Our Formula: Love + Passion = Flavor
OUR Story
From Humble Beginnings to Culinary Excellence
Lucia’s opened right in the peak of Covid-19 in November of 2020. With no dine-in allowed, Lucia’s launched as a ghost kitchen with take-out and delivery only. Continuing to fight through this difficult time a buzz was created on the quality of dishes that were offered. Lucia’s moved location and opened with a dine-in and an open kitchen model in November 2021, bringing rustic yet refined Italian dishes to the community.
Lucia’s open kitchen model operates differently than 99% of restaurants in America. You are dining right in the kitchen. Offering 10 chef counter seats where you chat it up with the Chef and watch every dish plated to perfection. The remaining 28- seats are tucked in so you can see the entire kitchen crew work. This is exactly what Chef Geno loves. A small intimate space where you feel as if you are a guest in his home for a Sunday dinner.
Chef Geno and his crew have taken the local dining experience to an entirely different level.
Meet the Chef
Since his childhood, watching his Italian mother cook in Cicero, IL, Geno McWiiliams was destined to be a chef. After high school, Geno began to work in construction and married young. With the birth of his first child, it looked as though the chef's dream would be put on hold for a while. Geno was the owner of MBK Construction specializing in restaurant construction as a national general contractor. While traveling the US building restaurants he continued to drill down on his cooking skills. Geno would travel with quite the arsenal of cooking tools from pizza ovens, grills, pots, pans, etc. He was asked to leave a hotel in Long Island, NY for cooking pizzas in a propane oven in his hotel room. Geno would also work for free in restaurants throughout the US just to learn while building.
After 23 years of construction, it was time to put his true passion to work and cook full-time. From the days of watching his mother cook Italian food, you could say pizza and pasta were in his blood. Geno would go on to open in November of 2020 and with a passion to provide the best pizza and pasta in Illinois, Geno was chosen to join the US Pizza Team in 2020 and continues to work with some of the best pizza makers in the world. Geno continues to be at the forefront of the culinary scene here at Lucia’s.
While crafting artisan pizza and hand crafted pasta dishes along with a few modern twists, he has taken Lucia’s to a destination dining experience in the heartland of America.
Customer Testimonials
We value every customer's dining experience!
Experience A Taste Of Italy At Lucia's
Indulge in our exquisite dishes and immerse yourself in the charming ambiance of Lucia's Italian Kitchen.