July 17, 2025
Mystery Diner

Mystery Diner: Rosati's calzone a meal any pizza lover will enjoy

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First the full disclosure: pizza from Rosati’s in Yorkville has long been one of the Mystery Diner’s very favorite meals. Over the years, the Mystery Diner has munched on Rosati’s pizza with friends while watching his White Sox on the restaurant’s big screen TVs and also picked up many a pie-to-go at Rosati’s convenient take-out counter for enjoyment at home with friends and family.

In the Mystery Diner’s view, what sets a Rosati’s Italian sausage pizza apart from all the others is first and foremost the crispy crust. Secondly, the sauce is mildly sweet, providing a perfect counterpoint to the fresh Italian sausage and the mozzarella cheese. And, over the years, the restaurant has not messed with its ingredients – even in the face of stiff competition and various pizza fads. As a result, Rosati’s pizza has remained consistently good and always at the top of Mystery Diner’s list when that all-too-familiar hunger for pizza strikes.

But this essay isn’t about Rosati’s wonderful pizza. In fact, stopping in at Rosati’s during a recent lunch hour, the Mystery Diner chose not to buy one of those tempting pizza slices that are featured daily as a lunch special, but chose for the first time ever a calzone, as wisely recommended by a knowledgeable co-worker/fellow Rosati’s fan.

For those who may not be familiar with calzones, they are Italy’s version of the dumpling, with their origins tracing back centuries to some obviously gifted and inspired chefs in Naples. The Rosati’s calzone is a crisped, baked turnover stuffed with Rosati’s pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and any other ingredients a pizza lover would want to put on a pizza. Do you like green peppers or black olives or onions or all of the above? Make sure you tell the waitress you want them baked into your next Rosati’s calzone.

For this lunch, the Mystery Diner chose to add Italian sausage and green peppers to his calzone. Patiently waiting at his table, the Mystery Diner enjoyed the friendly atmosphere in the clean and spacious Rosati’s dining area. It features a large bar with a distinctive granite countertop, numerous large HD televisions hanging on the walls and, for those like the Mystery Diner who are chained to their laptop computers, free and speedy wifi.

Soon the friendly waitress arrived with the calzone, piping hot and right out of the oven – and huge. Initially the Mystery Diner thought he might be able to pick up the calzone and eat it just like one of those Finnish pasties you find in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. But the size of the Rosati’s calzone requires the use of a knife and fork. As the Mystery Diner cut into the calzone, the warm mozzarella cheese, sausage and green peppers oozed onto his plate, providing a perfect target for pickup by fork. The taste of the meat, cheese, green peppers and the folded pizza dough that makes up the dumpling was one to be enjoyed and savored.

The Mystery Diner ate as much as he could, but decided to ask for a box to take home. (If there is anything just as good as a calzone for a weekday lunch, it’s a calzone on the rebound at home that evening for dinner.)

For anyone seeking to enjoy a pizza-like taste experience, but wanting something a little bit different, the Mystery Diner enthusiastically recommends a Rosati’s calzone. Buon appetito!

• The Mystery Diner is a newsroom employee at the Record Newspapers. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a restaurant and then reports on the experience. The Mystery Diner is not intended to be a restaurant critic but does highlight the parts of a dining experience that he/she can recommend.

If you go

What: Rosati's Yorkville

Where: 1985 Marketview Drive at Route 47, Yorkville

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Information: Call 630-553-5533 or visit myrosatis.com.