Caffé Roma

I love my family. The other day, I told my nephew how it is hard to be an adult. He seemed slightly deflated and I felt bad for having said such a heavy thing to a very young man. But, I had near 1/3 of my family visiting this week, and I was feeling the impending and eventual loneliness of their absence. Luckily, I snapped out of it and began to eat. We started our festivities at Caffe Roma. It is such a great place, but we rarely go for whatever reason. I should say upfront this is a cash-only establishment and it doesn’t have a liquor license. But, those are minor—the food is awesome.

The food is Italian-American with all the regular items that one might expect (red sauce, etc.), but the owner is an immigrant from Naples. The walls are adorned with Sofia Loren and soccer insignias. Rai, Italian cable, is often on the TV. This is basically what Bucca di Beppo attempts to simulate—but so much tastier. The environment was very family-oriented; and our waitress Samantha was charming.

I had only wished that I had run three miles (or perhaps walked to the West Side) before dinner, because I was not hungry enough for the Italian-American feast that presented itself on the table. We had—8 slice pizza (like a bruschetta), minestrone soup, salad, eggplant parmigiana and cavatelli, pasta puttensca, linguine with sausage, and a crispy chicken sandwich. The order of a crispy chicken sandwich was met with a bit of ridicule, there was no doubt. We drove across town in the rain and then even got lost so that someone could eat a crispy chicken sandwich…but then it appeared on the table, and we were all quiet. The patty was blanketed it melted mozzarella and tucked within at ciabatta roll. So, nothing that we ordered disappointed.

We finished with dessert—tiramisu, chocolate/coffee cake (bigger than my head), ricotta cake (so light), pistachio gelato. The experience was so perfect that there is almost nothing else to say. It is my suggestion that if you need a small quiet place to sit and eat lovely food in a casual setting with some of your dearest friends in the world, or in this case, with family that makes you feel an incredible sense of belonging, Caffe Roma should be near the top of your list.

Caffé Roma: 13000 Lorain Ave., Cleveland, OH, ph: 216-889-9999