Rosa’s Pizza located at 180 W Main St has been a staple of Whitewater cuisine for years and it was proven yet again this year, being voted into the top three best pizza restaurants in town. After a fire destroyed the restaurant in October of 2017, Rosa’s has reestablished itself as one of the premier food options in the city.

“As a company we try for a more family atmosphere than corporate,” said co-owner Sean Stemper. “Yes, you have your protocols and your guidelines and everything else, but individual employees, we know them all. I know them all. I work with them and so that’s probably different from some other competitors where it’s more corporate. We probably ask more of our employees than they do as well. There’s trust there,” said Stemper.

Rosa’s has a well-known family atmosphere within their walls. Their family-like culture is reflected in the love and loyalty of their customers, which are primarily residents or students of UW-Whitewater. The small town feel of Whitewater follows you directly into Rosa’s where you feel as though you are welcomed to the family dinner table and are served high quality food with warmth and appreciation.

“As far as the food goes we’ve always focused on good products. But we home-make a lot of stuff. We cut our own cheese, we make our own dough, we make our own sauces, and we take pride in a lot of that,” Semper said.

While having a sustained culture of excellence and quality is impressive in its own right, sometimes success just comes down to a specific menu item or deal for some restaurants. A restaurant owner can trust their product as much as possible, but in the end it comes down to what the people enjoy. Rosa’s has some interesting menu items people enjoy, but some maybe less known than others.

“The newest items in the last couple years would be the Italian beef pizzas, the buffalo chicken and barbecue chicken. Those specialty pizzas would probably be the newer stuff,” said Stemper. “Stuff that people don’t really know about would be like the double decker deep dish, a pizza on top of a pizza – a big boy. It’s not messin’ around, but stuff like that is on this menu that maybe some people don’t know.” 

Whether you have Rosa’s regularly or have only passed it on the street, it’s an undeniable staple of Whitewater and the community, which is a main reason it returned after the fire five years ago. People keep coming back for more because of the hard work, dedication and value they hold in treating their customers with respect. Serving the highest quality pizza made from start to finish, they bring something special to the community that resonates the comfort and joy of enjoying a good meal with family and friends. These are the core reasons that this establishment finds itself on the Best of Whitewater list this year. 

Best Pizza Place awards went to La Piazza Pizzeria for the gold, Gus’s Pizza Palace with silver and Rosa’s Pizza bringing home the bronze. For complete results of the 6th annual survey visit Best of Whitewater 2022.