There are a few things in Chicago that mark the end of winter and the arrival of our cherished warmer weather. Robins chirp outside windows, flowers start to bloom, and come May 1, lines form on Taylor Street as customers wait for invigorating Italian ice from Mario’s Italian Lemonade. The business started in 1954, when Mario “Skip” DiPaolo was six...
READ MORECom.It.Es (Comitato per gli italiani all’estero) and Comitato Tricolore Italiani nel Mondo will host the 15th annual Festa della Repubblica on June 4 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago. The event celebrates the birth of the Italian republic and bears the distinction of being the only such celebration outside of Italy to feature a parad...
READ MOREThe cover of Fra Noi reads “Embrace your inner Italian”: words that inspire us to explore every aspect of our heritage and community. In my case, the catchy phrase opened the door to the Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia. An oasis of italianità in Stone Park, the center is home to a hardy band of volunteers who truly live this calling. I paid...
READ MOREFrank Sommario will be sworn in for a two-year term as president of the National Italian American Bar Association. The ceremony will take place at NIABA’s annual general membership meeting on June 10 at Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago. Sommario previously served as executive vice president of NIABA and chair of its Budget Committee. A...
READ MOREThe California-based restaurant The Italian Homemade Company has its eyes on Chicago, hoping to enter Illinois for the first time in Fulton Market, located at 947 W Fulton Market.With five locations across California, The Italian Homemade Company is already known as one of the best Italian restaurants in the state. Now, the owners have applied for...
READ MOREA new gelato and drink cafe is bringing Italian treats and a relaxing atmosphere to Portage Park, just in time for warmer weather. Ciao Ciao Gelato & Cafe, opening this weekend at 5355 W. Irving Park Road, aims to liven up the Portage Park corner and be a spot where visitors feel welcome, said co-owner Marco Alt. “I want people to feel like [they’r...
READ MORELavazza, the 127-year-old iconic Italian coffee company, has announced the grand opening of its newest state of the art training facility on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, IL. The Chicago training center will be host to a series of exciting events during its opening weekend. Coming off the heels of two successful training center openings in West...
READ MOREA half century at any job is something to celebrate, but Sam Gullo is marking five decades as the barber at one of Chicago’s most iconic buildings, the Civic Opera House, home of the Lyric Opera. Gullo and his family arrived in Chicago from Caccamo, Sicily, in 1961. “I came here with my father and brother,” Gullo says from his shop on the 15th floo...
READ MOREJoint Civic Committee of Italian Americans President Ron Onesti has taken the organization’s battle on behalf of Christopher Columbus to a whole new level in recent months. In late March, Onesti spearheaded a JCCIA-hosted Tour of Italy at the Wyndham Springfield that attracted more than 250 state representatives and senators as well as lobbyists fr...
READ MOREFrom providing classic Italian dishes with a modern style right here in Rogers Park, to the warm and reasonably priced eatery, Antos will save you the time it would take to get to Little Italy to satiate your pizza and pasta cravings. This restaurant serves traditional Italian-American fare like spaghetti carbonara and Margherita pizza in addition...
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