Friendly Calumet Fisheries Manager Dies From Coronavirus At 41

CHICAGO — Carlos Rosas relished his role as the front-of-the-shack host at Calumet Fisheries, the James Beard Award-winning smoke house on the far South Side.

Generations of restaurant regulars — and folks who found Calumet Fisheries thanks to Anthony Bourdain, the late chef who cemented the joint as a foodie destination on his TV show, "No Reservations" — could count on Rosas for a friendly chat, a tasty sample and a tour of the smokehouse operation along the Calumet River.

Rosas died Monday from complications related to the coronavirus. He was 41.

Calumet Fisheries co-owner Mark Kotlick shared the heartbreaking news on Facebook: "A big part of Calumet Fisheries went to heaven."

"Carlos was our ambassador he always had a smile on his face and would greet you with a warm hello," he wrote. "He was a big guy with a heart to match. I will miss him dearly as an employee and my friend."

Hundreds of people — restaurant regulars, tourists and Emmy-winning food critics — wrote tributes to Rosas.

"The best part of going to get my fish was conversations with Carlos over the years," Carmela Barhany Ware wrote. "His beautiful kind soul will be missed."

Krystal Reinhardt-Matichak of Atlanta, Georgia, regaled that Carlos made her feel like a regular on her annual stops at Calumet Fisheries, but would never give up the 92-year-old restaurant's most precious secret.

He"would always treat me like I came in weekly. I begged him for the hot sauce recipe, and he wouldn’t budge. ... My heart is heavy. God bless him. The world lost a wonderful man," she wrote.

Rosas tested positive for COVID-19 in early June, and after isolating himself had to be rushed to a South Side Hospital. For more than a month, Rosas was hospitalized and required a ventilator to breathe. "It was really sad, one of the COVID horror stories you about," Kotlick said.

Rosas worked at Calumet Fisheries for 20 years, the last decade or so as manager. He was an optimist and a joker.

"Carlos was someone everybody liked being around. A real nice guy," Kotlick said. "He had his favorite customers and treated them like VIPs. And they loved him for it."

Javier Magallane worked alongside Rosas and considered him a mentor.

"Carlos was a caring guy who always looked out for everybody. He taught me how to manage, and had a way with customers," Magallane said. "He loved talking to them about fish or, really anything. He loved interacting with people."

Especially on Saturdays, when the smokehouse was packed with fish and tourists, North Siders and suburbanites treked to the 95th Street bridge made famous in "The Blues Brothers."

"He loved showing customers the smokehouse and the whole process here from start to finish," Magallane said. "He was just such a happy guy, always willing to go out of his way for people."

A wake is scheduled for Thursday at Sadowski Funeral Home at 13300 S. Houston Ave. A funeral mass will be said at St. Kevin's Catholic Church, 10509 S. Torrence Ave. Friday at 10 a.m.