Cafe Zalute

Just wanted to post that I seriously miss this place! Too bad the Rosemont politics had to come into play here and greed took over. This was my favorite restaurant and the best Italian you could get in the area! Miss you Butch and Ro!

10/​15/​2014 — closed

Good food and spirits. The food wasn’t the best Italian I ever had but not the worst, either. I had the sausage/​pepped/​potato enteé, the sausage didn’t appear to authentic, the sausage was straight like a hotdog, not curved. I guess presentation means a lot to me. The await staff were excellent, extremely courteous and professional. I would go back to try another entreé like the lasagne. Conveniently located across the street from Rivers Casino.

I have eaten at Café Zalute several times, as I work practically next door. The food is always fantastic. Even better is recently for lunch specials they have had lower prices on many items. I did not go to Zalute as often as some other places because it was a little pricier if I just wanted to take it back to the office. When we eat there the service is also great.

The food here used to be really great but something happened. The last time we were here the service was terribly slow, our food came out barely warm, dried out and over cooked (as though it had been sitting under a heat lamp too long). It was difficult to flag down service and the manager or owner, not quite sure, named Bruce or Butch couldn’t be bothered when we asked to speak to a manager. Our minestrone soup tasted liked Campbell’s canned tomato with some pasta thrown in (where were the vegetables?), pasta was way over cooked and oily, the Eggplant Parm was mushy and the Salmon was burnt. The only thing that was edible was my spinach salad, which I suspect was only because I ordered the dressing on the side, as my husband’s insalata zalute was drowning in dressing. Pretty bummed as we would try to pop into this place every time we were in town. Guess it is back to going all the way downtown to Tufano’s.

Delicious Italian food almost as good as my grandma used to make!
I hesitate to dine out at Italian restaurants because nothing compares to my family’s home cooking but Café Zalute is on par with them! Get the Eggplant Parm, you will NOT be disappointed. I could eat the leftovers for a week straight and be happy.
Such friendly, familial service. The owner goes above and beyond to delight customers.

Oh gosh. This place is terrible. The food, the wine, and the service. I don’t get the hype!
1. Cabernet — $ 10 bottle from Walgreens have tasted better than this.
2. Pasta Bruno — Gorgonzola cheese, pasta, and beef? Anyway, too oily and the pasta wasn’t al dente.
3. Veal — way too salty. It was layered with prosciutto which made the dish taste like ham and cheese.
4. Tomato basil soup — too salty. Yuck.
5. Minestrone soup — delicious!!! Yes, delicious!
Service was terrible! I felt so rushed. I don’t think that they meant to do that… I think our servers were just bored! But come on now… Me and my friend were still talking. If we let them drive our entire dining experience, we would have been done in 40 minutes. Next time, we’ll just go to the buffet at Rivers.

My absolute favorite Italian food in the world comes from Café Zalute. Always consistent, always delicious.
Our favorite appetizer is the baked clams but we’ve definitely tried them all over our many visits and have enjoyed all of the options– a close second is the fried calamari.
My favorite entrée is the chicken francaise but, you cannot go wrong with anything on the menu. From the pasta to the seafood and everything in between. Their specials are always mouth watering and worth checking out. My mom’s favorite is the shrimp scampi, my brother likes the linguini with mussels, there is something for everyone on this menu!
Wait staff is attentive and quick to refill drinks. If you’re unsure of what to order just ask for recommendations from the staff! They’re always so friendly and helpful when I’m indecisive about what to order.
They also do catering and their baked clams are a MUST at all of our family parties!
Overall, I cannot recommend this place enough, Italian is my favorite cuisine and I’ve been to SO many italian spots in and around the Chicagoland area and no where compares to Café Zalute. Whether you’re out at the casino or looking for a nice dinner spot for friends or a date night– do yourself a favor and head to Zalute!

Broiled salmon! Phenomenal !

This place didn’t blow me away. I imagine they get a fair amount of business what with the rivers casino next door but it just didn’t do it for me. The ambience is too fake old world. The food wasn’t bad. I liked the stuffed mushrooms and bread pudding especially. But the quality is inconsistent and the service is friendly but really slow.

