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Roma Cafe
Rating Details »
Neighborhood: Eastern Market
3401 Riopelle St
Detroit, MI 48207
(313) 831-5940
3401 Riopelle St
Detroit, MI 48207
(313) 831-5940
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Valet
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
15 reviews for Roma Cafe
This is just one of those rare Detroit gems that MUST be visited! Roma's is your classic old school Italian family owned place. Love the mobster feel -- complete with dark wood paneled walls and red accents. The waiters are all over the age of 50, but serve with great pride.
My fave is the salad. All the pastas are delish too, but if you're feeling a lighter meal, salad is the way to go! If you claim to love Detroit and its history, this place is a must-try.
The first time I came here I didn't like it too much...it was basic but I think maybe slacked because we got there right before closing time. Since then I have been there twice and had progressively better times...
The service is excellent and this last time we had a small wait but it was no problem to sit at the bar for a while and chitchat.
The bread was FANTASTIC...and I love that they give you a side of spaghetti with everything. There were 4 of us at dinner and we all felt necessary to sample one another's dishes LOL. So I tried the Minestrone, Prime cut Filet, Veal Parmsean, Calamari, and I, myself, ordered the French Fried Shrimp. Each dish was fantastic, even the calamari, which I am not too much of a fan of in other places.
The ambience is great. It's an older place and very charming. Family owned so the service is very good. They know how to take care of ya! I will definitely go again when in the area and probably sample a few more dishes that I hadn't tried yet...
My family has been going here since way before I was born - I was even baptized on a Saturday so they could have the meal after at the Roma (they're closed on Sundays). We always went here or to Joe Muer's for birthdays and other family holidays. We still go as a family at least a few times a year.
The food is the best Italian in the entire Detroit area. I realize that is a bold statement, but I'm stickin' to it. I'm part Italian, so I'm pretty finicky about Italian cuisine.
There's something about the meat sauce at the Roma that just transcends all other local places - it tastes like the Bolognese in Italy. There's a touch of nutmeg (which I normally can't stand) that just rounds out the meat and tomato flavors perfectly. Everything they make it super-fresh (the Eastern Mkt. location facilitates this very well) and since they've been cooking for over 100 years, they know what they're doing!
The Roma's meat entrees are great too: "How's the veal in this place?" "Best in the city!" (The Godfather). The saltimbocca is my favorite, but the marsala is delicious as well. The chicken with artichokes is very good as well.
The meals are ENORMOUS - you will definitely need a doggie bag, and you'll have enough for 2 more meals. All of the entrees come with soup, and also pasta if you get a meat dish. However, I would recommend getting the soup wrapped up and just taking a couple bites of the pasta, so you can order the Roma salad to share to start the meal. Each waiter makes it himself - the basic recipe is the same but with an individual touch. The quality of the ingredients is what transforms a plain salad w/ vinaigrette into a special treat.
If you have room for dessert (yeah, right), I highly recommend the cannoli (filled to order) or the spumoni ice cream from Alinosi's - both are delicious.
So, if the food is so incredible, why only 4 stars? I liked the decor as a kid, because it was the scene of so many happy family memories, but as I've gotten older, the place feels as if it lacks intimacy. The bar has a good feel, but the tables are very oddly positioned in that room. Always feel like I'm eating on stage or something in the other 2 rooms, it's the weirdest feeling.
The newer waiters don't seem very friendly, but the old guys who have been serving at the Roma for over 25 years (I think there's only 1 or 2 left at this point) are sweethearts. Granted, they've watched me grow up, so that may have something to do with it.
Don't even try to eat here on a Saturday night without a reservation. Not gonna happen. It's worth planning ahead to take a trip back in time and dine on the best Italian food in the Detroit area - buon appetito!
Really great, bread, soup and salad. This place is a real italian classic (old school). The waiter was kinda odd. We ordered drinks, he brought a heineken for himself and chugged it. We checked the bill and he didn't charge us for his drink. We thought it may be an entertainment charge. The lasagna had mixed reviews, veal cutlet was ok. I will be back when it gets cold. We had a discussion about the possibilities of hoffa being buried in the basement. We thought pretty good!
In the world of Italian eateries, there are many originals, and many imitators. Roma Cafe is one of the originals, doing traditional Italian classics up in a manner that would evoke images of sitting in a small family home in Rome, or Milan, or Sicily (whatever suits your fancy), and being served a big heaping plate of food by some old Italian grandmother with the words, "Mange, mange!"
My roommate, who is not a huge fan of Italian, has argued that the food here is some of the best Italian he's ever had...and I agree with him.
