Cucina Rosa

The warm bread was amazing. Crusty on the outside, fluffy on the inside. We had gnocchi with meat sauce. The gnocchi was ok and seemed to be authentic. Could have been cooked a little longer. Seemed doughy on the inside. The portions were huge. The meat was non existent in the so called meat sauce and the sauce was very disappointing. Thick and pasty with no flavor. The cake of the day was ok for refrigerator carrot cake. My husband used the restroom and said that it was the best part of the whole restaurant. The bread was the best part for me.

Great little Italian place that has great steaks too!
I just got back from a 6 day trip to Las Vegas, so I ate out a lot. At a lot of high end restaurants during that time. Two nights after getting back we go to Cucina Rosa for dinner. I had the Filet. Best steak that I have had in a year… including every place I ate at in Vegas.
Now the buffet at the Wynn may have been better because of the variety of choices… but pound for pound the steak I had here was better.
Great staff and great food.

This was our second visit to Cucina Rosa. We were underwhelmed. The grilled calamari appetizer was overcooked with a burnt flavor and chewy. I ordered the pork tenderloin which I was assured was excellent. The meat did not have much flavor and the gravy was overpowering (think swimming). The meat was undercooked My husband had chicken marsala. The flavor was unimpressive and bland. Our first visit was more favorable but won’t be going back.

This place is great! They offer a wide variety, the food quality is near excellent. They have an upscale embiance and great food but at near value prices. I enjoyed the lobster ravioli and my wife the Mediterranean Shrimp and Salmon. Large portions, warm bread and oil. Service is slightly slow so be patient, the food is being made with love and it shows.

best Italian food in mchenry. best service in mchenry. Mary Jo is so nice it hurts. Veal is our favorite, all of them. fresh ingredients without over powering garlic. my husband fav… shrimp diablo. enough for 2 meals. don’t fill up on salad and bread… but the soups are worth a try.

This restaurant is located in a strip mall. The food was great, service was great but the décor inside the restaurant and general ambience is lacking. Restaurant looks tired inside, needs a facelift badly. Such a shame, as food is great but you don’t want to go back for a lovely night out as it’s just a bit shabby looking inside, like the owners couldn’t be bothered. Again, lovely food but as for «watch out bimbos» as said by one of the other reviewers, this place has no ambience, no bar, no nice décor, so I think Bimbos will be ok for now!!!

This is a hidden diamond in the rough. Great pasta and the deserts are oit of this world. Bery friendly staff treats you like family.

Went last night with some friends and everyone loved it. Service and food both great.

Wonderful little place tucked away a bit. Excellent service with traditional décor and menu. The food we had was classic Italian dishes and all very good. Chicken Marsala had excellent flavor and a great portion. Chicken Picatta had just the right amount of taste and not to filled w capers. Add the older style music and it was a nice relaxing evening. Will definitely be back.

Don’t let a strip mall detour you!

We really enjoy this restaurant. We have never been disappointed in anything we have ordered. The waitstaff are very friendly and knowledgeable about the food on the menu. We will definitely keep going back to this restaurant.

This is the best kept secret in McHenry! Went yesterday for Father’s Day– it was a full house. Steak Gorgonzola is amazing! My son gobbled up the cheese ravioli and my other son enjoyed the mostacholli and bread with oil and cheese. Fresh salad and definitely get it with the creamy garlic dressing. YUUUUM!

Great staff great atmosphere food is sooo good chicken Marcela is out of this world ennochi is the best

First time at this restaurant and am very impressed with it. Staff is extremely friendly and make you feel like you are at home. The wine list is very reasonable (good bottles for $ 25 or less) on price. Food portions are super generous.
The food was outstanding. Everything we had was cooked perfectly and seasoned well. Nothing was bland at all. I had the chicken parm was fabulous. The meatballs are a must!
I will definitely be back to this little hidden gem.

This place is a hidden gem. Tucked away in the corner but the service and food quality is definitely not lacking. Took the family here but probably more of an adult place due to the course timing. Highly recommended!!!

Superb service & the food is just out of this world… I had the fried calamari to start. Then house salad & added Blue cheese crumbles… then cheese tortellini dish. Omg heavenly… finally to end this delicious meal homemade tiramisu. will b telling all my friends of this hidden Gem!

