Family Restaurant Dedicated to Fresh Ingredients and Serving Community

The U.S. economy may not be at its best, but makes sure its ingredients remain top-notch.

Located in Evergreen Park for the past 30 years, the family-run business hasn’t let the economic downturn affect the quality ingredients that its loyal customers have come to expect and enjoy from them, according to Fran Barraco, manager.

“The economy’s been tough on everyone, but our customers are loyal and we try not to be harsh on anything like raising prices,” Barraco said. “We don’t want to go with cheaper ingredients. It’s always fresh, never frozen. We think to ourselves, ‘Would we want our family to eat this?’ If the answer’s no, we don’t make it. That’s what’s important to us.”

Open in five locations including some in Crestwood, Burbank and Orland, Barraco’s not only makes sure its ingredients are fresh, but that its recipes are always family recipes. Patrons can expect homemade meals, she said. Its two franchised locations also follow the same mantra, she added.

Sharing family recipes is important to the Barraco family, she said, adding that her aunts and uncles initially opened the Evergreen Park restaurant to share its good cooking with the community. In fact, Barraco’s grandmother, or “nonni,” still comes in to prepare some of the menu every now and then, she said.

“Everyone loves her here,” Barraco said. “She makes meatballs and soups. She kind of shows everybody the great food we want to eat.”

While the name of the shop indicates the family’s passion for making great pizza, they serve everything from pastas, sandwiches, desserts, salads and holiday specials, such as the , Barraco said.

“We do a lot around the holidays,” said Barraco. “We have a banquet room, so we do a lot of banquets and catering outside of the restaurant, stuff like that. There’s nothing we won’t do.”

Now that the Spring season has arrived, business has boomed even more, with the banquet room that can hold 200 people being utilized for baby showers and communion parties, among other celebratory events, Barraco said. A club also regularly uses the room for a sports night, and last year a Blackhawks player came to the restaurant for one of the nights and signed autographs, she said.

Not only is Barraco’s committed to making sure their customers get the best ingredients, they are also very dedicated to ensuring that the restaurant gives back to the community that made them what they are today, Barraco said.

“We love our community. We wouldn’t be where we are today without our community, so if we can put our foot in the door and help anybody out, it means a lot to us,” Barraco said. “We try to be involved as much as we can in the community. We share with everybody and do a lot of fundraisers and donate to those.”

The restaurant also participates in the Fourth of July parade that goes right past them on 95rh Street, she added. While Barraco certainly enjoys the devotion her family has to the community, she also gets a kick out of all of the interesting people she meets through the restaurant. One of the most interesting meetings she had was with a bishop who had just come from a confirmation at Oak Lawn-based Barraco said.

“You get to do a lot more, be more involved and meet a lot of interesting people from the community,” she said. “You meet people from different walks of life. It’s cool. You learn things you never knew before.”

Reservations are recommended at Barraco’s Pizza, 3701 W. 95^th St., but walk-ins are welcome as well, Barraco said. To learn more about the restaurant, visit www.barracos.com or call (708) 424-8182.