Italian family restaurant expands to Palatine

A Wheeling High School graduate switched from owning a bunch of Luke's Beef restaurants to full-service Italian eateries.

Tony Colatorti started working as a dishwasher at Luke's in Arlington Heights as a teenager. He went on to own six of the quick-service eateries in Lake Zurich, Wauconda, Waukegan, Mundelein, Lake Bluff and Fox Lake until 2003 when his palate changed.

"I wanted to get into full-service restaurants," said Colatorti of Algonquin. He sold the Luke's locations and opened Cucina Bella Italian restaurant nearly five years ago in downtown Algonquin. He expanded into Crystal Lake less than two years ago.

Colatorti's cousin, Vito DeFrenza, had been managing the Algonquin location and recently took a big step in launching his own establishment in Palatine at 2001 N. Rand Road. "I've always wanted to open my own place," said DeFrenza, 32.

The newest Cucina Bella seats 180 people and 20 at the bar. "It's classic Italian food," DeFrenza said.

The restaurants, which all have the same name, feature authentic Italian recipes passed down through the family. The cousins say their family owns a home near Bari, Italy. DeFrenza lived there when he was in first and second grade.

The men say everything at their restaurants is made to order. The marinara is made fresh daily.

"Good things come to those who wait," Colatori says.

They also started bottling four of their pasta sauces, now available at Joe Caputo grocery stores and at their restaurants. The sauces range in price from $5.50 to $6.50 a jar.

Meanwhile, favorites at Cucina Bella, which means beautiful kitchen in Italian, include cavatelli and gnocchi, made with potatoes and cheese and topped with a special sauce. Both dishes are $17.95. The create your own pasta plates where customers can choose from six pastas, 12 sauces and a variety of ingredients are also popular. They sell for between $12 and $15.95. "The portion sizes are huge," said DeFrenza, who also graduated from Wheeling High School.

He added that it's stressful opening a restaurant during a time when people are cutting back on spending. "But once people try our food, they'll be back," he said.

Colatorti, 37, noted that business at his restaurants has been down with the economy. "We're down about 15 to 25 percent," he added. In an effort to make up for the losses, he has cut back on the server's hours. He added that there have been ups and downs in business over the past year. "We had a couple really good weeks in March," Colatorti said.

For more information, check out cucinabellaalgonquin.com.

Kim Mikus covers small business and retail. She welcomes comments at (847) 427-4567 or kmikus@dailyherald.com.