The restaurant was successful from the very beginning, with eager diners sometimes waiting hours for an opportunity to dine family-style. The portions of Italian–American cuisine were large, reminiscent of a Sunday night visit to their grandmother’s house, or as they say in Italy, nonna’s casa! The recipes were simple, authentic classics, many of them coaxed out of Italian grandmothers, mothers, and aunts whose ideas of a recipe were a pinch of this and a sprinkle of that. With some trial and error, the chefs celebrated the birth of many of Maggiano’s signature dishes