Featured Chef

Name: Theresa Mowery, Executive Chef

Restaurant: Mama Louisa’s Italian Restaurant

Mama Louisa’s Italian Restaurant has been a Tucson landmark since 1956 when it was built on a dirt road by Davis Monthan Air Force Base. It was bought from the original owners, the Casadei family in 1973 by the Elefante family. The restaurant is now run by two sisters from the family, Suzanne Elefante and Theresa Mowery who is the Chef.

Theresa started working at her family’s restaurant in 1977 at the age of 15 with Suzanne’s husband Joe Jr. who was the chef at that time. She learned how make and age the sauce; to make pasta–everything about the great dishes that have been the mainstay of Mama Louisa’s for all these years. When Joe Jr. died in 1988, she became head chef.

Theresa enjoys making items from scratch, watching her make Manicotti, Eggplant, Lasagna and other homemade dishes is like watching an artist at work. Often purveyors come in and say how good everything smells, she laughs and says, “that’s because we actually make things here.”