Mary’s Market Café, Bakery, and Bistro in Roscoe would like you to stay for dinner

At 4 p.m., I watched the Mary’s Market I knew disappear.

The lights dimmed down, candles went on the tables, and servers set out wine glasses for dinner. Within minutes, the place I knew for fresh coffee, artisan bread, and made-from-scratch breakfasts looked so different that I briefly wondered if I was underdressed.

I wasn’t. There is no dress code. Mary’s remains warm, relaxed, and entirely approachable.

I just had no idea this was now happening in the village I’ve called home for more than 12 years.

Dinner service begins at 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Customers are seated, and servers provide full table service throughout the meal. Complimentary bread baskets arrive with new herb cheddar biscuits. The staff gives customers time to enjoy dinner without rushing them through it.

The menu includes comfort-food favorites, fresh seafood, pasta, gourmet sandwiches on house-baked bread, and seasonal specials. Customers can order a cocktail or glass of wine, and local musicians perform on Thursday nights.

Mary’s Market Café and Bakery opened its Roscoe location in 2019. The café closed in February 2022 because of staffing shortages after the pandemic, although Mary’s continued to use the building for catering and private events.

The café reopened in September 2024 after a remodel. Breakfast and lunch returned, and Mary’s expanded its dinner menu.

The Roscoe team now wants customers to see the location as Mary’s Market Café, Bakery, and Bistro.

“There’s not many places in Roscoe that you can sit down, have a candlelit dinner, order pasta or a chicken pot pie, get a glass of wine, and enjoy the jazz music,” General Manager Lola Renner said. “It’s kind of special.”

She was right. I ran through Roscoe’s restaurants in my head and couldn’t come up with another place that offered anything quite like this.

One look at Renner as she crossed the restaurant told me she knew what she was doing.

She watched the tables, spoke with customers and employees, manned the expo line, and moved easily between the dining room and kitchen. She had the ease of someone who had spent years in restaurants like this one.

Then I learned why.

Renner has more than 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry. She started at a small breakfast restaurant in Rockford after high school and applied at Josef’s Steakhouse and Oyster Bar when she was 22.

Josef’s was a Rockford fine-dining fixture known for white tablecloths, steaks, oysters, wine, and great service.

Renner worked there for 15 years before she bought the restaurant in 2019. She owned it through the pandemic and sold it at the end of 2024. The restaurant now operates as Salt.

She joined Mary’s Market in October with plenty of knowledge and experience in the dining room, kitchen, and business side of a restaurant, along with an extensive knowledge of wine.

“I really like bringing the more elevated experience because I feel like it’s really needed in Roscoe,” Renner said. “Seeing the change and people kind of adapting to it, it’s been really exciting.”

Renner helps the Roscoe staff learn the wine list, recommend wine with menu favorites, and provide attentive table service. She said employees who already worked at the café welcomed the changes and wanted to learn.

Some customers are still learning, too.

“A lot of people would come in and still order at the counter and sit down,” Renner said.

At dinner, a server meets customers at the table and remains available throughout the meal.

The Roscoe location is the only Mary’s Market with a cocktail menu. Its full liquor license, originally connected to the catering and event space, allows the café to offer mixed drinks along with wine. A new drink menu will debut on Sunday, August 9.

Then they brought out the cocktails.

The margarita practically glowed green beneath its salted rim and wedge of lime. The elderberry and lemon spritz faded from deep purple to nearly clear, with a sprig of lavender at the top.

A sprig of lavender. Renner said you smell the lavender’s fragrance each time you lift the glass for a sip. As if cocktails that practically glowed weren’t already enough.

Here, just take my money.

The Roscoe café is also the only Mary’s Market with a drive-thru. So, technically, you can grab coffee without leaving your car in the morning and return for a candlelit dinner that night. That’s range.

Renner provides decades of restaurant experience. Marketing manager Lydia Manesiotis supplies plenty of personality.

She is very friendly and welcoming and clearly excited for more people to learn what the Roscoe bakery, café, and bistro offers. Her enthusiasm made it difficult not to get excited with her.

“I think everyone knows us for our coffee, fresh baked goods, and bread, but we have a really good dinner menu as well,” Manesiotis said. “I think that’s something that not a lot of people realize.”

Mary’s prepares much of its food from scratch at its commissary kitchen inside the East State Street location in Rockford.

