Rosso Pizzeria & Mozzarella Bar

ok, so goin on a sunday nite pre-​concert of rickie lee jones prolly isn’t the best idea if you want to be on time! but hey, that’s what we did! the place was packed and even with reservations, we waited a while… our waitress, brigitta?, was excellent, totally informative and efficient.
we started w a ramey chard… mmm buttery, a longboard sauv blanc… crisp n great finish, a homemade lemonade, tart n delicious… and finally a watkins zin… xllnt color, jammy fruit, wonderful nose and long finish…
we all shared a couple of butter lettuce salads (large) which were wonderfully dressed and had dried cherries and pears… mmmm good! one person had the «every day is monday spaghetti n meatballs» which were outstanding! another had the fried chicken n potatoes… she said the chicken was good but not great… but the scalloped potatoes were amazing… my GF n I shared a margherita pizza which was fabulous… maybe a little too much garlic! i’m only mentioning cuz i was tasting garlic when we were at the concert later… good thing i had cinnamon altoids!
so this being my first foray at this rosso’s, i was quite pleased and will come back for other comestibles… molto buono! grazie!

Wow! What can I say about Rosso? It’s my family’s go to for great food and equally fantastic service. My husband practically licks his plate after eating the fried chicken. My teenager as well. Our grade schooler so enjoys making his own mini pizza before dinner. I’m partial to the wedge or autumn salad as a piadini. Where else can you get a duck egg cooked right on top of the fungi pizza? So delicious! Our servers are always prompt, friendly and efficient. I’ve just read Kristen M’s review and I’m frankly very surprised as Tyler has been our server on many occasions and has been great. Also it’s wood fired pizza, the charcoal is part of the experience.

Very disappointed. I chose this restaurant for my boyfriend and I to eat because I had a good experience at the Santa Rosa location. This one however was not so good. We ordered a calamari/​vegetable app and a caesar salad to share, and then took our server’s suggestion and ordered the pizza special for the night that he said had pesto and prosciutto. Unfortunately the server did not mention that it had cauliflower on it. Although I do not like cauliflower, I still would have eaten it but it was completely burnt, tasted like charcoal, the pizza had just little spots of pesto and did not have much prosciutto (It was $ 18!). Needless to say we asked the server if we could please send it back and just get a Margherita pizza to make it easy.
We waited 45 minutes to an hour for our second pizza to come out. Our server Tyler did not come by once in between until we tracked him down after 40 minutes to ask how much longer we’d need to wait. He replied that our ticket «was the third in line.» After finally dropping our pizza off with nothing to say, I was very surprised by how much charcoal and flour you could taste in each bite. I love firewood pizza but this was terrible. I was also surprised when our server dropped off our bill of over $ 40 without a word and made it very obvious that we were putting him out of his way. We felt very unwelcome when we treated the situation kindly and with respect. I definitely should have asked for the manager. If you are looking for great pizza in Sonoma County, I would highly recommend going somewhere else. I will not be returning here.
Here is a picture of my napkin to give you an idea of how much charcoal was on the pizza

Way over priced for the type of service and food we received. Pizza took over an hour or more for just two pizzas. Waiter could never talk to us directly, always talked to us as he was walking away. Pizzas were not that great either. Only good thing there was that the waiter took our appetizer off the bill since the pizza took so long.

Our favorite local place. Excellent in every way. Seriously tasty, fresh, local food and wonderful staff. The best combination of quality + casual. LOVE IT!

WHAT a wonderful place to eat! I brought my nephews and nieces here and the waitress brought each of them balls of dow w/​flour to make their own little pizza. She then took it back to the kitchen to bake it and brought a cup of red sauce for the kids to dip it in. The pizza is just excellent, the dough is flat, not bready and it’s kinda a like a sour dough.
The second time I came here for my birthday, my Mom’s birthday and my niece’s birthday dinner. The actually reserve your table when you make a reservation, which almost nobody does anymore. They let you bring your own wine and don’t charge a cork fee… which in this day and age, is unbelievable! Love this place! Friendly staff, great food and great prices!

I have been here quite a few times and continue to really enjoy the food and venue. I am sending out an SOS for a dessert. Even an ice cream, biscotti, something!!! Help!!!

