Get Cookin' with ... Tufano’s Joey DiBuono

For four generations, Tufano’s Vernon Park Tap has been quietly tucked away on a charming street in Chicago’s Little Italy at 1073 W. Vernon Park Place. It has been owned and operated by the same family since Italian immigrants Joseph DiBuono and Teresa Tufano opened their barroom there in 1930.

Today, the expanded restaurant is run by Joey DiBuono, grandson of the original owners, who started working there at age 16. He has maintained many of the original, hearty Italian-American dishes that made this spot so iconic, such as eggplant parmesan, fried calamari and the DiBuono family’s legendary lemon chicken (recipe below). He has had the best cooks in the world helping him make these homemade dishes—his grandmother Teresa, his mother Marie and his aunts Rose Alecia and Antoinette Tufano. Grandma Teresa worked in the restaurant until she was 90 years old. Now Joey has help from his sisters and his twin daughters, Darci Pinello and Disa Simpson, who help him carry on the family’s traditions.

Tufano’s has been a family restaurant for more than 90 years, attracting neighborhood regulars, policemen, politicos, sports fans and others on their way to games at the United Center. Legend has it that even Scarface, Al Capone, was a fan. Everything is served family-style: Guests check the chalkboards, talk to the servers and make their dinner selections. When Joey’s grandma was alive, she would make the sauce and pass it over to the restaurant’s kitchen using a pass-through from her house next door. Old-school still works best and everyone who knows this warm, friendly spot agrees.

The Food Network star Guy Fieri loves this restaurant so much he’s featured it twice on his hit show, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” most recently in August. On the show, DiBuono says, “When people come here, they feel like they’re at home. There’s not too many places left like that anymore.”

In 2008, Tufano’s received the American Classics Award from the James Beard Foundation. Enjoy the restaurant’s legendary Lemon Chicken recipe and stop by and say hello. Joey loves company.

LEMON CHICKEN

• 1 whole chicken, rinsed and dried

• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt

• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1⁄4 cup olive oil

• 1⁄4 cup vegetable oil

• Lemon, halved

1) Preheat broiler to the highest level.

2) Cut chicken into pieces and place in broiler pan. Make sure pieces are lying flat.

3) Drizzle with oils and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Rub minced garlic and oregano over chicken.

4) Squeeze fresh lemon over chicken.

5) Cook for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Turn chicken over, cook flipped side until golden and crispy.

6) Plate chicken with options such as cottage fried potatoes or rice. Pour lemon juice from pan over dish and serve.