The South Shore
Taste & Tell
By Linda Dixon
Home-style Italian at slightly retro Villa Rosa
It is Villa Rosa home-style Italian food that pulls in the crowds. On our first visit, families and couples packed the place in a steady stream: Old, young, and kid-laden parties with babies in tow. Most seemed to be there to share Villa Rosa's popular thin-crust pizzas, which come with generous toppings of meat and fresh veggies, and of course, lashings of cheese.
It's good pizza, ranging from a basic cheese ($9.95 / small size from $6.40 - also calzones) to the pizza special, which on one night was a Hawaiian ($11.99) decked out with ham and pineapple. Not surprisingly, Villa Rosa is popular for takeout, though they don't offer delivery.
The rest of the menu is filled with standards: Steaks and seafood, with veal and chicken dishes a specialty. For lighter bites, or lunch, there is a range of sandwiches including a meatball sub ($6.99) and an eggplant parmigiana ($7.99).
Pasta dishes are a given. An eggplant ravioli ($12.99), offered as a special, came ladled with basic marinara that was minimally produced with just pulped tomato and seasoning. It added a nice unobtrusive piquancy to the big pillows of pasta that were stuffed with eggplant puree, herbs and cheese.
Another special, the Italian Sampler ($12.99), offered a trip around some of Villa Rosa's menu items. It included a good herbed ricotta-stuffed manicotti, breaded eggplant, meatball and a very good peppery Italian sausage, all served with marinara.
Villa Rosa's appetizers included standard offerings, everything from chicken fingers to mozzarella sticks (both $6.99).
Desserts were more intriguing: the cannoli ($3.99) was a good pastry shell stuffed with sweetened ricotta, sprinkled with powdered sugar and a dash or two of crushed pistachio. On the specials menu, the ice cream truffle ($4.99) was a standout. This utterly yummy chocolate-coated ball was filled with chocolate-flecked ice cream and chocolate sauce. Hey, it even had a cute maraschino cherry perched on top. How retro is that?
