Hard to believe it's been over four years since one of Rockford's oldest (and best) spaghetti restaurants closed.

Considering today is National Spaghetti Day, the hunt to find Rockford's best spaghetti offers up plenty of great options.

According to Yelp! the 6 highest rated places to eat spaghetti are:

  1. Lino's
  2. John's Italian Restaurant
  3. GreenFire Restaurant Bar & Bakery
  4. Giordano's
  5. Giuseppi's Italian Restaurant & Pizza
  6. Franchesco's Ristorante

All six of the restaurants listed have many positive reviews but it's hard to imagine celebrating National Spaghetti Day without considering Maria's Italian Cafe on 828 Cunningham Street.

Sure, it's been closed since 2013, and the former owner of Maria's has since opened a new place in Loves Park called Joe's Casa Di Amici.

One Yelp! review said, "Nothing can replace Maria's but Joe's definitely eases the loss."

However, the menu "is quite limited due to the kitchen restraints. They have only three types of pasta to choose from; tortellini, ravioli, and rigatoni." per a Yelp! review.

Meanwhile reviews from Maria's now-defunct Yelp! page is like taking a trip back in time, with one saying "their red sauce is impeccable and no matter what you get - spaghetti, tortellini, ravioli, rigatoni, you name it, - it's excellent."

So yes, while Maria's has been closed long enough for many Rockford residents to find a new great pasta (and spaghetti) restaurant, what place do you think does it best? Is it Lino's? John's Italian Restaurant? Let us know!

Top This! The Search For Rockford's Best Pizza

Sweet Lenny is the brand manager of 97ZOK and Operations Manager for Townsquare Media Rockford. Catch him afternoons 3 to 7 on 97ZOK. Follow him on TwitterInstagram and like his page on Facebook.

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