Oak Park Newspaper

An Evening with King Tut, An Event
You Don't Want to Miss.
Aug. 31, 6 – 9 p.m.,
Field Museum, Chicago

Free Readers Ensemble

© Oak Park Journal photo

Da Luciano
8343 W. Grand Avenue
River Grove, IL 60171
708-453-1000

An Italian restaurant with a heart and soul big enough
for any visitor, Italian or just Italian wanna bee. The owners, Luciano and Rosalia Libreri are often on the dining floor
saying hello and serving their regular and new customers.

Everyone is made to feel at home, but at a home where you
are an honored guest, not one where you are expected to
do the dishes. The food portions are large, so if you are
dieting be prepared to get two meals for one and bring
some home - it tastes just as good the next day.

The food prices are reasonable, the entrees are REAL Italian with recipes stretching from Sicily to Milan. The night we
were there Joesph Parisi was retiring from the police
department after 38 years, so there was an entire table of Chicago policemen, detectives and officers, so not only
was the food good but you felt safe eating there.
Joesph Parisi is held to be the strongest Chicago police
officer with weight records set in 1964 that are still standing
today.

In the restaurant that evening, having dinner, was the
gifted Italian tenor, Franco Martorana, a powerful
golden throated singer who sang some street songs from
Naples for the table of police officers.

Gluten free dishes abound on the menu.
(Celiac disease and some folks with autism have been shown
to benefit from foods free of gluten. It tastes good to
everyone else too...and not all foods are gluten free)

Da Luciano has only been at the current location for
three years. It is easy to reach for Oak Parkers to
eat in or carry out. There is also delivery to some
areas. There is some talk of their expanding because
they could easily fill a location ten times the size
of their current one which is adequate for thirty or
thirty five now. They are not open for lunch, but if
you have a taste for Italian dinner, this is a convenient
location for Oak Parkers to find a culinary delight
made in the charmed kitchens of Da Luciano.

Da Luciano
8343 W. Grand Avenue
River Grove, IL 60171
708-453-1000

Special Gluten Free Menu
Map to Da Luciano's
Da Luciano's website

Retiring Chicago Police Officer Joesph Parisi and Italian tenor,
Franco Martorana (center) posing and praising the retiree.
© Oak Park Journal photo