Recommended by Dan at Patz & Hall. Approved by Rachel & Thomas ;) We thoroughly enjoyed the mozzarella stretched cheese wrapped around creamy goodness and topped with three styles of enrichment. The wings were surprisingly not buffalo spicy but the Asian sweet and sour tang shocked us back into reality. The brussel sprouts were… alright. Their subtle flavor required an ignorance toward overcooked-​mush. Now the flatbread perfectly paired with the trio mozzarella. It’s crispy buttery and garlic topping baked perfectly into the chewy Italian bread. Perfect for serving up some more cheese or resetting your pallet to experience afresh the trio. We also ordered the pizza but as you can see no further comment was made. Really it was just too smokey for our liking. The excellent service made for an all around great experience!

I have been here twice with my daughter, both times we shared a pizza. The service is amazing, the waitress gave my daughter some fresh dough and very basic instructions to make pretty much anything she wanted. After a few minutes she came back buy, took the dough creation back to the oven and had it baked up and brought back to us. What a cool experience for my kid! Every time we drive past Rosso’s, she gets a beaming smile and makes the request for another trip there. The pizza was great, we look forward to coming back again to try some more tasty food!

We came here after a wonderful day at Christopher Creek vineyard & winery in Healdsburg. We were staying at the Metro Hotel in town and walked in around 830. Waited a few extra minutes for a table on the patio. The hostess area was fine and in any case gave us a prime view of the pizza oven which only got our salivary glands aflowin’ even more. The table outside was lovely although a little chillier than expected. Our waiter was a champ about moving the heat lamp right up alongside our table which worked perfectly and was a nice touch.
We were 4 people and in total ordered a bottle of wine, 2 salads, an app, 3 pizzas and a pasta dish. It was a ton of food. The pizzas were solid– thin crust and a decent crispness although there could have been more cheese. The carbonara pasta was alright, but when you top it off on the margherita pizza can’t go wrong.
It happened to be my birthday and unfortunately the restaurant has no dessert menu which was admittedly a bit of a negative surprise, but the waitress brought out a really nice card wishing me a happy birthday and signed by all the waitstaff which was an amazing touch. It really was one of the more special things I’ve ever had happen at a restaurant.
Overall I thought it was solid 3.5 stars. Had already had a great day in Sonoma county and was in a birthday mood so it easily rounds up to 4 stars.

Hands down the best fried chicken I’ve had in probably 3 years. Definately the best fried chicken north of SF.
Besides the fried chicken, the roasted beet salad is a must. In summer the heirloom tomato salad with shaved lemon cucumbers on flat bread (piadine) will make your tongue sing. I love the carbonara (although I wish the serving of pasta was a little larger. come on, the noodles probably cost less than a buck to make…)
The wine selection is reasonable and fun variety. The bartender is knowledgable about what they are pouring, and set us up with some fun flights.
A favorite place to swing in for a bite. Great lunch or dinner spot. The best is when it’s warm enough to sit outside and people watch.

This is my go to place when people are visiting from out of town. Not cheap but worth it for a nice relaxing environment, delicious food and friendly service.
The burratta trio and flatbread is a must. It has lots of garlic!
The fried chicken is amazing. Not something you would expect at a pizza place.

We got pizza and salads to go over the weekend. The salads were delicious… the pizzas were okay. I suspect that they are much better when you dine in…
Still a great neighborhood spot!

Came here on Easter without a reservation. We were told there would be a 20 minute wait, so we sat at the bar and ordered a drink. Luckily our wait ended up only being about 10 minutes! I always appreciate when a restaurant tells you longer so you’re not disappointed. The beer selection on tap was all local beers brewed in Petaluma which is a cute touch. Wine list was interesting and not too expensive.
Our server was knowledge about all the food and even the wine list too.
Our appetizer was delicious and so were all our entrees. The food was excellent and I keep thinking about it a couple weeks later.
I used to frequent the SR location often so I’m so happy to be able to go in Petaluma now. I’ll definitely be coming back again, soon!

