Restaurants in Lockport

At six locations dispersed throughout the Chicago suburbs, Old Town Pizza Co.'s dough doyens handcraft an array of Italian edibles, including four styles of pizza—signature thin crust, double dough crimped with a hand-rolled edge, Chicago-style deep dish, and Sicilian-style stuffed pizza. Specialty pies, which comes in such varieties as the Florentine and The Butcher Block, arrive adorned with fresh spinach and spices or a choice of four meats. Chefs also tempt carb cravers with pastas, calzones, and sandwiches, including italian beef.

The volunteer-run Raw Vegan Cafe serves up uncooked gluten-free vegan fare, donating all its profits to Project Hopeful in Joliet. Appetizers on the trim menu include zucchini wraps and mushrooms that, like a black bear’s armchair, come stuffed with pine nuts and fine spices. Served sans nuts, the café's spaghetti comes smothered in a sun-dried-tomato marinara and can be paired with a custom, fresh-squeezed juice of your own creation.

To spread the good word of raw food, the nonprofit teaches foodies and newbies the vegan basics during cooking classes. Instructors arm students with the ingredients, equipment, and recipes necessary to swiftly craft nutritious raw dinners and desserts, saving the cost of ordering takeout from a neighbor’s greenhouse. Main courses such as pizza or bagels shirk flames in favor of a dehydrator, the use of which teachers thoroughly detail. Sweeteners reaped from Mother Nature's garden tinge dessert recipes for delicacies such as chocolate macaroons or lemon squares. Patrons fend off food comas and advancing herds of hungry rabbits to query experts about raw vegan diets during Q&A sessions that conclude classes.

The chefs in Inchin's Bamboo Garden's kitchen use fresh ingredients to craft Asian-style specialties at the time they are ordered. Mustard- and crimson-colored walls and bamboo stalks accent the spacious dining room, and the restaurant’s signature red rickshaw sits parked in front, haplessly attempting to feed the meter with Chinese yuan coins.

Markella's Gyros serves tender meat and poultry in multifarious forms, from its signature gyros to italian beef and a slew of Vienna hot dogs. The chefs pair their American eats with tasty portions of french fries and milk shakes, and the eatery's outdoor patio allows diners to take advantage of free water refills on rainy days.

The chefs behind Domo 77's sushi bar roll and slice a full menu of maki and sashimi, while hibachi chefs entertain diners with choreographed Japanese grilling. Diners can select artfully presented sushi creations such as the california roll, spicy-scallop roll, and rainbow roll, which comes with a miniature pot of wasabi-coated coins. Armed with a metal spatula, knife, and carving fork, red-capped grill masters at the hibachi sear a combination of meats, seafood, and vegetables. Circles of fried rice and onion rings stack high to form edible, fire-spewing volcanoes, while bartenders tiptoe over pools of magma to pour Japanese and domestic beers and hot and cold sake, as well as wines, martinis, and house cocktails.

The chefs at Palos Hills Village Pub charbroil 10-ounce Angus beef burgers and toss a slew of pastas with meats and seafood. Servers ferry pub fare favorites to patrons powwowing on barstools, watching sports between sips of beer. The eatery’s private party room seats as many as 50 guests around its cloth-covered tables, ideal for office parties, birthdays, or conventions for linen enthusiasts.