Nothing fancy, just good food ...

First of all, I want to second last week's foodie pick -- Berghoff's Cafe. My friend has been urging me to go for at least a year. I finally made the drive over to Scott City last weekend for the French toast. Good food and the prices make getting your grub on feel like a steal.

Staying on board the no-frills foodie train, I grabbed a couple of my buddies for lunch and, maybe for the first time ever, decided on our destination -- Mario and Angela's Italian Cucina in Cape Girardeau.

Sometimes you just want a good Italian meatball. One of my friends was a first-timer and the other said, "I always forget about that place." If you drive around Cape Girardeau and have never visited, you've probably passed by it numerous times.

According to some of the comments on the restaurant's Facebook page, enjoying their family comes first and food is a big part of that. It is apparent when you take in the restaurants decor, as family photos adorn the walls. Babies. Weddings. An autographed photo of Wayne Newton.

"Mario and Angela" are a father and daughter team. Angi said her father originally started in the food industry several decades ago in New Jersey and has been going strong ever since. I believe I caught a glimpse of Mario in the kitchen during our visit. One of my favorite quotes from their Facebook page is about Angi, "I'm not yelling, I'm just Italian." That pretty much sums up my expectations for a traditional Italian family experience.

Lunch baked spaghetti and meatball

A sign outside of the restaurant reads: "Nothing fancy just good food," and that is exactly what we got.

We ordered one-half meatball sub from the lunch menu, the lunch baked spaghetti and meatball and a calzone. The food was authentic and delicious, and the portions were extremely generous. In fact, if you have ever had the desire to recreate the post-Thanksgiving food-coma feeling, this is definitely the place to do it. I have been told their salads and pizza are equally fabulous, and I definitely plan a return trip to try their homemade cannoli. What more can I say? The food and photos speak for themselves. Between the three of us, they earned six enthusiastic thumbs up. Nothing fancy; just good food.

The only question I left with is this: What does a girl have to do to get her picture on the wall?