Jojo's Pizza Kitchen, Lake Elsinore

Bonafede-family matriarch Anita started JoJo's Pizza Kitchen more than four decades ago, and her discerning taste for ingredients is still identifiable on the menu. Though her son Joe, who napped on flour sacks in the back of the restaurant as a child, now runs the eatery, fresh basil and plum tomatoes grown in Stanislaus County continue to release aromas in the kitchen that hint at sun-soaked furrows.

Through a dining room window, guests catch glimpses of chefs tossing freshly risen dough for specialty, hand-crafted pizzas. The culinary team grates fresh parmesan cheese onto dishes as wine cooks slowly down with mushrooms on the stovetop and chicken marinates in lemon and garlic. Back in the dining room, servers bustle past, filling glasses with house wines or draft beers.