With a moniker like Mamma Onesta’s Italian Restaurant, it might not surprise people that the historic downtown Lockport establishment focuses on family. “‘Mamma Onesta’ means honest mother in Italian. It’s named after my honest, hardworking mother. Being Italian I love to eat Italian food and love to cook. My mom is a great cook,” said Frank DeGrassi about Erminia DeGrassi, of Homer Glen.

“We try to make people feel like they’re part of the family. I’m sure a lot of people use that saying but we really strive for that.” Here is the dish on this eatery, which opened in 2008 and established a sister location owned by the DeGrassi and Buonauro families and operated by Mario and Melanie Buonauro in 2017 in Georgia.