Mystery Diner in Morris: Corleone’s known for luscious homemade loaves

The homemade bread at Corleone’s in Morris elevates its sandwiches to another level.

The downtown restaurant, located just across the street from the Grundy County Courthouse, features sandwiches, pasta, soups, salads and pizza. It marks its 40th anniversary later this year.

Diners step up to a counter to order from a full menu that’s on display overhead. Once the order is taken, the dishes are prepared and your name is called after a short wait to pick up your food in the seat-yourself dining room. The busy kitchen is in full sight for customers to view workers preparing sandwiches and putting together pizzas, among other fare.

My dinner companion and I each ordered a sandwich. After all, we wanted to put the bread to the test, and it didn’t disappoint.

I ordered a half gondola ($5.25), which features Corleone’s homemade bread with ham, salami, cheese and lettuce, served cold. The sandwich is simple, but the bread has a perfect sweet flavor. I left craving more.

My dinner companion ordered the Italian beef on garlic bread ($9), which showcased stacks of roast beef on the savory bread, paired with meat sauce and cheese. The beef itself was juicy and full of flavor. The garlic and pasta sauce complemented the sandwich well.

To share between us, we added an order of pizza bread ($5.25), which is a half loaf with sauce, garlic and cheese. One can add pizza toppings for 75 cents, and we chose pepperoni. The pizza bread was a hit. It is served with plenty of cheese and toppings (the pepperoni slices are underneath the cheese).

We also shared a small order of tortellini ($8.50), which comes with homemade bread. Customers can order meat or marinara sauce, but orders will be made with meat sauce unless the customer specifies they’d like marinara. A nice surprise, a meatball also accompanied our tortellini.

All together our meal cost $33.54, a good value considering the amount of food and sizable portions we received.

Some other sandwiches on Corleone’s menu include a heapin’ ham and cheese served hot or cold with choice of cheese, a combo sandwich with roast beef and meatballs, a meatball sandwich, and a screamin’ salami sandwich.

Corleone’s also serves spaghetti, ravioli, lasagna and chicken Parmigiana, along with a full pizza menu.

The wait is short, but patrons can call in an order in advance or have it delivered to their home.

Our food was served hot, just moments after it was prepared. The dining is casual and laid-back.

As one of the restaurant’s highlights, the homemade bread is something special and worth a trip.

• The Mystery Diner is an employee of Shaw Media. The diner’s identity is not revealed to the restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a different restaurant and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a review.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Corleone’s Italian Restaurant

WHERE: 110 Liberty St., Morris

PHONE: 815-942-6965

INFORMATION: www.corleones.restaurant