A favorite neighborhood restaurant is celebrating a really big anniversary this month. Mondo’s Restaurant is 50 years old this month. Now located in the Brookside neighborhood, it opened in 1969 at 61st and South Peoria. Lou Aloisio opened the restaurant with recipes brought to American from Italy, by his father in 1920.

He didn’t call it Aloisio’s because he didn’t want the family name on the sign if it was a flop. Mondo is his middle name. Son Rob Aloisio runs it now, but Lou is still there almost every night. “We are just a neighborhood joint that has a ton of locals that come in and eat.” Rob says.