The owners of Rosa’s Pizza in Chicago Ridge have said “arrivederci” and closed the popular Italian restaurant and banquet hall at 9909 S. Harlem Ave. after 40 years.
Rosa and Vince Bentivenga moved to Chicago in the 1960s from the village of Fiumefreddo Bruzio in Calabria, Italy. Their families have deep roots in the village, and they later went back there to get married..
“I came here in 1964, at age 14,” said Vince. “I originally lived in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood.”
Bentivenga has been working in restaurants since he was a teenager, starting at $1 an hour. “That’s where I learned to cook and run a restaurant, by working my way up from a busboy in them,” he said.
“I have always had at least two jobs at a time,” he said, explaining that he worked for many years at the Sherwin-Williams paint plant in the Pullman neighborhood, and restaurants in his “spare time.”
“I was making meals and feeding people in one place and then mixing stuff that could kill them at the other job,” he said with a smile.
He and Rosa opened their own restaurant on Feb. 1, 1985. At that time, the establishment tucked into a commercial strip in the shadow of the Interstate 294 overpass was much smaller than it is now.
“We expanded into the business next door that closed,” he said, pointing to the large dining area beside the original bar area. They have been renting the property all these years.
“We have met a lot of nice people who have become friends,” he said.
Since 1991, the Bentivengas have lived in Palos Hills. They have three children, including daughters, Josephine and Lea, son, Louie, and six grandchildren. Everyone in the family has worked in the restaurant at one time or another, in addition to having other careers.
“My parents spent more time here than they did at home,” said Josephine, who was working there recently. Until closing on Feb. 15, they could usually be found there seven days a week.
“I enjoy cooking everything on the menu, but guess my specialties are pizza and lasagna,” said Rosa, noting that she grew up with the Italian version of pizza with more cheese and herbs than meat before perfecting the Chicago-style with more meat.
“You have more choices in Italy now, too, but before refrigeration, the toppings were whatever was in season,” she said.
He did not want to say much about why they decided to close, except that the reasons were not health-related.
“I will definitely miss this place. I feel sorry for them. It is like a hidden gem in the community,” said longtime customer Joe Berardi, sitting at the bar a few days before the restaurant closed. “I started coming here more than 20 years ago for a nightcap after the night shift at Dominick’s in Oak Lawn.”
The Chicago Ridge Village Board honored them with a proclamation at the Feb. 4 meeting, where the trustees and Mayor Jack Lind thanked the couple for everything they have done for the community, including sponsoring and otherwise helping local clubs and teams.
Besides “sleeping for a week,” Vince said he and Rosa are planning to make a trip back to Italy this summer to visit relatives.
“I am sad to be closing,” said Rosa. “I will miss the cooking and the customers most.”
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