Travieso

Great date night meal. An adult meal out without the kids and it didn't disappoint. Started with a drink at the bar. There are several cocktail choices as well as tap beers and wine. Service was friendly and attentive from the bartenders, hostess and server. We shared the birria egg rolls which a must order for anyone. My wife had the beef tenderloin with a side of street corn risotto. I enjoyed the fresh catch of the day: salmon over mushroom risotto. Next time we'll try the Brussel sprouts and save room for dessert.

Be sure to look for external photos of the building before going - it's hard to find, especially with the sign being posted on the opposite side of where you enter. This is located on the floor level of the hotel.First, BEAUTIFUL space! It is huge, brightly lit, and nice view of the downtown area. I am in love with their dishes, they're beautiful and appear to be handmade. The menu is unique and blends different cultures into each dish. Our server was very kind, and if she didn't know the answer to a question she was happy to ask the chef to ensure accuracy. She was prompt at the beginning and during the meal, but at the end, we were left waiting for service/check for over 20 minutes. The food: Beef Birria Eggroll | $14 - This was hands down the star dish of the night. The meat was tender, juicy, and bursting with flavor. The order came with two eggrolls, perfect to split between a couple. The roll was crispy and large, and the sauce along the bottom was a diving blend of sweet and salty. Empanadas | $16 - These were pretty disappointing to be honest. The order comes with two corn empanadas, and two meat, which alternates. Tonight the meat was a cubed pork filling. Both varieties were EXTREMELY dry, with nothing inside them aside from the corn, and the meat. Some sort of cheese or marinade inside would have made them much better, as masa is already very dry to begin with. Tacos | special for Taco Tuesday sold a la carte - the tacos had a good amount of filling, and the Brussels sprouts were cooked perfectly.Beef Short Rib | $34 - The meat was very tender and flavorful, and it fell apart perfectly. It was sold with cauliflower and parsnip puree, fried leeks, and a cheddar biscuit (mine had a surprise three carrots on the plate too!) The carrots were cooked nicely but had an overwhelming amount of dill. The puree was cloyingly sweet, but the texture was great. The cheddar biscuit was quite literally inedible - there had to be half a container of salt in the one biscuit. I only took a couple of bites and finished half the water jug to choke it down. Overall it was a nice experience, but for the high prices that promised upscale dining, it needs a LOT of refinement. I LOVE the Troublemakers food truck and have never had a bad dish from there. I think I'll stick to the food there for a more affordable ticket and the consistency I'm looking for.

New Year's Eve dinner at Travieso inside the Clarke Hotel was nothing short of perfection. Upon arrival, we were promptly seated. And our server, Kristen , who is absolutely amazing, asked us if we wanted to switch to a larger table. We were so glad that she accommodated us.From the curated New Year's Eve cocktail menu, to the special menu for the evening, everything we had was absolutely incredible. This is a Latin fusion restaurant. So, for starters, we had dumplings, empanadas, and a special for NYE.Dinner was braised, short ribs in a wine reduction, the chard flounder and a dish with chicken and Mexican street corn. Every dish was better than the next. The short ribs melted in your mouth like butter, as did the flounder. We each got a dessert, which was incredible as well. Our server Kristen actually made the pecan pie that was on the menu. She also curated the evenings cocktail menu. When I say her service was out of this world, top-notch, I mean it. Service can make or break not only the dinner experience, but the overall experience of the restaurant that you're dining at. Every single person that we encountered that evening at Travieso was fantastic. She even handed out free, brunch vouchers to everyone in our group. Do not hesitate to make a reservation. Not only is the ambience amazing, but he is right in the heart of Waukesha. Which makes it very easy to find. We all agreed that we loved our experience and cannot wait to go back.

