

I’ve only visited Kasana twice, but I’ve sampled their food at various events around town. The samples have always been great!
My first visit was over a year ago with Ron R. and Stephanie R. for the Wednesday night Pizza special. Kasana features 2 or 3 different specialty pizzas. The pizzas were good, but didn’t make me feel compelled to go back for pizza.
Last night I attended a birthday gathering over Happy Hour. Happy Hour specials included two small plates for $ 5 each, Pao de Queijo and Empanadas.
The Pao de Queijo are Manchego Cheese Bread Balls served with a blueberry and champagne dipping sauce. Normally, there are 3 to an order for $ 8. The Happy Hour version included 2 pieces for $ 5. The bread balls were crispy on the outside with a melted cheese filling. They were great on their own, but the blueberry and champage sauce added a great dimension.
Empanadas come with 3 pieces normally for $ 11. The Happy Hour portion is still 3 pieces, but for $ 5. You can choose from chicken and corn (pollo), grass fed ground beef (carne), or goat cheese (queso). I ordered the ground beef. They were excellent, crispy and perfectly seasoned! They were also served with a chipotle chimichurri sauce, which I didn’t find spicy, but I liked the flavor.
There were also 3 drink specials including sangris, caipirinha, and another that I forget, but they were also $ 5 each. I ordered the sangris. It was a bit bitter sipping from the glass, but when I sipped from the straw, it was very sweet. I wasn’t expecting to have to stir it, but after I figured it out, I did and the flavors balanced.
Kasana often has live musicians. Last night featured a keyboard player and singer. I believe he started at 6:00, so you can go for Happy Hour and stay for dinner and live music without having a late night out on a work night.
I would gladly go back and I plan to go back to try the dinner menu.

I enjoyed the atmosphere and the owner/​hostess was wonderful and accomodating. The food was good but didn’t suit me perfectly. The portions are small and great for tapas but slightly pricey for this. The biggest complaint is the speed of the service. Though we were seated quickly, the service was slow and inadequate. Waters were late to be refilled, took a long time to get in our orders, and took about 30 – 45 minutes to get our food. Because of the small portions, I wanted to order more but was afraid of the wait.
Overall it’s a good place to have in downtown MKE. I wish the service was better and speedier. I think more staff can help with this problem.

We came across this place on a whim! Great food, great atmosphere and great service!
The drinks are on point! Had the delicious mojito… Made me want to be on the beach somewhere warm.
Will be back! Delicious!

Kasana surprised us… in a good way. I was looking for something new to try, that we could walk to (even though my husband pointed out that by taking a short drive somewhere, we would have spent less time outside) and I chose Kasana, after walking past it maybe 40 times.
Argentinian and Brazilian fusion… who knew? It’s an interesting underground space, with some chairs just for show, and hints of color throughout.
We shared the palmitos salad (good, but I wasn’t a fan of the golf dressing. it reminded me a lot of mayonnaise, and I am already averse to dressing on my salads most of the time, but if you’re not like me, you may like it). We shared the high temp cornish hens. This was awesome. The skin tasted like lemon, and the chicken/​hen pieces were over garlic bread. The garlic bread was actually a little too drenched for my taste, so I let my husband have the other 2 pieces; I was fine with 1. We shared the «queso» which was described as grilled cheese with tomato jam. Silly me, I was envisioning a grilled cheese sandwich, but in fact this was 2 large pieces of cheese, that must have been grilled. There were crackers, on which to spread the tomato jam, and put the cheese on that. The sweetness of the tomato jam worked well with the saltiness of the cheese, but it didn’t really resemble tomatoes. at all. that’s okay, it was still delish.
My husband got a glass of wine, and then we ordered an argentinian cookie for dessert. We actually ordered 2, because only 1 comes with the order (at $ 3.50 a piece), but we didn’t want to share a cookie. They ended up giving us 2 for the price of 1, which was pretty great of them…$ 3.50 is a little high in my opinion for what this cookie was. It was good, and it obviously took care to put two cookies together with chocolate ganache, and then encrust the sides… but they’re small.
Still, we left $ 40 later (pre-​tip) satiated, and ready to brave the cold.

I love the interior design of this place but the food is just not up to par. Small portions and quite expensive for what you get. A few items were good (duck, empanadas) but not good enough to come back. It is a «tapas» style menu, but many of the dishes repeat the same sauces and accompaniments so everything just seems the same. Ordered quite a few different dishes but still left hungry and unsatisfied. The place was totally empty during what should have been dinner busy time.
I will say– The drinks were good!
My advice would be to cut the menu back to fewer items and focus on doing them really well. As entrees, not tapas.

I was quite impressed with Kasana. We had some of their catering at a previous Unilocal event and enjoyed it, so we decided to give them a try for dinner.
Interior: A
The dining room is beautiful — right out of the pages of a design magazine. Lots of white, with chandeliers and touches of turquoise and candles everywhere. There are some unique touches too — like fluffy lap robes and big cozy chairs.
Menu: B+
It’s mostly small plates — traditional tapas with a Brazilian twist. They have lots of choices for those who are vegetarian and/​or gluten free.
Food: A
We tried 5 small plates: chicken empanadas, beef empanadas, chicken croquetas, shrimp and cheese fritters. (There was a fancy name for that last one but I don’t remember it.) I really enjoyed everything we had — the cheese business and the chicken empanadas were my favorites. All of our dishes were nicely presented & full of flavor.
Wine: A
It’s a smaller list but thoughtfully chosen and well priced. Several bubbly choices make me very happy.
Overall Value: B
Small plates are generally in the $ 9 – 12 range but the portions are on the smaller side.
We chatted with the owner for a few minutes and it sounds like dinner service is somewhat recent (3 months). Tapas are hot right now and Kasana has a unique spin on small plates — I really hope they can get the word out as the dining room was pretty empty (we were early and it was Food Truck Nite). Kasana is absolutely worth a try — our food was delicious, the space is gorgeous and the owner is passionate about what she does. I will certainly be back (because empanadaaaassssss!!!)