Employees there chop vegetables, mix soups and dressings, prepare meatloaf, make biscuits and gravy, cut fresh mahi, and bake the breads and pastries delivered to the three cafés each morning.

Manesiotis estimated that about 70% of the menu comes through the commissary kitchen.

“We get our baked goods and our commissary delivery every morning right around 6 a.m., so everything’s fresh,” she said.

Mary’s uses made-from-scratch recipes and quality ingredients throughout its menu. Its bakery makes fresh bread daily, and the café serves gourmet sandwiches on its homemade breads.

The menu also includes handmade chicken pot pie, meatloaf, fresh salads, pasta, and seafood. New additions include mahi, fettuccine Alfredo, lava cake, and the herb cheddar biscuits served with dinner. Seasonal baked goods and menu specials change throughout the year.

Renner’s favorites are the salmon and chicken pot pie. For breakfast or brunch, she recommends the Monte Cristo, which customers can order throughout the day.

Mary’s serves breakfast and lunch all day. Dinner is available from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Mary’s devotes Sundays to an elevated brunch. The café is open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., with $10 omelets and skillets and $20 bottomless mimosas.

Mary’s offers a different promotion throughout the week.

On Meltdown Monday, customers can get a gourmet grilled cheese and soup for $10. Children eat for $2 with the purchase of an entrée on Tuesdays, and all wraps are $10 on Wednesdays.

Thursday is Date Night, with half-price drinks and dessert with the purchase of an entrée. Local musicians perform each Thursday evening. The weekly performances support area artists and give customers another reason to stay for dinner. Guests can also use the patio through the summer and early fall.

On Fridays, seafood specialties are $2 off. Saturday’s $30 dinner for two includes a choice of soup or salad, two entrées, and a dessert to share. Bottles of wine are available for $10 on Friday and Saturday.

Wine by the glass is available every day, with selections that start at $6. Renner’s favorite is the Spellbound Petite Sirah.

The prices were intentional. Mary’s wanted customers to order a good wine without saving it for an anniversary or another special occasion.

“Our owner really wanted to accomplish that,” Renner said. “Yes, our wine is affordable, but it’s not low-tier wine. It’s really good.”

Employees can recommend wines to match menu favorites, whether customers want a date night, a night with friends, or a meal they do not have to cook themselves.

The Roscoe café has also become a regular meeting place.

During my visit, a large group of women had gathered to play cards. Other customers use the café for book clubs, business meetings, lunches, and long conversations.

The patio provides additional seating and a quieter place to talk when the café is busy.

The separate event room hosts weddings, showers, birthday parties, celebrations of life, and other private events. Customers do not have to rent the room to order Mary’s food for an event. The catering team also serves businesses, private parties, and events at other venues.

Customers interested in the event space or catering can contact event manager Amy Keith at amy@marysmarket.com.

Mary’s works with Old Stone Church each month through Mary’s Sunday Table. The next fundraiser will take place Aug. 23, with 15% of the proceeds donated to the church.

Mary’s Cruise Night returns Aug. 25 with classic cars, food and drink specials, and a live DJ. The event is open to the public. A second Cruise Night is scheduled for Sept. 22.

On Oct. 7, Mary’s will hold a free wine tasting that features the wines on its menu. Guests can sample the selections and visit over a charcuterie spread.

Mary’s also hopes to host a breakfast or dinner with Santa in December.

Renner said the café has plenty of regular breakfast and lunch customers. Some have only recently discovered dinner.

“We have a lot of our breakfast and lunch regulars that are starting to figure out that we have dinner,” she said. “That’s been nice.”

The next time you stop at Mary’s Market in Roscoe for coffee, fresh bread, or one of the croissants I’m a complete sucker for (French carbs don’t count), stay a little longer.

Dinner starts at 4, but it’s worth arriving a few minutes early to watch the lights dim and the candles come out.

Mary’s Market is located at 4866 Bluestem Road in Roscoe. The café is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Dinner begins at 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

For menus, weekly specials, upcoming events, or to order online, visit Mary’s Market website⁠ or follow Mary’s Market Café & Bakery on Facebook.

Full Gallery: See all of Alan Mohring’s photos from Mary’s Market

This article is sponsored by Mary’s Market Café, Bakery, and Bistro