Great place stuck in a stripmall. Well done Italian dishes like Braciole and baked clams. huge portions. Good service. Freindlly staff. Wine list needs work. Otherwise a great choice. Right up there with Paesanos

Nice little Italian restaurant with surprisingly good food!
My girlfriend used to live in Irish Priarie which is at the end of the road that Cucina Rosa is located. So I used to pass by this strip mall pretty much every day for 2 years. A few years ago an Italian restaurant went in there and it was terrible. Recently we were driving in that area and saw that a new restaurant had gone in the same space. We were weary of stopping there but decided to stop in anyway.
The atmosphere isn’t the best, it is a strip mall after all. But the food and service definitely made up it.
Our waitress was super friendly and very helpful. She brought out fresh, steaming hot bread which we enjoyed with olive oil and parmesan cheese. Then we had salads, which sometimes can be dicey… but the salad was actually very impressive. Fresh veggies and crisp lettuce.
For our main course, I had lasagna and my girlfriend had delicious filet medallions over pasta. Both dishes were surprising good.
All in all, a very positive experience. I think this restaurant may struggle however because of its location. For now, it is a nice little secret.

Great restaurants are hard to find in McHenry County. So when you stumble into the real deal, you must relish the experience. The star here is great Italian food. The three bone-​in chicken dishes I have had here rival anything in Chicago. My favorite is the Chicken Scarpetta: Roasted chicken with sausage and green peppers in a light marinara sauce. We have now had five different entrée’s here and everything has been amazing. The cannoli flight for $ 5 was the perfect way to end our last meal. Prices here are very reasonable. Most entrée’s are under $ 17 and come with a great salad or soup.
The service is good but not great. The atmosphere is bland and could use some lighting adjustments and a few more elegant wall decorations. These are minor observations because the food is just SO good.

I loved the food here, but the ambiance? Not so much. That’s the only reason why I took off one star.
My family loves Italian food, so I like to think that we know what’s up when we’re checking out a new place. We always use the pinnacle of Italian food to base our judgments of others around — Olive Garden (kidding).
We started out with a bottle of Malbec, which was very smooth. They only have one, it’s a Reserva, and I would recommend it. Flavorful, but light enough to drink even with chicken dishes.
The bread is great. It was straight from the oven and it was plentiful. We started off with about 16 slices to split among five. The table is equipped with olive oil and grated Parmesan, which is awesome. I usually have to ask for these things to go with my bread.
My dinner was delicious. I can’t remember the name of the dish that I got, but it was southern Italian. It was chicken with eggplant, prosciutto, and mozzarella with a white wine sauce. A little salty, but overall very flavorful. It came with a side of penne pasta in marinara. This was a little cold and didn’t seem to fit the style of the dish. Luckily, the main plate came with two huge medallions, so I didn’t even need the pasta. (All of our portions were huge! Come really hungry, or ready to take some food home. Don’t share, it’s for losers.)
Everyone else in my family liked their food. My mom got the veal saltimbocca and it was great. My dad got the beef braciole, which wasn’t bad, but it definitely could have been more tender. My brother got a pasta dish that had a small hair in it, but whatever. Protein.
Now for the desserts. Ready for your mouth to water? My mom and I shared a cannoli flight. What? Yes. It’s true. Four cannoli: two pistachio, one chocolate chip, and one maraschino cherry. I don’t know if they change the favors based on the day, but the ones we had were great. I’m pretty picky about cannoli as I go to school in Boston, with the best cannoli in the world at Mike’s Pastry, but these were great. Grandma got tiramisu which was pretty good (not the best, even for around here), and brother got crème brûlée, which was good.
But now for the atmosphere… Not great. Floors are carpeted, walls feel kind of bare, chairs and tables are reception-​hall quality. Doesn’t look fancy at all. I guess it is kind of cool that you can get pretty bomb Italian food at a really casual place. But the décor could still be casual and a bit more welcoming.
Staff was great, super helpful and nice. Always refilling bowls of bread and asking us if there was anything else they could get us.
Prices were higher than expected. Meals are between $ 15 and $ 20 without drinks. It was under $ 150 before tip for five with wine and dessert. The quality of the food is worth it though.
I definitely will return. Look forward to coming here again with my family!