Nice place… Good bread… Tasty salad… Atmosphere is cool… Entrees meh… Pizza, less than meh…

I have lunched here with work before and had the pepper egg sandwhich.
This time I had a social deal for a prixe fixe menu with my honey.
Atmosphere:
Arrived to a mixed crowd, a couple of ‘first daters’, some senior, and a ‘housewives’ table.
The most disturbing thing in my opinion, was the entertainment. A fellow singing along with recorded songs. But worry not, a wireless mic was indeed in play and he worked the ladies in the room fo sure. Nothing like having dinner with your sig nif and having the love boat cruise up to your table and flirt.
He could carry a tune though, I will at least give him that.
The point is, I found it more of a distraction than anything. A piano player would have been much more apropos.
The deal:
What you come to learn upon arrival is that the social deal was VERY specific. A choice of two appetizers — toasted raviolis or bruschetta
Salad or soup.
Glass of wine.
Entrée choices were slim:
eggplant
sausage/​pepper
ravioli
lemon chicken
There was a lot more going on the menu for sure.
Food Impressions:
Neither my wife or I would have picked toasted ravioli for an appetizer, but we were both pleasantly surprised by it and would say that it is the best toasted ravioli that we have ever had, simply because the cheese in the middle is more like a crab ragoon.
Salad was nothing special at all.
My wife chose the soup, lobster bisque. I have had it before. SUPER rich and nothing that you should finish entirely.
The funny thing is that I had commented to my wife when we were eating the raviolis that the sauce they served with them was the lobster bisque without the lobster. It turns out that I could not have possibly been MORE right.
For my wife’s side of pasta, she paid a dollar extra to get the vodka sauce on rotini. Guess what? The vodka sauce was same base sauce as the lobster bisque and the toasted ravioli dipping sauce. To reference an old SNL skit, «Yes folks it’s a floor wax AND a cereal topping!»
My sausage pepper was ok, but tasted like it was half salt.
My wife’s lemon chicken was just that, LEMON chicken. Too much so, and the same salt problem.
The merlot we had was decent.
Service we had was ok.
I hate to say it, but we probably would not return. Not because it was god awful, but simply because there was not enough to warrant us to come back.

Whoa — what a nice surprise!
Zalute — at first I thought it was a family name, then I figured it out, it’s dialect for SALUTE! Leave it to the Chicago Italians to come up ‘WIT DAT’ name HAHA!
AMAZING baked clams, AMAZING salmon in an AMAZING Champagne sauce with capers, FLAWLESSLY prepared al dente Rigatone with an AMAZING FRESH marinara sauce, EXCELLENT salad dressing with FRESH tomato, EXCELLENT HOT fresh bread, FRESH grated Parmesan cheese, and EXCELLENT SERVICE! What more do you want to know?
Just go try it for yourself — it was AMAZING!
«I will be back!!»

We have stopped by to have lunch here — — even before the River’s Casino opened up and after it opened up.
We ordered anything from fish to salad dishes, from mussels to pasta —- and everyone liked their dishes.
It’s a shame that it’s hidden in the main floor of a police station. But it’s definitely worth stopping in.
Also, we had Café Salute cater our company lunch for the Holidays, and we were so impressed. We had them cater the following year because we were happy for the quality of food/​dishes & service.

3.75 stars.
Zalute is the value alternative to the Rivers Casino across the street. The drinks and food are much cheaper than Rivers. So much so that you may consider dropping into Zalute before and after your Casino visit.
Chris, the bartender is friendly enough and knows how to keep his patrons happy. 4 stars. The food is decent enough with Italian specialties featured. 3.5 stars. The wait staff is professional enough to warrant 3+ stars. Older crowd.
One minor gripe. The pizza. This is supposed to be an Italian place. Pizza should be outstanding. It seems like the dough is not home made, though. I ordered a margherita pizza. My server could not verify my claim suggesting that the dough’s shipped in. The pizza was good enough, but could have been better with home made dough or a wood fired oven. If you are looking for pizza go to Giordano’s, down the street.
When the check comes you’ll find prices are about 60% of the cost of Rivers Casino across the street, so despite the dough Zalute remains on my Unilocal list.
Stay tuned…

I was staying at a nearby hotel and wanted to eat somewhere that was not the typical «meatfest» or «dive diner», because I am a vegetarian. I found Café Zalute on the Rewards Dining site and decided to give them a try — glad I did.
The services was amazing. My server was very knowledgeable of the menu and noted that I had made a good selection with my dish — Their signature eggplant Parmesan selection. The food was well prepared and delicious. I had the house salad as my option with my entrée, with the house dressing, which a was glad to hear from my server is actually made on-​site and not from a bottle (like most restaurants in this price range). The cocktail I ordered was really good, so I also give their bartender high praise.
The atmosphere was very nice and clean and I like that they have plenty of free parking.
If I am ever in Rosemont, IL again, I will definitely be back to Café Zalute. The only suggestion is that maybe — and is the only thing that kept me from rating a 5-​star — is that they should consider offering more vegetarian options.

I love this place! If you tell them you are in a hurry, due to a lunch break or you are time restricted make sure to tell the wait staff that. Usually it takes a long time for the food to come out, but it’s so worth it. So if you have a taste for Italian food and you are not in any hurry, then this your place. I’ve never had a bad experience here, and I have been here probably 10 times including a friends baby shower. I’ve had everything from a Steak Salad, to Chicken wraps, but my favorite is the Vodka Pasta. It’s out of this world good! The restaurant is old, so nothing fancy, but it’s so worth it!

