Yelp's definition of a three-star is "A-OK," and as far as my experience with Schroeder's New Deli, that's a pretty succinct description of what it was for me.
I only go to Rome a few times each summer, to catch some Rome Braves games, but I can't say that I've really took the time to explore the town. I had some time to kill, so I decided to rectify this habit, and I found myself in Downtown Rome long before not. After a little bit of walking around, I decided that this was as good as place as any to look for something to eat, considering the vast majority of Rome had mostly chain restaurants, and not that I have anything against chains, it's just I prefer to take in something more local and unique whenever I'm somewhere I'm unfamiliar with.
Schroeder's won out for me, because I felt like having a calzone.
Broad Street on a Saturday afternoon on gorgeous summer day was surprisingly quiet, and parking was not an issue. Downtown Rome has an abundance of street parking that claims to all have two hour limits; I'm not going to volunteer to test whether or not such is actually enforced, but keep that in mind if you decide to park your car and go to a place and get sloshed for several hours, or watch a sporting event. Needless to say, I was able to find a spot on the adjacent street to Schroeder's Broad Street entrance without any problem; but after I had chewed through my first two hours downtown, literally across the street.
Entering Schroeder's feel precisely like entering the neighborhood pizzeria. Considering the prevalence of pizza on the menu, I'm slightly perplexed why the business is called a new deli as opposed to a pizzeria, but I wasn't here to ask questions, I was here to eat. It was as quiet inside the restaurant as it was in the rest of downtown Rome, so I was able to seat myself, and I was presented with a menu and had my drink ordered pretty promptly.
I ordered my calzone, and indulged in the local newspaper, because sometimes I like to do that, to see just how different of a place I'm in when I travel. Not long after reading an advice column about a formerly incarcerated woman torn between a man she'd been dating and a dashing new spark based on the fact that tornadoes emerged when they were together (seriously), my calzone arrived.
True to the A-OK description, that's how my calzone was. It was not bad, but I can say that I have had better. Contrarily, I have also had way worse, so there's nothing at all wrong about being in the middle of the spectrum. The waffle fries I ordered on the side because I'm a pig were about as good as waffle fries are, but at like $2 for the order, you get way more bang for the buck than if you went to like Chic Fil-A.
Admittedly, one of my pet peeves at restaurants are when servers don't ask me if I want anything else, and just present me the check. It was quiet and not busy, so even though I wasn't really in the mood for anything else, the lack of asking is displeasing. Granted, this is representative of the server and not the restaurant, but we're talking about overall experiences here.
Anyway, everything about my Schroeder's experience is exactly what a three-star describes. A-OK. The location was convenient and quaint, two hours of free street parking was sufficient for my lunch needs, and the food and it's price was about as 3/5 stars as they come. read more