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Windy City Magazine
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Italian Restaurant

Bruna’s Ristorante

About

Bruna’s Ristorante is an Italian restaurant on South Oakley Avenue in the Lower West Side’s Heart of Italy enclave, opened in 1933 by “Bella Bruna” Cani, the year Prohibition ended. Luciano Silvestri, a native of Siena, bought the restaurant in 1981, kept many of Bruna’s recipes and added dishes from his own family. The menu runs from pastas and veal to chicken Vesuvio and seafood.

What to know

  • Bella Bruna’s original roast chicken recipe is still served every Sunday.
  • Silvestri makes the tiramisu himself.
  • The restaurant imports a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano from near Silvestri’s hometown and pours the wine by the glass.
  • Before coming to Chicago in 1977, Silvestri worked at a resort on Lake Como and on cruise lines.
  • The family history on the restaurant’s website calls Bruna’s the third-oldest Italian restaurant in Chicago.

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