Who knew Rosemont/​Des Plaines/O’Hare area had anything more than overpriced crap that tourists think is Chicago cuisine? I sure didn’t, until a 3-​day corporate training course landed me next door at the Rosemont Hyatt, and I (and six other women) wanted to find a delicious, inexpensive, mostly healthy meal, that wouldn’t cost an arm, a leg, or various other body parts that we wanted to keep.
Dear Reader, you should know, right off, that I want value. Paying too much offends me. Lousy service turns me into the Wicked Witch of the West. In a world of too many restaurants that live on «buzz» (think trust fund babies with more $$ than good sense or taste) or Food Network fans who complain because the wrong variety of blue sea salt is not available, I stand out — I want good taste, fair prices, friendly service, and a pleasant atmosphere — and I disdain pretension, hype, and p.r.
How lucky for me, and for you, gentle reader, that we turned down the restaurants at Rivers Casino across the street ($ 26.00 for the buffet offended me) and we crossed River Road to check out Café Zalute. The menu was posted in the lobby of the building, and all 7 of us found something that sounded good. In we went, about 6:30pm on a Saturday night.
The atmosphere appealed right away. It’s a bit old-​school — Frank Sinatra singing some old song, the lights dimmed but not so that baby boomers needed magnifying glasses, and not too crowded. As I told my out-​of-​town companions, Chicago restaurants don’t get nuts until at least 7:30pm. And so it was.
The host quickly appeared. I asked, could they accommodate 7 people? And could they do separate checks? (We were attending a training at the Hyatt next door; reimbursement was available for Saturday dinner, but we each needed an individual receipt). He said, no problem! Give us 5 minutes to set up a table! Would the bar area be alright? Since we were all over 21 by more than a couple months, we were fine with that.
Our server was Niki. Goddess bless her. It became clear, very quickly, that Niki was a pro. She knew the menu and answered our many questions easily; she was professionally friendly; she got all the orders and bills right; and she charmed the socks off of us. If and when I get to Café Zalute again, I will ask to be seated in Niki’s section. You should, too.
Niki brought us a basket of breads and butter on the side. I didn’t try the bread until I was sopping up the sauce from my pasta, but the others dug in quickly and happily. Four out of seven ordered a Ruffino Chianti; Niki asked if we wanted a bottle, but we were thinking of the separate checks. We did not have appetizers.
Entrees ranged from Eggplant Parmigiana to Veal Parmigiana; to pasta with zuppi di mare to a vegetarian pasta with broccoli and tomato to a shared margherita pizza. Most got the house salad with dressing on the side — raspberry vinaigrette, oil and vinegar, or house Italian. They didn’t have minestrone soup that night (kind of odd, if you ask me) and one person had the pasta fajool soup (yes, I know this is not spelled right — phonetic spelling). She did not like the soup — said it was too salty, sent it back, and Niki brought her a salad instead.
We skipped dessert and coffee. The portions were pretty large. I took most of my pasta with me, and stored it in the hotel room refrigerator. Most of the others couldn’t eat all of theirs, either, but because they were all flying home the next day, they didn’t take doggie bags.
We all had a wonderful time, and really enjoyed the food, the wine, the music, the ambiance, and Niki’s service. What a great evening!
I would definitely go again, and I recommend you give Café Zalute a try. Again, remember it’s not the trendiest place (a plus, in my mind), and it’s pretty old school. If you bear that in mind, and don’t expect the place to be one of those overrated, overpriced hot spots that get listed in the tourist magazines — but you do want really good food at reasonable prices — you’ll be glad you came.

Sometimes I forget how inflated NYC prices are… until my quarterly trips to Rosemont, IL remind me how many $$$ I’m shaving off of my retirement nest egg every time I eat out in the Big Apple.
Thanks Rosemont, haven’t you ever heard that ignorance is bliss?
For $ 40, they unloaded the following onto our table: 2 glasses of the house Pinot Noir, a margherita pizza, a mountain of rigatoni pomodoro (at LEAST a full extra meal) and a $ 3.00 side of baseball-​sized meatballs (2) that really should cost twice as much (damn you NYC for successfully indoctrinating me).
Clearly I was overmatched by the portions. And as an out of town guest I couldn’t take a doggy bag… so the waitress gave me the «you’re barely half a man» glare (which I respected) when she was forced to take a barely dented plate back to the kitchen.
The atmosphere was comfortable if not a bit vacant. Versatile enough for families, groups of friends and casual dates. Food was satisfying… nothing was too awesome or too disappointing… and a thumbs up goes to the abundant portions.
Next time I’ll bring a UPS envelope with a home mailing label for my leftovers to avoid the waitress’ emasculating glare.

The service was VERY quick this time and they had a nice healthy salad that didn’t kill my diet! Also, the minestrone soup was delicious. We were in and out in about an hour. Perfect for a business lunch!