The Parmigiana and Milanese families are well represented at Cafe Bionda on South State Street. You can go with either family and pick out chicken, veal or eggplant. Nothing original in that, but if truth be told, people who love everyday Italian food expect to find those dishes on the menu. And it seems that when they do, they keep coming back.

The way it works in restaurants like Cafe Bionda, those dishes--Parmigiana and Milanese -- are signature staples, but then there is always a wealth of other familiar dishes that mark the character of the restaurant itself.

For example, at Cafe Bionda you will find the usual suspects: fried calamari, antipasto platter, clams (baked and fresh), a sausage dish here, a meatball there. This is Italian comfort food all the way. If you see escarole and beans, and sausage and peppers on the menu, you know the kind of Italian restaurant I am talking about.

Cafe Bionda is not making the kind of food that you would find at Spiaggia, Coco Pazzo Cafe, or Va Pensiero in Evanston, for example. All of those restaurants have excellent food and a certain Italian style, but you are not likely to find a sausage platter or escarole and beans at any of those places.

At Cafe Bionda, you will find Italian comfort food the likes of the zucchini and calamari combo appetizer. The cost was $10, and there was more than enough for two to share. The big planks of lightly breaded fried zucchini (tender and bordering on sweet) were wonderful. On the other side of the two cups filled with dipping sauces --marinara and aioli -- was a pile of fired calamari, the rings cut a bit thicker, but they were tender and light.

And then there was "Joe's Mama Meatball Salad." The Joe in question is Joe Farina, chef/owner. This was not my first dance with this appetizer salad. I have had it at Ballo and Rosebud restaurants, but never tire of it, or the idea behind it. Pairing up on the same plate a meatball as big as a softball and a crispy salad might sound strange, but, trust me, it was quite enjoyable.

A sensible number of pasta dishes -- 10 in all -- offer excellent variety and beyond. Quite a number of years ago, I had my first encounter with a pasta dish made with orecchiette, sausage and rapini (it was at Il Cortile on Mulberry Street in New York City), and it was love at first bite. I have never tired of this incredibly delicious pasta dish, a combination of tender orecchiette pasta, crumbles of really good Italian sausage, wisps of rapini, and crushed red pepper flakes in what is a "natural sauce" (not tomato) but a gentle bath of olive oil and some of the liquid from the sauteing of the rapini. This was a terrific pasta dish.

Ditto for the rigatoni alla vodka (which does include some tomato sauce), with a sauce that was light on the tomato, fragrant with basil, creamy-rich with mascarpone and ricotta.

When it comes to Milanese, go for the veal, which arrived on a platter that took up most of the table. The pounded-thin, lightly breaded, tender veal took up the whole platter; it was buried under a field of baby arugula that had been dressed lightly with olive oil and lemon. Consummate enjoyment, bite after bite. Far too much for one person, and even two people might not clean the platter. The price was $24, so divide that by two and the bargain jumps out at you.

One of the chicken dishes to consider is the pollo al mattone, or "whole boneless crispy brick chicken." The baby chicken is splayed, brushed with olive oil, weighted down and put on the grill. This method of cooking chicken results in an unusually crispy and flavorful skin that gives way to the natural moisture of the meat just below. Lemon and garlic were the flavor extras. Chunky rosemary potatoes, a bit on the dry side, were served alongside.

Only one dessert was tried (I wasn't into the cannoli or the tiramisu trip), and that was chocolate lava cake, which was quite good with plenty of rich chocolate flavor. Two large scoops of pistachio ice cream on top helped push it along to the last bite.

Pat Bruno is a local free-lance critic and author. E-mail brunoeats@aol.com. Listen to Pat Bruno talk about food and wine Tuesdays at 6:23 p.m. and 10:23 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 7:53 p.m. on WBBM News Radio 780-AM.