Nonnas of the World (Enoteca Maria)

Joe Scaravella opened Enoteca Maria on Hyatt Street in 2007, a five-minute walk up from the ferry, and named it for his mother. He had lost his mother, grandmother and sister, and what he missed most was a home-cooked family meal, so he hired grandmothers instead of chefs — Italian nonnas first, then grandmothers from around the world, each taking her turn to cook the food she grew up with. In 2025 the story became the Netflix film Nonnas, with Vince Vaughn as Scaravella. Today it runs as a nonprofit under the name Nonnas of the World Community.

There is no fixed menu to order from. What you eat depends on whose weekend it is: a set three-course meal that might be Italian one week and from another corner of the world the next, served in a small room with timed seatings. That unpredictability is the point. Book ahead, ask about the nonna before you go, and afterward walk down past Borough Hall and the St. George Theatre, next door, to the water.