Rosa's Pizza Restaurant Review

First Impression

John: Since this is a high school football issue, Tim and I did something different this week. We went on Google and decided that we would go to a restaurant that was near one of the high schools that made the playoffs (Roswell, Alpharetta and Chattahoochee). The only restaurant near Alpharetta was Zaxby's, I don't like the letter Z or the letter X and I really hate when they're in the same word, plus they're fast food, so we eliminated them. To make a long story short, we settled on Rosa's Pizza, which is about 1.1 miles from Chattahoochee High School. When you walk inside, the first thing you're going to see is a giant white board. The giant white board contains the entire menu. If you're one of those people who has a hard time making decisions, you're in luck because there are only five things to choose from here: Pizza, Pasta, Heroes, Salads and Dessert. There's also alcohol, which I only mention because everyone I know seems to enjoy it so much.

Tim: Honestly, my first impression of Rosa's was to try to figure out if it used to be a Mellow Mushroom. The set-up is very similar except that we weren't barraged with thinly veiled references to illicit substances when we walked in the door. So basically, if you ever wondered what a Mellow Mushroom would look like without a bunch of stoner art on the walls, go to Rosa's. To me, this is a good thing. I'm in my 30's. I have four kids. I don't need reminders of the fun I'm not having in life every time I go eat pizza.

John: 7

Tim: 8

Appetizers

John: Since we actually ordered three entrées and didn't order an appetizer at all, I'll talk about one of the entrée's here. Lets go with the lasagna. Here is what the lasagna had going for it: it was hot, it was cheesy and it had a lot of meat. Here is what the lasagna did not have going for it: flavor. You know how water has no taste? That's how I felt about the lasagna. If Dasani ever comes out with a cheese and meat flavored water, I think it will have a strikingly similar flavor to Rosa's lasagna.

Tim: Ouch. I've been harsh about flavorless dishes before, but it's different to hear someone else say it. And Breech is usually so chipper. I happen to disagree with his assessment here. I wouldn't put Rosa's lasagna on a pedestal and worship it as lasagna deity or anything. But it was pretty tasty to me. The meat was noticeably there and the cheese was plentiful. And everyone knows that the way to make me to say "it was good" is to put a lot of meat and cheese in it.

John: 6

Tim: 7

Entrées

John: If you read the appetizers section again, yes, I did kind of say that the lasagna tastes like water. But let's be fair here. The restaurant isn't called Rosa's Lasagna, it's called Rosa's Pizza. And if there's one thing that Rosa's definitely does right, it's their New York style pizza. Tim and I ordered the Rosa's Special (pepperoni, mushroom, sausage, green peppers and onion) and the white pizza (ricotta cheese instead of red sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh garlic and Mozzarella cheese). First let me talk about the crust: its really thin – think, supermodel starving herself before a photo shoot – thin. This is good for two reasons: first, you get to taste the toppings more. Second, it doesn't fill you up, which means you don't walk out of the restaurant bloated. Unless of course you eat a whole pizza by yourself, which Altork tried to do.

Tim: The Dining Duo hits a pizza place about once a month these days. I envision sitting down, getting lots of fresh toppings and plenty of cheese on a nice, crisp crust. And that's exactly what happens! It's like I'm prophetic. As for eating the whole thing, when a pizza is that good, you can't leave any on the table. Especially if the sun-dried tomatoes on the other pizza you order taste like they were dried in the dryer in my laundry room at home.  

Rosa's Special: John 7.5, Tim 9.5

White Pizza: John 8, Tim 4

Dessert

John: The dessert menu wasn't exactly extensive. It consisted of two things: cheesecake and cannoli's. The cannoli's come in two sizes: mini and large. After ingesting an entire large pizza, Altork decided it would be in our waists' best interest to get a mini cannoli. The creamy filling was tasty, but the outer shell was a little too hard for my taste. I had to use a knife to break off portions of the cannoli and at one point, I actually thought my knife was going to break.

Tim: I don't know if it was just this cannoli or cannolis as a whole, but after eating it I really feel strongly that the Italians need to spend some time the creative kitchen and come up with some better desserts. We can lock them in there until they've come up with something that doesn't make you want to liquefy your lasagna and drink it because the dessert sucked all the moisture out of your mouth.

Cannoli: John 5, Tim 4

Final Impression

John: If I were a Chattahoochee High School student, I would leave school during lunch period four days a week and eat at Rosa's (To the Chattahoochee administration, I offer a semi-sincere, half-hearted apology for advocating delinquency, but, seriously, this is pretty good pizza, it's worth the detention you might get for leaving school at lunch time). The pizza was easily the best part of the meal. So yes, this means I am imploring you: do not order the lasagna, order the pizza. If you go with your family and order the lasagna, there is a good chance they will never talk to you again. However, if you go and order the pizza, there is a good chance you will get more gifts come Christmas time. Everyone loves more gifts: order the pizza.

Tim: Let's see. So far in this review, in some shape or form, we've advocated alcohol, drugs and skipping school. Who knew we could go eat at a pizza place and come away with the perfect formula for the decay of modern society? Not that that's Rosa's fault.

John: 7

Tim: 6.5