Tuscany Bistro

They’re playing Frank Sinatra as we walk in—a good omen for an Italian restaurant.

Tuscany Bistro (7410 118th Ave., Kenosha) is located near I-94/41 next to a Super Cuts in a strip mall labyrinth. But while most mall restaurants are chain-run, a pair of Kenosha chefs, father-daughter Guglielmo and Theresa Ianni, own Tuscany. The atmosphere is a stucco-wood Tuscan simulation, and the menu reflects present-day trends with an eye on Italian American favorites.

Tuscany Bistro recently opened for lunch, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is open daily for dinner at 4 p.m. The lunch menu features a half-dozen appetizers, four sandwiches, a half-dozen pizzas and the same number of pasta dishes. For an appetizer, try the calamari, lightly breaded and tender. The sandwiches—which include Italian preparations of chicken breast and pork loin, a meatball bomber and a veggie panino—are amply stuffed into fresh ciabatta rolls. The salads come in bowls as big as gondolas.

The nine-inch pizzas, big enough to share, favor a unique assortment of toppings. Among them, a vegetarian pizza, the Chicago Beef with giardiniera, the self-explanatory Pizza Con Prosciutto and Pizza Diavola with stringy mozzarella, sliced soppressata (an Italian salami) and red-hot Calabrian chilies that rival anything at most local Mexican restaurants for heat.

The portions at Tuscany Bistro are as generous as an Italian American kitchen. Dessert? You probably won’t have room.