Bartolotta Catering & Events at Discovery World Reviews

Our guests had nothing but positive things to say about the venue, view, staff, food, & overall experience! We were so thankful we worked with Madeline, because we never had to worry about anything & everything was very efficient + organized! From the initial menu tasting to the final invoice, everything was so clear, and the invoices were straightforward. All of the staff were so polite & friendly, so we definitely felt we were in good hands. I really appreciated the special accommodations that were made for me and our guests with allergies! The room was beautiful & exactly what I had envisioned. We really appreciated how structured the whole process was, such as the instructional email for dropping off decor (with pictures!) and the policies on the invoices. We felt reassured that it was all laid out with what we could/couldn't do, because it reflected how experienced they were. We knew we could relax that day while they provided the highest level of service. Also, so many staff members came to check on me throughout the night & made sure we were as content as possible!
We wanted to specifically point out that Madeline’s level of professionalism and expertise were very much appreciated throughout the planning process! We can't express how reassuring it was to have her on our team, because it felt like she was always thinking about our vision of the day! It just felt like everything was taken care of & she helped us think of everything, so nothing was missed in the end. It can be quite intimidating planning a wedding for the first time, as I'm sure everyone knows that there are so many expectations/traditions that guests come in with. Madeline helped us so much to consider what we should add or what might be unnecessary. Especially with everything on Pinterest/social media, we just felt that she always considered what was essential to our day, instead of adding everything that could be thought of. I think it is more that we felt like we weren't being taken advantage of/just a way to make money, which is something that can't be said about all wedding vendors & venues. We felt like she really listened to us & made it personal to us as a couple. We would highly recommend having any event at Discovery World with Madeline! We have received so many compliments from our guests about how wonderful the reception was & felt it was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding!

Our daughter wanted no venue other than the Pilot House at Discovery World because we had taken her to a family wedding when she was 15. It made an indelible impression on her then and from the moment we signed the contract with Bartolotta's Catering, we had constant communication with our contact there. Unfortunately, one month before the wedding, our main contact left Bartolotta's after having worked with him for almost one year.
To say we were disappointed was an understatement as I had communicated with him through hundreds of emails. We were immediately contacted by Joanne Hansen and Marni Fishbain who took over his position and these women did everything in their power to make our concerns heard and make us feel valued. They gave our vendors extra time to set up the wedding and evencommunicated with us late into the evening to resolve any problem that would arise.
The Wedding turned out beautifully and we could not have asked for a better team. The staff was efficient and professional, the food was outstanding and the venue speaks for itself. IF Discovery World is at all on your list, please ask for these women to show you around. They know the wedding business inside and out. They are there to serve and to achieve the goal of having the wedding be the best day of your daughter's life!

Hurricane Ian destroyed my original wedding venue in Florida. The day after the hit I called Madeline with Bartolottas and she and Liz made my dream wedding happen in 5 weeks!!!! The food was amazing! The service was incredible!!! Madeline and Liz were extremely helpful in the wedding planning process! They made a stressful situation so much less stressful! I could not recommend them more, I wish I could give them 10 stars! My dream wedding would not have been possible without them.

Absolutely an unbelievable experience! I had my wedding here on 6/29/19 and let me start this review by saying that I cannot recommend this place enough! I chose Discovery World Museum as my venue because I really like the way the building looks and the views are easily some of the best in Milwaukee. My point of contact and venue coordinator was Madeline Cope. From my initial email to the last one, she was extremely attentive, gave awesome recommendations and thought of details that both my (now) wife and I didn’t even think about at the time but now realize how impactful it made our wedding. I have seen the wedding planning process done with friends and other family and I was always afraid of having that same stress with my wedding, but with Madeline helping and all the options available through Bartollota Catering, the whole process was unbelievably easy. The food was outstanding – especially the grilled cheese and tomato soup appetizer (GET IT - trust me on this one) and the ravioli and steak meals were probably some of the best dishes we’ve had. Our guests could not stop talking about the food all night! We had our cocktail hour in the aquarium and our main event at the Pilot house. The aquarium was perfect for that portion because it felt intimate and the lighting and tanks were just stunning and a great conversation starter between guests. The pilot house was perfect for the wedding because it has this amazing 360 degree view of the city and lake (and Summerfest) plus the balcony is just an added bonus for guests to walk around, enjoy their drinks and take in the views. The service was that of a 5 star hotel – all of the staff members were super kind, always smiling, sharply dressed and just so pleasant to talk with. Madeline coordinated just about everything once the celebrations started, from us walking out for ceremony, the transition between the ceremony to dinner (another cocktail hour), drinks after dinner and lastly our fireworks. We chose to have our first dance after dinner and wanted to surprise our guests with fireworks during our dance (Discovery World offers that service by the way). She knew how long our song was and coordinated it PERFECTLY with their fireworks crew so that as soon as I dipped my wife at the end of the song, the fireworks launched EXACTLY at that moment. My family, my guests and especially my wife were so amazed at how beautiful this wedding turned out that they kept talking about it all weekend and I’m still getting texts and emails as I’m writing this review! Madeline Cope was perfect, Discovery World was perfect and Bartolotta Catering was perfect. I honest hope that my sincerest admiration shows in this review.

