BUTLER TWP — The story of Mama Rosa's restaurant begins in Maierato, a town in the province of Vibo Valentia in the Italian region Calabria.

Rosa was born in this farming area. As a child, and later as the wife of Nicholas Fusca, she sold fruit, produce and dairy products such as eggs, provolone and ricotta cheeses.

She married her husband in 1947, and they immigrated to the United States with their son and two daughters in 1957. The family settled in Glenshaw, near Allison Park, where their youngest son, Nick, was born.

They opened their own restaurant in the 1970s, when Nick was 11.

“Mom and dad rented a little place in Etna,” Nick Fusca said. “Mom did all the cooking and dad bartended.

“I was by my mom's side, learning all her recipes while my dad taught me how to run a business.

“Mom and dad wanted to expand, but the landlord wouldn't sell to them.”

Instead, they found their Old Plank Road location in 1979, when it was a bar, and bought the building.

“They liked it being in the country,” Fusca said. “Butler reminded them of Calabria in the way that it was a small town and everyone knew everybody else.

“We ran both restaurants,” Fusca said. “My mother mainly did the prep work for both restaurants.”

At her first restaurant, Rosa Fusca developed the recipes on Mama Rosa's menu today.

“I had four little kids,” Rosa said. “We would prepare the kids to go to school and then shop for the restaurants.”

She and her husband, who died in 1990, shopped in Pittsburgh's Strip District so they could offer their customers fresh, high-quality ingredients.

Customers loved her lasagna, she said. She made the pasta dough herself, and it is still homemade today.

She developed the restaurant's signature stuffed meatballs, which are filled with cappicollo, provolone cheese, sausage and mushrooms.

She offered an Italian platter, which no one else had at the time. It includes eggplant parmigiana, stuffed shells, a sausage, a meatball and pasta.

And the restaurant still features braciole, a traditional Italian steak, seasoned, stuffed and rolled.

“All of the signature dishes we have now are the same since she taught me,” her son said, made with the ingredients his father taught him to buy.

He was by his parents' side in the restaurants until he was 17, when he graduated from Fox Chapel High School.

“I was the one (of the children) in the kitchen the most,” Nick Fusca said. “One of my personal secrets is that I never changed anything.”

Nick Fusca, who is a certified food processor, has developed a selection of sauces that he makes in a sauce kitchen separate from the restaurant.

“Sometimes we deliver it (the sauce) and it's still warm from the sauce kitchen,” he said.

Today, the Old Plank Road location is Mama Rosa's only site. It has 20 employees and serves about 1,700 people a week, with bigger crowds on weekends and during summer.

Nick Fusca describes success as having a busy restaurant with happy customers and happy employees; to be able to pay the bills; and always to have enough working capital.“I'm a firm believer that you have to work hard, give people a fair shake, have good quality products, buy quality products, and stick to the basics,” he said.Nick Fusca still cooks Friday and Saturday nights.“My favorite part of the job is manning the sauté pan on a busy night on the line in the kitchen.“I like preparing good food, fine dishes for customers in the restaurant.”In summer, Nick Fusca shops locally for produce. In winter, he goes to the Strip District.“We keep doing things the original way,” he said.Now 83 years old, Rosa Fusca goes to the restaurant every morning to check on things — quality control, her son calls it.Although she retired when she was 75, she grew more than 100 pounds of basil last summer for use in the restaurant's sauces. She also grows some of its vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers and escarole, used in wedding soup.Nick Fusca loves every aspect of the business, but he is least interested in paperwork. “I'd rather be cooking, shopping for supplies or produce,” he said.“I really love it up here,” he said. “I'm 48 years old, and I still haven't gotten sick of it (the restaurant business). I still love it. I really do love Butler and its people.“The older business owners care about Butler and so do I.”

<B>Name: </B>Nick Fusca<B>Address: </B>Butler<B>Owner: </B>Mama Rosa's Restaurant, Specialty Sauces and Catering<B>Family: </B>Wife, Nicole Fusca; two sons, Antonio Nicola and Luca John‘I'm 48 years old, and I still haven't gotten sick of it (the restaurant business). I still love it. I really do love Butler and its people.'

<B>Name: </B>Mama Rosa's Restaurant<B>Address: </B>263 Old Plank Road, Butler<B>Owner: </B>Nick Fusca<B>Serves: </B>About 1,700 customers each week; features Italian cuisine and old world style of pasta sauce<B>Employees:</B> 20<B>Phone: 7</B>24-287-7315<B>Website:</B> www.butlersmamarosas. com<B>Quote: </B>“I'm a firm believer that you have to work hard, give people a fair shake, have good quality products, buy quality products and stick to the basics.”

Nick Fusca, owner of Mama Rosa’s restaurant, specialty sauces and catering, said he pays attention to “the basics” in running his food businesses. He offers these tips for being a succuss in business:• Buy high-quality ingredients• Serve fresh products• Keep customers and employees happy• Offer reasonable prices• Pay attention to the bottom line.