The Rosebud

Top flight service, huge portions of scrumptious genuine Italian fare. Always busy, so be sure to make reservations ! Look closely and you might spot a local Mafiosa !

Classic Italian food in a classic Chicago restaurant. Everything from the food to the service to the atmosphere is 5 stars.

Went here for dinner before a Bulls game. Service was old school and professional, they are going to take good care of you. We all had the caesar salad, this is the best caesar salad I have ever had!
Had the Bone in Ribeye with the peppers (pizzaiollo style) and it was great. The quality of the meat was good but it was the preparation with the peppers that really stood out. It was so big it could probably feed multiple people.
Definitely recommend this place for its old school vibe and great food.

I was in the neighborhood this afternoon running errands and came upon Rosebud. I have seen the one on Rush, but this was right here, and I was thinking, well why not? As I was seated quickly and Ol’ Blue Eyes was just mere eyesight away in an old frame checking me out, I asked myself, what should I eat with Frank for lunch? Chicken Piccata. It comes with a side of rotini corkscrew pasta and marinara. The setting is reminiscent of an old Italian grammas’ house. Some bookshelves filled with antique book, and memorabilia nic macs, etc. Old Italian music playing in the background and a few stained glass windows. M only thought was that there is water damage in the ceiling and they really should fix that.
My server is friendly, water and bread came out expediently. I’m dipping the warm lightly crusted on the outside bread in the olive oil on the table and there’s a little metal UFO on the table with parmesan cheese. (the canned kind) The chicken comes out, and it is HOT. Wow, no mistaking freshness here. That baby was juicy and the sauce was thick with a variety of capers and big caper berries. There is so much sauce with the chicken it could have been soup. Not that you’d want to eat it as soup. lol The pasta was okay (obviously not made in house) and the marinara was tasty enough, but nothing special. I doused it in the UFOs cheese, better. Not too pricey. Good for lunch.

I’m not going to say the food is bad… cuz it’s not. But the way the business is run… REALLY? Went in for pickup. The price was $ 6.48. The girl let me know they don’t use change. So… she only gave me back $ 3.00. What kind of business ethic is that? RIP OFF! I won’s be eating here or picking up from here again.

Efficient and friendly service.
Zuppe del mare
Caprese salad
Nice wine list
And fabulous cannolis

Stopped in before the Boat Show on Sunday afternoon. Seated immediately. Patrick, our waiter came over explained the specials and gave us excellent service. Grilled calamari was perfect. Kids had spaghetti and their famous meatballs. Wife had the Ciopino Fish special. Great fresh seafood. Everything was good from start to finish. Great place.

We went here before a Bulls game. The spicy calamari and shrimp grilled was fantastic! Out if 4 dinners we enjoyed only 2 which was disappointing. The veal
Parmesan and chicken Vesuvio was fabulous. The skirt steak was so tough you had to chew 5 minutes a piece so not edible really, the world famous ribs were cold and old. So disappointing ! The waiter was Jay. He was not very pleasant. At the end he asked if we wanted to box it up and I said no. I told him the steak was not good and very chewy and he got mad and said I asked you if everything was okay. Honestly we just shared the good food and were ok but he was not a good waiter seeing that our bill was 250 you would think he would be nicer.

Giant portions!

Classic Italian will always be close to my heart & far from my dietary regimen. Every once in a while a carb overload is due, so you may as well do it right. With a nice red wine & an exquisite pappardelle or a Parmesan of your choice. Quite a Manhattan by the way

this was sooooooo delicious that i wanted to go back the next day! a friend and i took our other friend here for her 40^th bday! i had white fish stuffed with crab meat with spinach & lemon butter sauce and it was freakin AMAZING! i didnt wanna stop eating it even though i was already full. my 2 other friends LOVED their meals as well! there were no complaints whatsoever in any of our food or service! they even brought out a little piece of chocolate type cake with a candle for her bday. very cute! i would love to return some time soon cuz this seriously was one of the best deals ive ever had in my entire life!!! ummmmm ummmmm!

