WGN's Chicago's Best to Feature Clara's Pasta

The crew for the half-hour weekly segment stopped by the kitchen of Clara's Pasta di Casa Wednesday.

There were some new faces in the kitchen of Clara's Pasta di Casa Wednesday.  The crew for Chicago's Best, a half-hour segment on food, lifestyle and entertainment on WGN, arrived around 4 p.m. to produce a feature on the Italian restaurant.  After shooting video of food preparation in the kitchen, the crew interviewed staff and patrons at Clara's, including a least one Woodridge Patch reader.  Joe Filip posted on the Woodridge Patch Facebook page: "Was at Clara's and met Brittney Payton. We learned she was a very nice and down to earth young lady. Hopefully the interview they filmed with us will make it on the show.... Woo Hoo Love Clara's" Chicago's Best posted a pic on the show's Facebook page of hosts ‎Brittney Payton and Rudy …

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Bites Nearby Celebrates Decades In Business: Clara’s Pasta

The Woodridge business celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2012.

Young people sometimes agonize over their future career path.  Rudy Melchiorre, Jr., never had that problem.  Owning a restaurant was part of the family heritage in the Melchiorre family. Parents Clara and Rudolph, Sr., opened a carry-out restaurant called Clara’s Pasta di Casa in Woodridge in 1987, and Rudy, a senior in high school, began working there. “My parents worked hard - there was a lot of sacrifice and difficulty at the beginning,” Melchiorre said. Eventually a small seating area was added. Clara was born and raised in an apartment over her parents’ tavern on the West Side of Chicago at Kedzie and Polk. She did her homework while sitting at the bar of the Kedzie Beer Garden — with occasional interruptions to refill a patron’s …

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Village Board Approves Final Site Plan for New Clara's Location

The free-standing, 5,800-square-foot space will be built adjacent to the current Clara's location.

The Village of Woodridge Board of Trustees approved a final site plan for a new location of Clara's Pasta di Casa Thursday night.  The restaurant is leasing space in a shopping center near Route 53 and Hobson Road and has been at that location for 24 years. The new site will be built in the empty lot next to the shopping center.  The new restaurant will provide about 5,800 square feet of space. That will add only 20 to 30 more seats to the restaurant but will allow for the layout of the restaurant to be less cramped, said Rudy Melchiorre, owner of Clara's.  "Right now, we have a lot in a cramped space," Melchiorre said. "We'll have more space; we'll add a little patio. We'll have more room in the kitchen and will add some kitchen items."  …

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Cheri Lang Wins the Bracket Competition for Munch Madness

Lang had the highest score of the 12 brackets submitted.

Congratulations to Cheri Lang, who had the highest scoring bracket in our 2011 Munch Madness competition!  Lang had a score of 25 on her bracket. She received a point for each win she predicted, from the round of 32 to the winner.  Lang will receive a gift card to the Final Four restaurant of her choice.  In terms of restaurant winners, Clara's Pasta di Casa beat Doggie Diner with a total vote count of 17 to 8 in Wednesday's final. You can view all of the voting totals for all of the match-ups in our Munch Madness bracket. Thank you for voting and congratulations to Clara's and Cheri Lang!

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Munch Madness Championship Set: Voting Ends Tonight!

Clara's and Doggie Diner are competing for the title of best restaurant in Woodridge.

After two weeks and hundreds of votes, we've narrowed our 32-restaurant bracket to just two. You have one day to place your vote on the site, on Facebook and on Twitter. Voting will end at 8 p.m. Wednesday. To read more about how it works, click HERE. To see the complete bracket, with updated results from the Final Fourt, click HERE. Clara's Pasta di Casa vs. Doggie Diner Clara's Pasta di Casa: Clara's offers 13 different homemade varieties of pasta you can pair with meat, seafood and veggies. Specialties of the house include Rudy Jr.'s Shrimp Special or Clara's Famous Eggplant Parmigiana. To learn more about Clara's Pasta di Casa, check out our directory listing. Doggie Diner: Doggie Diner has called Woodridge home since 1986. The diner …

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Munch Madness Final Four Voting Closes Tuesday Night

You've heard of March Madness, right? Well, this is Munch Madness—Woodridge Patch's attempt to find the best restaurant in Woodridge.

I've tabulated the results from the Elite Eight, and with exactly 100 votes placed on the site and on Facebook, here are your Final Four. I've added the vote totals for that round and the two rounds before to the bracket so you can see just how close some of these contests have been. In the case of a tie, I have determined the winner by a coin toss. There has only been one tie so far in the competition (Superossa vs. The Dock in the Sweet 16). In case you haven't heard about this competition yet, Munch Madness is a tournament to determine the best restaurant in Woodridge through a series of head-to-head competitions. We started with 32 restaurants. After each round, we'll eliminate half of the restaurants until we have one left.  …

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Wonders of Woodridge

Clara's Pasta di Casa

In her first Wonders of Woodridge column, Suzanne Flynn takes you to one of the best pasta places in town.

Welcome to the Wonders of Woodridge! I'm Suzanne Flynn, and it's my job to introduce you to some of the best but less-hyped spots in Woodridge. I live in Naperville now, but I lived in Woodridge for five years. I still send my son to preschool in Woodridge and I frequent the parks and shops in town several days a week.  Clara's Pasta di Casa is the first spot I'd like to introduce you to. First opened on
 March 13, 1987, this family-owned Italian restaurant brings fresh pasta and
 sauce to tables six days a week. Tucked in a small strip mall just north of Hobson on Route 53, Clara's may be easily missed as drivers speed by. But don't let the unimpressive entrance fool you. Once you're inside, it feels just right and is definitely worth …

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