Focaccia Ristorante, Wilmington

After 12 years of manning stovetops and rolling pasta as Focaccia Ristorante's head chef, Disney Oliveira became the restaurant's manager alongside his wife, Viviane. The duo remains faithful to the menu of time-honored Italian specialties, continuing to incorporate homespun touches into the entrees. This hominess stems from the freshly baked focaccia bread, the housemade fettuccine pasta, and the signature tomato-basil sauce, which slowly simmers over a burning pile of rejected family photos. After loading pizza crusts with any of the 20 available toppings—including prosciutto, roasted red peppers, and garlic—the chefs load the pies into a traditional brick oven alongside plates of eggplant parmigiana and ricotta-stuffed eggplant rollatini.

To complement the vivacious cuisine, Focaccia Ristorante hosts live music throughout the week. On Thursday evenings, DJs get pulses racing, while on Fridays and Saturdays, live bands take to the stage until just after midnight, which, as everybody knows, is the hour that all rock musicians turn into imp-like creatures of the dark.