Went there last night and was seated quickly, shrimp appetizer was amazing. They said our meal would be out in 30min it came sooner and was great. We had the coconut cake highly recommend good serving for two. Overall great experience.

What can I say about the Rosebud? Wood paneled elegance, lovely ambience, good drinks, nice wine list, superb service, excellent food, generous portions, variety of desserts, wonderful cappuccinos… music by the Chairman, whose portrait in the dining room raises a toast to this fine establishment! Hubby and I have been here on many occasions, and have yet to be disappointed. Most any menu selection will be well prepared and delicious. Rosebud provides warm bread-​focaccia and crusty Italian-​with olive oil and grated cheese. We requested antipasti, and were presented with a lovely selection of Italian deli meats, cheeses, veggies (including eggplant) on a bed of arugula. We highly recommend the ziti-​pasta, tomato, basil, cheese, crumbled sausage, perfectly sauced. In the past, if we did not see a dish on the menu, we asked, and our requests were accommodated. Great service from all staff! Server Tony was knowledgeable about menu items and answered all my questions. Valet parking is available and recommended.

Wonderful experience from start to finish! Seated immediately upon arrival on a very busy Saturday night, manager stopped at table twice to see how things were going, our server (Jay) was outstanding!!! He knew everything about the menu and very detail about the specials. We started with the shrimp special per Jay’s suggestion. Wow! Delicious. I couldn’t decide which pasta I wanted between 2 of them
On the menu so Jay said he’d take care of me and boy he did! He had the chef make a combination of the 2 (carbonara and vodka sauce) and it was perfect. My husband had the Ciopanno for 2 so
We could take some home for our teenage soon. There was so much seafood in that dish it seems it is more like a dish for 5! Ended our evening with the very best tiramisu in the world! Yes, I am the tiramisu expert and Rosebuds is truly mouth watering amazingly delicious. Thanks to Rosebud for a wonderful evening and anniversary celebration! We can’t wait to go back!

The enthusiasm, smile and energy of the waiter while explaining the specials of the day sold me everything the flowed out of his mouth. Then there were two specials on the table.
1. A breaded tilapia with parsley chopped and sprinkled on top. Great lemon and buttery touch.
2. Beef lasagna topped with gooey cheese makes for a classic Italian dish.
Absolutely would come back for that contagious friendly waiter and free valet from 11am — 3pm.

This is a wonderful Italian food establishment. I came for a company dinner event and I was pleasantly surprised with the good service and delicious well prepared food. We started off with stuffed mushrooms appetizer which was pretty good, moist panko crusted outter layer.
I had a garden salad to prepare me for my bone in ribeye steak. The bone in was cooked to perfection as I requested and didn’t need any sauce. It had a great balance of fat and meat which made the meat delicious and savory.
The desert with a rosebud tiramisu which is large and couldn’t finish but it was not overly sweet but full of vanilla flavor.

How have I never reviewed Rosebud on Taylor? I’ve been here for numerous business dinners and lunches and stopped by with a co-​worker today after a meeting at Rush MC.
Rosebud is one of the OG’s of Chicago Italian food, and they have pictures of just about every famous person on the planet to prove it — JFK, Frank Sinatra, Robert DiNero, Oprah and the dad from Tommy Boy. The interior is dark and cozy — if it’s busy you might feel a bit crowded.
They’ve got a very nice wine list (as I’d expect) with a good number of by-​the-​glass options at not terrible prices. Alas, it was a work lunch so no wine for me. I picked penne Bolognese and my co-​worker went with carbonara which she kindly shared. The carbonara wasn’t the «traditional» with beaten egg and pancetta — rather it’s a creamy parmesan sauce with mushrooms and peas. Very, very rich but good all the same and if you love mushrooms (I’m indifferent at best) know that the ones they used were meaty and flavorful. I’m tough on Bolognese sauce because I make a mean one and Rosebud’s was really good — very meaty and not too tomato-​y. Again, not strictly traditional (I didn’t see veg in there) but tasty, and who am I to question 40-​year old recipes?
Service was fine — waters were refilled regularly but we had to ask for a refill on iced tea. Prices are quite reasonable for lunch (most dishes under $ 15) and the portions were enormous. I know there are other Rosebud’s in the city, but the original location has a lot of charm and is worth a visit.

