Rustica Cucina Italiana in Rockland, Maine

Rustica Cucina Italiana fills a spacious room on Rockland's main drag with housemade pasta, bread, and traditional Italian plates. The crowd is mixed: families with kids, couples on dates, visitors from away making the trip an annual ritual. It's the kind of place where the same diner has been ordering chicken parm for three years straight and still calls it the best.

• Chicken parm stays consistent across years
• Housemade pasta with depth of flavor
• Chocolate cake with runny center and ice cream
• Reasonable prices for the quality

The chicken parm is the reason people drive back. Baked penne arrives piping hot and balanced. If there's a pasta special, order it, especially anything with Marsala, spinach, and tomato. Fried artichoke salad works with or without cheese. Don't skip tiramisu. One guest called the espresso martini excellent.

Busy and warm, with tables close enough that you'll overhear the next table's order. Service moves quick even when slammed.

Regulars travel from Connecticut annually. One recent visitor called it the best pasta dish they'd ever had. The staff goes beyond: when a diner left AirPods behind, management mailed them across state lines at no charge. A visitor praised it as 'traditional Italian food as good as any you would find in the North End.'