When I was there last, I got a plate of spaghetti with meat sauce and italian sausage, and I could tell just by looking at it it was going to be good. Rich, red sauce, with tomato flavor that tasted like they'd crushed perfectly-ripe tomatoes that day (given their proximity to Eastern Market, they likely had!), savory meat mixed in and just enough oregano, onion, and garlic as to give it a slight spice, but nothing overpowering. The pasta itself was flavorful, mixing nicely with the sauce, but again, the flavors married, rather than overpowering one or the other.
Then came the sausage -- and this wasn't hot Italian sausage, and it wasn't sweet, either. It had a little spice to it -- thyme, garlic, onion, and sage, but it wasn't overpowering, nor was it so muted that it was invisible behind the pasta and sauce. The best way I could describe it is intense -- you KNOW what you're eating, but again, it doesn't steal the show.
So why do I give the place 3 stars if the food was so amazing? Well, the service is the main reason why. While the place hearkens back to 1920s and 1930s style dining (all the waiters are in tuxedos, and there isn't a waitress to be seen anywhere), the service is more like 2000s dive than anything else. The waiter we had seemed inattentive, uninterested, and really didn't seem to care, almost like we were occupying "his valuable time" or something. He had put on airs a bit, and it was off-putting enough that I will think twice before returning there. Best Italian in Detroit it may be, but if the service is substandard, I don't want to go there.
That said, you may not have the experience I had, so if you really like tasty Italian, Roma Cafe's probably it.
I went here for my birthday one year. The food was okay. Everything else was marvelous! I had an old Italian man sing me happy birthday in Italian (embarrassing but where else could this happen), the bartender showed us all the secrete tunnels gangsters used back in the day, and the service was on point. To me good service can make an okay meal fantastic.
The history and ambiance more then makes up for their so-so veal tosca. I think everyone who loves Detroit should go at least once.
Love it! Sometimes restaurants aren't all about the food. The food here is good, not great, but Roma has the atmosphere and the ambience. The waiters who have worked here for years, all have distinct personalities and a few can even sing some arias. Some look as if they would be right at home in a Scorsese flick. There are two eating areas and a bar. The bar dates back to the 20's or earlier while the other rooms are a combination of the worst of the 60's and 70's but somehow it works. On a busy Friday or Saturday it's like eating in a New York City neighborhood cafe. Dress code is casual, lots of old Grosse Pointers and Eastsiders frequent the place. Very busy on hockey and baseball nights.
As far as the food goes---typical Italian fare: pastas, veal, chicken, seafood and steaks---strip steak Siciliano(not on the menu so just ask) is especially well done, the perch is always good and the pasta servings are generous and tasty. Try the house salad, it is made by your waiter and it is very good. Nice wine list and full bar. You never know who you will be rubbing elbows with, many sport stars, team owners and local news celebrities frequent Roma. It's worth the trip downtown and it is safe.
Usua
Love this place. The wait staff is very attentive, the food is amazing and fresh. The meat is priced at Eastern Market prices. The waiters have always made our visit special. An experience you will not find at other chain Italian restaurants.
Be sure to wear something nicer than jeans and a t-shirt. The first time we went that is exactly what we wore, but the attire of others dining says otherwise. Regardless, we were still treated like kings and queens. The valet parking is nice, but if you are cheap you can still hoof it.
Roma Café is Detroit's oldest Italian restaurant and probably the city's most authentic. Tucked behind Eastern Market Roma Café is the epitome of an Italian restaurant where diners can indulge in a menu loaded with options for vegetarians and carnivores alike.
I find the restaurants décor a little bland, the lights dimmed low, and the black and white photos on the wooden walls a bit drab, but I doubt anyone who dines here will be disappointed or returning for the furnishings. You will indeed be lead by your taste buds back to this Detroit staple again and again and again...
For vegetarians Roma offers such succulent selections like Gnocchi (potato dumplings), bountiful salads, Eggplant Parmigianino, Polenta with Tomato sauce and melted cheese, and my personal favorite Fettuccine Alfredo, swimming in buttery cream sauce. Each of these dishes is evidence that the owners and chefs of Roma know exactly what they're doing. The tomato sauce is rich, zesty and sweet all at the same time. The handmade pasta is always cooked with faultlessness and deliciousness.
For the meat lover, the café offers endless options to remedy that growling stomach. The menu is jam packed with genuine Italian veal and chicken dishes. In addition, the restaurant offers more simple concoctions like Fettuccine and meat sauce, that is hearty and does justice to the genuine Italian cooking the café prides itself on.