Came to the Petaluma Rosso’s for dinner before a show at the Mystic in late January. It was a very busy Saturday night and had dinner with a few new friends. My food, the fried chicken was terrific. The problem I had was with the server’s ability to take clear directions which resulted in a billing issue.
I went to see Kevin the Manager, and he was kind enough to give me a gift of another meal to rectify the situation.
I was very impressed with his customer service, and the food was excellent. My friend and I came back and had another wonderful dinner. Again it was with the same server, but we made it work.
I will definitely be back, and I love their food!

This has been one of our go to spots for a long time and I’m finally getting around to a review. We live about 1 mile from here so we can walk and have a nice lunch or dinner. Getting a pizza, piadine or salad. The food is always fresh and well prepared. They have Romano beans with marinara sauce as a special that’s a must have item.
BTW, We were here for the Unilocal’s Passport to Petaluma. We tasted Ricotta cheese wrapped in a Mozzarella, Fried Green Beans, Pizza and pillow like dough things in garlic oil. They showed us how to make Mozzarella too. Thanks to Rosso’s for hosting us and Kevin for the set up!

Thanks to the Unilocal’s Passport to Petaluma I get to expose myself to the town of plenty, known for their beer, dairy, and good food overall.
Yup, speak of the dairy, their burrata was truly amazing, the large marshmallow-​sized burrata pieces are stuffed with creamy and delightful ricotta cheese mixed cream that’s savory with sprinkles of salt and pepper finished off with a touch of fragrant olive oil. And did I mention that these burrata are sourced locally and made in house?
Take advantage of their Happy Hour menus, a plate of crunchy-​tangy garlic roll ($ 2) drenched in garlic oil is a budget must. A plate of 3-​piece-​wings ($ 2) dressed in lemon, salt, and pepper was out before I get a chance to try them, darn it! And don’t forget to order their signature dish, homemade burrata with prosciutto ($ 6) as well as their thin-​crust smoked mozzarella pizza topped with italian sausage.
I enjoy their selection of local draft beers, $ 4 during happy hour, and their reasonably priced and food-​friendly wine for $ 4.5 a glass.
The waitresses were very friendly despite the large crowd of Unilocalers they had to deal with. The speed of service was reasonable and the quality of the food is consistent.
My only wish is that this place would also serve some sort of desserts, especially if they are specialized in fresh cheeses, hint hint.
Cheers.

Sofie and I attended the Unilocal event yesterday — and learned how to make Mozzarella cheese! I was delighted to learn that fresh Mozzarella tastes significantly better than that which is bought in the store. It’s kind of like «your coffee from home» vs a cup of Peet’s. They make their own Mozzarella here… so if you want to know what it is all about, check it out!
We also ate the burrata: Ricotta cheese wrapped in a Mozzarella blanket. What could be better than cheese stuffed cheese!!! It was good, but I’d not recommend making a meal of them.
We ate the fried dough in garlic oil. I liked it, but wasn’t crazy about it as fried dough dipped in garlic oil is slightly over the top for me.
I tried the Fried Green Beans with Romesco Sauce. It tasted like: Fried Green Beans with Romesco Sauce. Romesco Sauce was delicious, but Fried Green Beans tasted like Fried Green Beans. I think I’d rather have «Calamari with Romesco Sauce» — but green beans should be cooked with onions and bacon — anything else is disrespectful to the green beans.
Sofie ate a piece of someone’s pizza when they were not looking and she offered me a bite of the crust. She said, «It’s not as good as your pizza…» with a smile. Of course it was better than my pizza — it was cooked in a wood fired oven and I was disappointed I didn’t order a pizza and made Sofie steal to keep up her strength. The crust had the taste of an oak fired oven. It was delicious and reminded me of pizza I ate in Italy served by these two young adolescent Italian boys who were amused that I had such a difficult time to order a pizza. Rosso pizza has all of the flavor from Italy without the humiliation!
I pony’d up and bought a plate of chicken wings! I think that was three chicken wings. The wings were cooked to perfection! They were succulent and tasty. Unfortunately, the sauce they put on them was awful. It was a vinegary sour sauce that I would not put on anything except a bolt that was seized by rust. Chef: Google «chicken wing sauce» and I’m sure you can find something better. (Oddly, the guy we sat next to liked it a lot! I didn’t want to break the news to him, so I just said, «Yeah, the wings were cooked perfectly!».)
The draft beer list was extensive! They have Henhouse Ale. I was intrigued when we visited Petaluma Hills Brewery to see the Henhouse guys back there making Henhouse Ale. I thought, «What the hell kind of name is that for an Ale?» I have a hen house with 15 hens and a rooster and I can assure you that a beverage is not what comes to mind when I walk in to collect the eggs… so I ordered a Henhouse Swartz Ale. Oh my! It was soooo good! The Henhouse Ale and the Fresh Mozzarella was all I needed to 5 star this place! (Sofie hated the Henhouse Ale — she said it was awful! Don’t worry though — she hates beer and so that means the Henhouse Ale was amazing! Sofie also says my reviews are too long…)
I was impressed by the sous chef who taught us to make the Mozzarella and the General Manager (panned in another review for making too much noise!). These two guys demonstrate passion in what they do. They were very concerned that we enjoyed our food and had a good experience.
I look forward to eating at Rosso Pizzeria in Santa Rosa end having a huge sausage pizza and a couple pints of Henhouse Ale. The Mozzarella? I’m going to make it at home just like I was taught at Rosso and feed it to Sofie very slowly while I listen to her tell me how wonderful my pizzas are…

