Rosati's Pizza, Lewisville

Rosati's Pizza literally began with one man. When he started his first Chicago restaurant as an Italian immigrant in 1906, Ferdinand Rosati worked as the cook, waiter, dishwasher, and host. Despite his no-doubt hectic schedule, the passionate restaurateur still found time to prepare each guest his signature pizza a'olia, a soul-warming blend of cheese and housemade sauce served on a crispy-thin crust.

From that cracker-thin foundation, Rosati's has grown to incorporate slabs of baby back ribs, baked pastas, and Italian sandwiches into its menu at locations across the country. A family-friendly establishment, it mixes cocktails for adults from a full-service bar as kids play games and sort puzzles—ideal distractions from the kitchen's rounds of pizza frisbee.