The service is impeccable and may be due to the fact that the majority of the waiters, decked in suits and ties, have been employed at the café for decades. The restaurant also offers a shuttle to the local theaters and sports venues which is helpful, especially if you've dived head first into the expansive wine list.
http://www.romacafe.com
This is probably a pleasant survivor of an old and quaint Italian classic of a more vibrant Detroit of the past. My buddy and I popped in on NCAA Final Four Saturday for some "grappa" to drink and some calamari to share, and they were both excellent. It's just a short walk from the street vendor area of the Eastern Market. Ambiance is very warm with dim lighting and old furniture. This place is family owned really knows how to take care of their customers and the clientele is very laid-back and friendly. I would highly recommend having a family dinner or even an intimate dinner here. Though I only had the grappa and calamari - the ambiance and service was more than enough to bring me back here for a complete meal experience. I probably wouldn't expect the best and most authentic Italian food here - but with the great service and old school ambiance and fair prices - it's still a noteworthy restaurant in Detroit.
Jordan W has it all wrong, Roma is not even downtown, it's in Eastern Market.
Anyway, Roma is only there for one reason: it's been there for a hundred years. It's not like the food is anything special. Same deal with Mario's, although it's a little bit better than Roma. It's a stinking plate of macaroni and gravy, big deal.
With food this good and an atmosphere so old-timey and cute, I can overlook the uncomfortable 20-year-old chairs.
Actually, you can avoid the chairs altogether, and sit in the quaintest, most charming part of the whole restaurant, if you go through the doorway to the left of the hostess stand. It's a tiny room that houses the bar and three booths, and it's usually where the owner/manager woman is sitting. And she is super nice, or maybe just to me and my parents since we spend so much money in there.
The salad, while annoying because it doesn't come with the entrées, is the reason I love this place. I do bastardize the formula by insisting on no hard boiled eggs, but the tanginess of the Italian dressing, the perfect crispiness of the lettuce, the chick peas, the ripe tomatoes and the slight parmesan dusting make me want to order three of them -- even at something like $7 each. The pickerel is a light, flaky white fish with a perfect dusting of lightly fried batter on it. The filet mignon is so melt-in-your-mouth it's ridiculous. And the minestrone and spaghetti on the side is, well, minestrone and spaghetti on the side, which is to say it's yummy.
The weird part about this place is the waiters. Even though they are all pushing 60 or 70 and wearing tuxedos as if they were in the 1940s, they take your order on little Blackberry-type deals. In fact, the things now look exactly like Blackberries, but a few years ago, they used these giant TI-82 calculator deals. Weird. The waiters also have this very brusque, nonchalant attitude about them, which might come off as rude, but is something I actually like. It's because they're not obsequious. It's not some 20-year-old asking "How is everything?" every five minutes because they don't know what else to do. No, the waiters at Roma KNOW everything is good, and if it's not, you can flag them down. They get you your food, they open the wine, they know what to do and they do it. They don't give you that fakey fake servant bit that so often comes with a fine dining experience. The slight rudeness is part of the charm.
And with food that amazing, who cares? I don't need a disciple to fawn over me, I need some good food. And I need it now. To Roma!!!
Roma is a Detroit classic. Now granted, you will not be getting high end continental or innovative Italian dishes but you will enjoy the atmosphere and great service. The food is good and some of it is really good such as their Roma salads. Steak Siciliano is very good, the perch and pickerel are also nicely prepared. Large portions. If you go ask for Dave.
Wow - went with high expectations - all kinds of good reviews. What a disappointment. The service was very good, it has a quaint old world feel, prices are fair and the bread was good. But they fail on FOOD.
One pasta was limp with insipid sauce and canned mushrooms.
The meatballs were bad ... just plain bad
Their vegetable was a grean bean reminiscent of my middle school - frozed crud while just blocks away from a farmer's market full of fresh vegetables.
To be fair only tried pastas, maybe I hit them on a bad day. But regardless the food was just plain bad. Avoid.
Four and a half, really. I love this place -- it's definitely an experience. The service is outstanding: all the waiters here have been here for decades, they aren't just working here between acting gigs or trying to get record contracts with their bands. These are professional, career waiters and they genuinely understand good customer service (most restaurants could use a lesson from the waitstaff at the Roma Cafe). I really like the food here too: I love the thick, somewhat sweet tomato sauce, the sizzling cheese on top of the eggplant parmigiana and the pasta. From what I was told, this is Detroit's oldest Italian restaurant and the decor doesn't look as though it's changed in years, but that only makes the experience richer. The prices are very reasonable, especially given the portion sizes.