I’ve found a new excuse to play with my food!
I had the opportunity to take their mozzarella class with my friends and it was a blast! It was so much fun to work with chef Chris to stir the curds and knead them into delicious balls of fresh mozzarella. We also had a tasting of their burrata, which was quite tender and creamy. Both the burrata and mozzarella were at its best when dipped in the garlic sauce with the garlic rolls however.
We ordered several other items from the happy hour menu as well:
Garlic Rolls: They aren’t kidding — this is super garlicky! The rolls are deep-​fried to deliciousness and coated with a rich slathering of butter and garlic. Some pieces were overcooked, but most were chewy.
Chicken Wings: The lemon and black pepper seasoning was pretty good, but not quite I was hoping for. While it was lemony, the pepper flavor was faint and it would have probably been even better if there was a slight kick to it.
Fried Green Beans with Romesco Sauce: The green beans are fried extremely well. The romesco sauce was a tad weak in flavor however — it wasn’t as nutty as I usually like. The romesco sauce worked really well as a dip for the pizza crust though.
Caggiano Sausage Pizza, Smoked Mozzarella: This pizza was quite good! I loved the sausage, definitely wish there was more on it. If there was some mushrooms on this pizza though, it would have been perfect.
Overall, the mozzarella class was a fun way to relax and learn a quick lesson about cheese-​making. If you have the time, I would definitely recommend giving the class a try. As my mom is a huge fan of burrata, I am definitely bringing her here next time to try their burrata trio!

I’m a cheesy, garlic-​y mess right now — and I have Rosso Pizzeria & Mozzarella Bar to thank for that. That’s right — no one with a clear nose will want to sit within a 5-​foot radius of me. Yes, I’m THAT garlic-​y!
That being said, I could care less, because the burrata + prosciutto dish I had with the garlic rolls were TOTALLY worth it. Who needs friends when you have this much garlic? Am I right?
This was my second visit to Rosso in Petaluma. It’s a very charming, quaint spot in Theatre Square. Nothing fancy. Just simple, delicious Italian food. The first time I came in, I enjoyed a salad and some pizza. This last time I came in, I took advantage of their happy hour (3pm — 6pm) specials. I saddled up at the bar and ordered their homemade burrata (Holy MOLY, is this thing good!) with prosciutto ($ 6), and a side of garlic rolls ($ 2). I paired it with a glass of red bubbly. When the bill came, it was only $ 17, and I was stuffed and happily burping with garlic delight.
This place is a true Petaluma gem. Service is top-​notch. My waitress went out of her way to make me feel at home. I was also seated next to two regulars. I struck up a conversation with them, and as it turned out, they were owners of some of my favorite local spots, including Lombardi’s BBQ and Lagunitas Brewing Co. That’s high praise when the owners of Petaluma’s finest dining/​drinking establishments come here to unwind. Ross is truly a local favorite, and I can understand why.
I can’t wait to come back for more cheesy, garlic-​y goodness!