Upon arriving at this unassuming establishment, it can feel as if you have stepped right into a companion’s residence. The simple color scheme and non-glitzy nature of Baratta’s truly fit the south-side neighborhood that surrounds it. My friend and I stopped in on a recent weekday and were seated at the multi-room venue in less than a minute.

What we ordered
Happy hour specials here make appetizers difficult to pass up. (Diners new to Baratta’s should be aware that you must be seated at the bar area for those prices to be in effect.) To start our meal, we went with the cheese sticks, which were out of the ordinary — in a good way. The panko-crusted treats were like a hybrid between cheese curds and your typical mozzarella sticks, with a nice crunchy outside.