Is 'Nonnas' Based On A True Story? The Amazing True Story Behind The Netflix Hit.

What restaurant is the nonnas movie based on?

The film was heartbreaking and heartwarming, and honestly, I shed a couple of tears at one point. So you can probably imagine my surprise when the credits started rolling, and amidst the nods to actors and producers, Nonnas revealed that the whole plot had been based on a true story.

Joe Scaravella is a true Brooklyn native who opened his restaurant, Enoteca Maria, on Staten Island in 2007. Just like in the film, the restaurant is named after his grandmother, Domenica, and his mother, Maria.

He got the idea to launch an eatery fueled by skilled chef nonnas following the deaths of his grandfather, father, mother, grandmother, and sister. Joe, who worked as a transportation worker, became depressed after the losses, yet he was also left with an inheritance and, eventually, an idea.

Using the newfound funds, Joe purchased a Dutch colonial home in Staten Island that was within walking distance of the Staten Island Ferry terminal. As he began his new life, he subsequently stumbled upon a vacant storefront and decided to buy it with the goal of turning it into a restaurant in honor of the women who shaped him. The rest is history.

Is the Nonnas based on a true story?

As in Nonnas, the real-life Joe juggled his job at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (and received help from coworkers who covered his shifts) while simultaneously working to get Enoteca Maria going. He always loved watching his grandmother, who immigrated from Sicily, cook while he was a child, and she served as the inspiration for his unique vision.

Joe wound up placing an ad, searching for real-life grandmothers to cook at Enoteca Maria. The response he received was overwhelming, and the joint ultimately began featuring a rotating chef staff.

Vince Vaughn's portrayal of Joe, now 69 years old, in the movie is poignant. As an audience member, the mission behind the venture felt undeniably clear: to create a place where people could come together, blood or not, and enjoy a home-cooked meal like family. For the real-life Joe, this was his goal all along.

"This is not a restaurant. It walks like a restaurant, smells like a restaurant, talks like a restaurant, but it's not a restaurant. It's a cultural exchange," he told TIME.

Who are the nonnas in Nonnas?

Enoteca Maria has now been open for nearly 20 years, and while it started as an Italian restaurant, the diversity of the senior women who've worked there has shaped the menu over time. Grandmothers from all different backgrounds, ranging from Algeria and Japan to Poland and Argentina, have shared their family recipes with the restaurant and, in turn, with the happy patrons who've dined there.

Joe thinks it's important to preserve recipes and put out food from different regions of the world. In addition to serving up meals made with love, Enoteca Maria even offers free classes, allowing individuals to receive cooking tutorials from the nonna chefs themselves.

As for the grandmothers featured in the film, they are technically fictionalized but still inspired by real people in Joe's life. Susan Sarandon plays a hairdresser and stellar baker named Gia, Talia Shire portrays Teresa, an ex-nun, and Lorraine Bracco shines as Roberta, an old friend of Joe's mother who viewed cooking as a reprieve from her life at a senior home. Finally, Brenda Vaccaro depicts a widow named Antonella who gets a new lease on life after her younger neighbor has her respond to Joe's ad looking for cooks.

Okay, well who are the real Nonnas?

The real grandmothers who worked in Enoteca Maria when it first launched were Carmelina Pica, Adelina Orazzo, and Teresa Scalici, all of whom are included in Nonna's House, Joe's cookbook. Carmelina, a former sewing factory employee, cooked appetizers for a Staten Island Italian market; meanwhile, Adelina got married at the extremely young age of 13, and, later in life, discovered a new purpose once her niece caught wind of Joe's ad. Lastly, Teresa spent her teenage years in Sicily before raising a family of her own on Staten Island and beginning to work for Joe at 60 years old.

"I really got moved when I read this script and the way that it was really focusing on the grandmothers," Vince said of Nonnas while on TODAY. "These matriarchs of a family that did so much and loved people, and that they get to continue that process, this craft that they're great at, which is cooking, and still loving to feed people and create that atmosphere."

The film premiered at New York's Paris Theater on April 30, and Joe admitted the whole process of turning his life story into a Netflix original was surreal.

"It's too unreal to think that Vince would play me. I still don't believe it, really," he said.

Where is Enoteca Maria?

Today, Enoteca Maria still stands at 27 Hyatt Street, Staten Island. Customers can enjoy dishes ordered from a fixed Italian menu, along with other cultural offerings that the grandmothers are cooking that night.

But despite the innovative idea, Joe has opted to hold onto some old-school traditions. More specifically, if you want to make a reservation, you'll have to pick up the phone and call.

Or, to get a slice of Joe's story and Enoteca Maria in your own living room, stream Nonnas on Netflix now.