Deli Roma

Update 2/16/14: Deli Roma is closed.
In a word: Roma (ooh)(la)².

The specs: #0683  
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, Yahoo! Travel, Associated Content; official web site,

Latest Deli Roma news and reviews

JM, John R., John W., Mark, Nichole and Rose ate the beef ravioli, the Chicago dog, the Godfather, the Italian Bomber, the Reuben, and the turkey muffaletta [sic].
The bill was $40, or $7ish/person, plus tip.
JM, John W., Mark, Nichole, Rose gave Deli Roma an A; John R. gave Deli Roma an A- (see our grading rubric).

Deli Roma is in the far end of an otherwise vacant Main Street Sun Prairie strip mall. The dining area is small and charmingly lived-in, with pictures of famous Italians and Italian-Americans decorating the walls (no Stefani Germanotta - yet). Deli Roma's clearly been around longer than our alphabetical project, yet it just joined the List. We felt sad for all the lost time, as it's pretty dang good.

We got an array of sandwiches and were impressed with the variety and quality of bread and rolls they used. The muffaletta was on a - well, on a muffuletta, albeit a plain white one and not a sesame-studded one. There was enough cheese on it for a retirement party tray, and good, smoky, mild cheese at that. The olive garnish overpowered the heart-heathy Boar's Head turkey just a bit. This is likely not a problem with the cold-cut classic, which we had meant to order too, but forgot.

Likewise the Torino bread for the Italian sausage ("Bomber") and beef ("Godfather") got high marks. It was chewy yet held up to dipping in jus; when toasted, it stood up to the heavy sausage link and sauce too. The Godfather itself was intimidating, but obviously a classic.

The hot dog was correct, as far as we know.

The Reuben was stacked. We think they ran the rye and cheese through a broiler, then topped it with the cold stuff, based on the crisped edges of the corned beef. (Pardon the in-car photos - thanks to a traffic jam we were running really late for dinner & games.)

There are also hot meals, red-sauce entrees like daily-special lasagna and ravioli. The ravioli was good and hearty with a very nice sauce that used the tomatoes to their fullest extent. Namely, they provided both sweetness and richness to form the flavor around the meat. Very nicely done.

We had no idea downtown Sun Prairie would get on our radar as a place for excellent Italian eats, but between Deli Roma and Anna's Pizzeria, it has.

Comments

[Josh]

I first stumbled across Deli Roma a few years back when they first opened and was pleasantly surprised! What a gem of a mom and pop Italian place. The regular muffuletta is awesome with the olive salad on it, also the pizza is great. You never wait long and the ingredients are top notch! One day when I went in, Ross (the owner) was excited and told me had sourced a place to get the real Mortadella from Italy! It's quality like this and attention to detail that keep me coming back.

[piontekdd]

Glad to see you finally reviewed this gem of a place. Although I must take offense to you calling this area 'Downtown Sun Prairie". The west end of Main St. is hardly downtown. You must travel a few miles east to get to Downtown and the joy that is an Eddie's Ale House and Eatery burger.