Working with Bartolotta's at Discovery World for my 7/15/17 wedding was amazing. Amanda was the best and most professional person I worked with my entire wedding planning experience. She was so detail-oriented and on the ball! Plus, literally every staff member my family or friends encountered the day of were super professional and helpful. It made the day go without a hitch! Plus, the view is AMAZING.

Our daughter had her wedding reception in The Pilot Room here at the Discovery World. The guests were blown away at the beauty of this venue. The 360 degree outside promenade made for a truly spectacular day. The view of Lake Michigan as well as the entire city scape of Milwaukee was breathtaking!! Words cannot express the magnificence of this sight! The food was five star delicious and presentation was impressive! We highly recommend the professionalism and helpfulness of Jessica in organizing everything for us there. Love, love love this place!

My fiancée and I got married at Discovery World on April 30, 2016. From start to finish we had an amazing experience! We worked with Joann as our coordinator. She was wonderful and made planning our wedding as easy as possible. She was knowledgeable, prepared, and always willing to answer whatever questions we had. The day of our wedding was perfect! Our guests all continue to comment on how great our food was and how beautiful the venue is. Everyone made sure throughout the night that everything was how we hoped it would be. Our drink glasses were never empty and staff even took our gifts to my parents car so they didn't have to be distracted. I highly recommend a wedding at Discovery World!

We are so happy to have chosen Bartolotta Catering at Discovery World! From beginning to end the service we received was above 5 stars. All our guests had only the best things to say about the venue and food. The food was amazing along with the service and you can't go wrong with the view! We spent a lot of time working with our venue and throughout the whole process they have never let us down. They were very responsive and our catering manager Amanda Hand we worked with throughout this process has been beyond words. Everything was perfect!

The Lakeview tent at Pier Wisconsin and everyone we dealt with there described in one word would be AMAZING! Our wedding coordinator, Julie Gerber, was so great! She was prompt in answering all of my emails, which would be like 4 different emails in an hour sometimes. She made sure that everything was just as it was supposed to be on our wedding day. And with us having an out of town wedding (we are from Chicago), she was so helpful in arranging meetings with us and helping find different things in the area. And the day there was perfect! The views are awesome! Our cocktail hour was held indoors because it was a bit chilly out, but the deck was open for people to go on. All of our guests raved of the pictures that they got it there (the sun was setting and the sky was gorgeous)! I don't say this often, but the food was delicious. We gave our guests the choice of Italian roasted chicken or ricotta and mushroom ravioli (my personal favorite). People were commenting on how great everything tasted and how juicy the chicken was. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect place to celebrate the beginning of our lives together with all of our friends and family.

Knowing where to begin with a review of Bartolotta’s and Pier Wisconsin is extremely difficult because EVERYTHING about our wedding at this venue was perfect. The location, the views, the service, the food, the staff. . . it was simply incredible.

First, the coordination team at Pier Wisconsin is top-notch. Unlike other vendors, the staff at the Pier is consistent, reliable, responsive, flexible, and timely. Joann, our coordinator, was always available, even for the smallest/detail-oriented questions. Joann worked very well with all of our vendors and was especially patient accommodating my fiancé and I (we were planning the wedding from out of state).