I am always on the hunt for creative and unique dishes that are also delicious. Travieso opened about 7 months ago in the Clarke Hotel in Waukesha, and it delivered on what I've been hunting for! My friend and I had a hard time deciding what to order because everything looked delicious, and we ordered a bunch of stuff.We started with some shareables: Brazilian Cheese Bread (special for this week) that came with a Central Waters beer cheese dip and Ancho chili dip, the empanadas (comes with 2 black bean & corn and 2 pork), the Birria and masa dumplings, which won first place at the 2023 MKE Dumpling Fest that I attended early this year, and the Brussels Bravas (like Patatas Bravas but with Brussels sprouts, of course). Hard to pick a favorite. All were unique and delicious, including the dipping sauces and plating sauces. The cheese dip was bold and savory, and the Ancho dip had a nice kick to it, but not overly spicy - just the right amount of heat for my tolerance level, which is low.Then we shared the Puerco entree and Mexican Street Corn Risotto entree. The Puerco (pork) is thick cut, topped with chicharron (pork rinds) and served mofongo that is made from ripe plantain for its sweetness, instead of the traditional green plantain. The mofongo also has bits of pork chicharron in it. This dish fuses dishes and ingredients from Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. The Mexican Street Corn Risotto is one of the best dishes I've ever had! It didn't need the perfectly cooked, Tajin dusted chicken breast on top, but we all need protein, so no complaints here. Not that we had room, but I wasn't leaving without ordering the dessert special of the week, the Travieso Brulee Flan Flight! Our favorites were the Mexican Chocolate and Pumpkin Spice Rumchata, as we thought all the flavors were well represented, and the textures were on point! The Espresso Horchata was perfect with texture but Espresso over-powered, which is great for coffee lovers, but my friend and I do not like coffee. The Dulce de Leche was good too, but we thought the crunchy churro bites took way from the bruleed flan flavor and texture. Our service from Carrie was excellent. She had a lot of information to share, and I liked the atmosphere of the dining room, and the decor in the bar area with fire place and chairs.Specials change weekly, and menu items will be swapped out regularly, plus brunch service recently launched on Saturday and Sunday. Wine dinners are also in the works soon, plus there are different sized rooms for private events, like weddings, rehearsal dinners, showers, business functions, etc.I believe this is a great restaurant with more good things aheads and is well worth the drive from Milwaukee and surrounding areas!

Travieso is clearly still working on the efficiency of service and consistency of food. Our octopus dish had almost no octopus in it (possibly by mistake) and tres leches tasted a bit stale (though it did come as a complement from the waitress and we appreciated the gesture). BUT! You can taste pure ingenuity in the kitchen! Mainly in the aggressively complex seasoning of each and every dish. Flavor fireworks! You have to try their award winning dumplings (tiny empenadas),mofongo and brazilian lime pie- I guarantee that you will want to come back for more! We are certainly returning to try their latin inspired prime rib!

The food was sooo delicious! Loved everything we ordered. The only complaint was I didn't like my drink it had no flavor except tequila.The server was back many times and we met the head chef on our way out, we were impress with his passion and he has great ideas for the future. It is great to see new exciting restaurants in downtown Waukesha!

Our meal at Travieso was a disaster. The disorganization became mind boggling and incongruent with the attractive decor. We ordered drinks and a few minutes later ordered our appetizers and entrees. Then we waited and waited and waited. Finally after around 45 minutes, our Wedge Salads showed up. Mind you, the restaurant was half filled. The salads were huge but tasteless. It was crunchy iceberg lettuce with the blandest dressing I ever experienced. After four bites, our entrees showed up. We shoved the salads aside and dug into our cold and lukewarm entrees. No one could eat them, and I didn't want to take the salad or my scampi home. They weren't worth the trouble. We explained our woes to the manager who didn't apologize or offer us any compensation. She didn't give a rip. I don't know much about downtime Waukesha, but if Travieso was in Bay View, it would be out of business by Christmas. If you want good Latin fusion cuisine, go to Antigua Latin in West Allis. The prices are cheaper and the owners care.

Dee-licious!We had the carne asada tacos and the street corn risotto. The risotto was SPOT ON!Highly recommend and can't wait to come back.

Went there for brunch and had delicious food. The brunch menu is diverse and should hit the taste buds for the sweet or savory appetite. They have nice twists on their rotating specialty drinks. Service was constant and watchful. Friends and family have all enjoyed the recent times they've come with us.

Didn't really know what to expect with the taste here but it was phenomenal.The food tasted great, both mine and my girlfriends. I forgot the name of our waitress but she did a great job throughout our entire time there.Only thing that was off was some guy a couple tables over that was watching the news on his phone while we were there, loud enough for us to make out every word. Overall though, 6/5.