When Marlon Vila was a teenager, he got his first restaurant job as a busboy in a Roman trattoria. His family immigrated to Italy in the late 1970s, but they're originally from Shkodër, Albania, where the famed Rozafa Castle towers over the city. Today, Marlon still has a job in the restaurant industry—only now it's as chef at the aptly named Rozafa Mediterranean Bistro in downtown Quincy.

At this family-owned restaurant, the entire Vila clan pitches in. Marlon and his mom, Antonjeta, do much of the cooking: for lunch, Antonjeta prepares more than 20 different sandwiches using freshly cut meats and cheeses, including house-roasted turkey, pastrami, and corned beef. Later in the day, Marlon spins together from-scratch dinners, such as prosciutto-wrapped pork tenderloin and bouillabaisse loaded with local seafood and spicy chorizo. The bistro's atmosphere is just as rustic as its food, too, combining dark woods, high ceilings, and exposed brickwork.