Because Bartolotta’s is so well-established in Milwaukee, they have great insight about vendors, as well. We found our florist and our DJ through their recommendations. The fact that Bartolotta’s regularly works with these vendors made it easy for all of the teams to coordinate the day and make everything run smoothly. I can honestly say that we had NO issues, whatsoever during our wedding. I don’t know many people that can say that!

One of the most popular compliments from our guests was the food- it was AMAZING! The best part about this was that Joann worked with us to accommodate a custom duet plate that accommodated our guests’ dietary needs. She also coordinated with a local, kosher caterer to make sure ALL of our guests would enjoy their meals. In short, Joann and Bartolotta’s made the meal planning process easy, enjoyable, and most of all, delicious.

Thank you Joann and Pier Wisconsin staff for making our wedding so incredible!!

We worked with Julie, she was incredibly responsive and extremely helpful. The overall experience was very positive and we had a wonderful wedding and received many compliments on the venue and food.

We worked with Julie and she was absolutely fantastic. My husband and I were treated like royalty and could not have asked for a more perfect venue and staff.
The food was excellent and the service unbeatable.

I cannot say enough good things about having our wedding reception at Pier Wisconsin with Bartolotta's catering. We worked with Julie and she made the entire process so easy for us. She coordinated with all of our vendors and took care of all the details. I did not have to worry about anything the day of the wedding. The food was incredible! Bartolotta's also worked with us to create our specialty drinks and they turned out wonderful. We received so many compliments about our reception; "Best wedding ever; Your food was amazing; The location was so beautiful, etc." Julie also had great recommendations for our florist, cake and DJ and they did not disappoint. The service that Bartolotta's provides is second to none.

Amazing space for a wedding reception. We were thrilled to have shared our special day here. Our coordinator, Joann Hanson, was great! We highly recommend this venue!

Our son and daughter-in-laws wedding exceeded our expectations! The communication before the event was great. Joann was a pleasure to work with. The food was delicious, the food presentation was beautiful and the service was flawless. Some of our guests had food allergies or restrictions and they were very careful and concerned about making their food experience as excellent as every other guests. The Pilot House has an amazing view and we had beautiful weather and all the guesst really enjoyed the venue. The cocktail hour was in the exhibits and our guests enjoyed that immensely! The dance floor was large enough for our 175 guests and a 9 piece band. The facility - including bathrooms - were clean and in good repair.
We had a tour of the kitchen prior to the event - and were very impressed with the facility and staff. We cannot say enough good things about Bartolottas - they are top notch - and the venue is unique and perfect for a wedding!

My guests loved this location - cocktails in the aquarium to dancing outside. Amazing lake views, with locations within the Museum to satisfy any budget. Bartolotta's catering is always amazing. We had a person assigned to us all night to make sure my husband and I were happy and always had a drink in our hands. Our guests raved about the food. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!

Pier Wisconsin was a dream location for our wedding! We fell in love with the Pilot House when we went to tour the location and it was the perfect venue for us. We were looking for a space for both our ceremony and reception, and also wanted a great experience for our guests. We had a later afternoon ceremony in the Pilot House, then had cocktails and appetizers in the Great Lakes Area and Aquariums, and then went back up to the Pilot House for the reception - it was beyond perfect! Our guests had an amazing time and the unique experience of drinks in the aquariums.

The food at Bartolotta's was amazing! We received so much great feedback on the appetizers and dinner options. We were also greatly impressed by the way the food was served at dinner - the waiters were amazing and it was coordinated so well.

We truly have no complaints about the location. Our coordinator, Julie, was amazing to work with, the views from the Pilot House were phenomenal, and the experience was everything we were looking for.

We had the most amazing wedding at Pier Wisconsin. Julie worked with us every step of the way and was a pleasure to work with. She was very quick to respond and everything was just perfect the day of. The food was fantastic! All of my guests are still raving about how great the food was and how attentative the staff was. The location of the venue is the best in downtown Milwaukee. We also had a front row show to the festa fireworks which were amazing. Our guests are still calling to tell us how beautiful the wedding was. Overall we are so happy we went with Bartolotta Catering at Pier Wisconsin and would highly recommend any bride to have their special day there. You will not be disappointed! Thanks again Julie!

We had our wedding reception this past September in the Pavilion at Discovery World and the space, staff and food were all EXCELLENT! We did not have a wedding planner, so Madeline from Bartolotta's took over “day of” tasks for us and played a crucial role in helping to tie all of our wedding details together. She was so organized and helped take the stress off of our families so we could all enjoy the day. We are so very grateful for her help in planning and executing our wedding and would highly recommend the team at Bartolotta's. Thank you Madeline!

