Original Joe's in downtown San Jose has been operated by the Rocca family for seven decades and is celebrating its 70th anniversary. The restaurant is not planning to close, but third-generation owners Brad and Matt Rocca say they are ready to pass the torch. They are entertaining offers to buy the business while hoping any buyer will preserve the restaurant’s traditions and recipes. The Rocca family helped open the San Francisco Original Joe’s in 1937 and later opened the San Jose location in 1956, with the restaurant becoming known for an old-school atmosphere and large portions. The menu includes Italian favorites, burgers, steaks, and Joe’s Special made with ground beef, scrambled eggs, and spinach.
"At the restaurant's 70th anniversary party Sunday, Brad Rocca - who owns the restaurant with his brother, Matt Rocca - said the family is entertaining offers to buy the business. No doubt Original Joe's regulars are hoping any sale includes recipes to the mostaccioli and the chicken parmigiana that have kept generations returning for family dinners, birthdays and anniversaries."
"Louis Rocca Sr. was one of the partners who opened Original Joe's in San Francisco in 1937. In 1956, he and two partners - Otto Tortore and Nino Caramagno - opened the San Jose restaurant to be run by his son, Louis Rocca Jr. (known as "Babe"). Matt and Brad Rocca - now 70 and 68 - started working there in their teens and bought into Original Joe's in 1980, a couple of years before the family sold its part in the San Francisco restaurant."
"The restaurant earned a reputation for its old-school atmosphere and large portions. The wide-ranging menu includes dishes from Italian pasta favorites to burgers, steaks and the famed Joe's Special - a concoction of ground beef, scrambled eggs and spinach that's said to predate even the San Francisco restaurant. Brad Rocca was firm that there are no plans to close Original Joe's, but the family hopes to land a buyer that's ready to keep its traditions alive."
""We want to find someone who loves Joe's as much as we do to take it into the next generation," Rocca said. DOUBLE CELEBRATION: As you'd expect, Original Joe's was packed for its 70th anniversary party on Sunday, with servers squeezing between tables to deliver food and rounds of celebratory drinks. The city of San Jose and Santa Clara County presented commendations honori"
#restaurant-ownership #italian-american-cuisine #san-jose-history #family-business-succession #original-joes
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