Food: 5 stars
Service: 5 stars
Update: Following my 4-​star review of the restaurant, the Rosebud marketing team reached out to me and asked that I give them another chance. They did not feel that my 3-​star review of the service was indicative of their typical dining experience. I obliged to give them a second chance and I am glad that I did. The poor service we received must have been a fluke event as our second experience was great. This time we opted to sit inside rather than out on the patio. I would highly recommend taking this approach. Their interior is decorated well and the sounds of Sinatra playing sound much better than the traffic. The interior tables also come stocked with parmesan cheese to mix with the olive oil (for bread dipping) while their patio tables just have olive oil. To start, we got the bruschetta which was one of the better ones we’ve tried. Although it had too many tomatoes for my liking, the fresh mozzarella and slight char-​broiled taste of the toasted bread delighted the taste buds. For our entrées, we ordered the pasta carbonara and chicken Marsala. Both were delicious and were more food than we could eat in one sitting. Although we were getting full, Amy, our friendly and attentive waitress, suggested we try the chocolate mousse cake. It was very good and would be a good choice for any chocolate lover. When we received the invitation to return to the restaurant, I refrained from informing them on when I would be back as to not skew our experience. Without knowing I was a returning, underwhelmed customer, the wait staff provided us a superb dining experience. I’m glad we came back. I wasn’t a fan after our first visit but am definitely a fan of this establishment now. I would highly recommend coming here. My original review follows in case you wish to compare my experiences.
We came here mid-​afternoon looking for some good Italian food. What we found was great ziti but mediocre service. The busser, who moderately reminded me of Lloyd from Entourage, was great. He was friendly and hard working. Our waiter, however, was not. While the busser ran around filling water glasses, the waiter avoided our table as much as he could. When he took our order, I asked for some butter for the bread. It wasn’t until he brought our food out and I asked again about the butter that he finally brought. This wouldn’t be an issue had they been busy. However, this was 3PM and there were only 3 tables needing service. The bread was good and definitely worth the wait. Likewise, the ziti was fantastic. A must try if you like lots of cheese. The restaurant itself was nice and worthy of 5 stars. The service was not, hence the compromise on 4 stars. I would recommend giving it a try. Just hope your server is more attentive than ours.

We had our first visit to the old flagship location of this franchise. The seating is quite tight here, and if crowded, the smallish dining space can get quite loud. It is a charming, old school kind of setting, and the host and server played their parts as traditional Italians. Wife had their pork chops with bell pepper/​mushroom sauce, and I had their veal parmesan with penne pasta side. The portions were very large, as was the $ 15 chopped salad that we split. On a side note, it would be nice if an individually sized and priced starter salad could be ordered. We had take-​home for every dish we ordered including the salad. Overall, a nice dinner, but the quality wasn’t quite 5 star quality (as we had expected) as the veal was a little firm and stringy and the pork chops were a little on dry side. The cheese and breading on the veal was fine. Metered street parking was easy right out front on Taylor Street for $ 2/​hour. Nearby side streets looked to be permit parking. Come here if you are looking for large portions and old school rustic Italian.
ps — I noticed a lot of out-​of-​towner Unilocal reviews for whatever reason.

I came here on a date with my boyfriend on a Friday night and had a spectacular time! Service was fantastic and so was the food. I had a white fish special that was stuffed with crab meat, delicious! My boyfriend had the gnocchi with chicken special and his was also delicious! We were too full for dessert so can’t comment on that. Will definitely come back! :)