Our ceremony/reception were in the Pilot House, and our cocktail hour was in the aquarium. It was AWESOME! It has great views of the lake, and a beautiful balcony where people can go if they get too hot from the dancing. Joann was our contact, and she was fantastic. Very prompt with her responses, and very thorough too. Plus, Bartolotta is the exclusive caterer for the venue...you really can't go wrong :)

Our reception was held at the Pilot House at Pier Wisconsin. The food was delicious, and so many of our guests commented on the quality of food. Our event coordinator, Julie, was wonderful to work with. She was so thorough during our meetings, and I appreciated her attention to detail. We had several guests with extensive allergies, and they were able to accommodate their allergies easily. The venue was beautifully decorated, and the scenery was breathtaking. We would highly recommend choosing Pier Wisconsin for your reception.

We fell in love with Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin the moment we stopped foot in the door. In addition, Julie at Bartolotta Catering has been incredibly helpful in the few short months that we have been in contact for our wedding venue. She is ultra quick in responding to emails and has been accommodating to our schedules as we are as out-of-towners using their venue. So far so good with everything!

I cannot speak highly enough about working with Madeline Cope through Discovery World/Bartolotta for our wedding in June. To start, we really appreciated her responsiveness in communication throughout the whole process. She always got back to us right away, was willing to answer questions over the phone and even meet in person at the venue to discuss logistics again before the big day. Many of our other vendors were difficult to get ahold of and needed multiple reminders to return calls, so it was really helpful that Madeline was always available to communicate with; it helped to relieve a lot of stress and frustration.

On the day of our wedding, she was calm, fully present, and went above and beyond what we expected from a venue coordinator. She brought us food during cocktail hour when we didn’t get a chance to try our appetizers due to lengthy family pictures, she calmly gave reminders 10 and 5 minutes before speeches for family members and helped the bride without a purse to keep track of her things the entire evening. We loved working with Madeline and would HIGHLY recommend her to anyone interested!

Discovery World as a venue was absolutely breath-taking. We received SO MANY compliments on how gorgeous the space was and how beautiful the surrounding area was. It was very easy for us to take all of our pictures on-site without having to travel around the city to get a good background. My only complaint is that we had to have all of our décor out of the venue on the same night we got married. It would be nice if they had a storage closet for these items that the bride and groom could pick up the next business day because it was difficult to coordinate moving everything into a large car and having a driver that didn’t enjoy the open bar. The staff was extremely helpful in getting all décor items packed up at the end of the night and providing carts to move all of our stuff.

OVERALL 10/10 for Discovery World and Madeline Cope-We are incredibly thankful!

The food was good, presentation was a bit dull. The appetizers seem to be more of a hit, although everyone loved the stuffed mushroom ravioli. The portions are also pretty big so you're getting your money's worth.

We had our wedding reception in the tent at Pier Wisconsin and it somewhat pains me to write this review because it truly was the best day. However, we were unhappy with Bartolottas. Our wedding planner, Jessica, was difficult to communicate with (often unresponsive) and very inflexible. She was not available on the day of our wedding and didn't give us any heads up that that would be the case. We were very lucky in that we had an outside wedding planner, I'm not sure what we would have done without them. The best thing about Bartolottas is the experience they deliver your guests. All of our guests were wowed with the service and the food and the venue - it really was stunning. But knowing what goes on behind the scenes is tough. Bartolottas was far and away the most difficult vendor we worked with during the wedding planning process. There were so many unnecessary meetings and deadlines, so we never felt totally comfortable. Considering this is one of the top tier venues in the city I would have expected more. The presentation of our dessert (Northpoint Frozen Custard) was disappointing and we (the bride and groom) were so confused at the end of the night for what we were responsible for in terms of take down and clean up - there was no Bartolottas employee to be found to help guide us. Additionally, we prepaid for our guest parking yet the parking attendants charged all of our guests and pocketed the cash. We ended up getting a refund but it was still extremely frustrating. All in, I'm glad we had our reception at the tent because the scenery is so beautiful and it the the best spot to show off Milwaukee, but the service we received from Bartolottas evening planning was disappointing.