{"id":3911,"date":"2009-10-09T13:36:04","date_gmt":"2009-10-09T20:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mehallo.com\/blog\/?p=3911"},"modified":"2012-12-17T01:43:11","modified_gmt":"2012-12-17T09:43:11","slug":"eat-at-joes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mehallo.com\/blog\/archives\/3911","title":{"rendered":"A Joe’s primer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Once upon a time in Northern California, there were a bunch of restaurants that went under the moniker of Joe’s  . . .<\/p>\n

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Not Mel’s<\/a>, but Joe’s<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The food: Italian, the atmosphere dark, the portions large. The waiters in suits and ties.<\/p>\n

eat at joe’s<\/strong>
\nI used to eat at them with my father. They weren’t all owned by the same people, just adapted the Joe’s name and served variations of Italian food. Old school California<\/em> Italian food. Joe’s history is legendary<\/a> and Joe’s Special is still a staple on menus throughout the region: <\/p>\n

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\nJoe’s Special, from Charlotte Walker’s A Little San Francisco Cookbook<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 
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\nMartini at Joe’s fonts<\/a> by mehallo<\/em><\/p>\n

fonts and vanishing food<\/strong>
\nMy Martini at Joe’s fonts<\/a> were named after the restaurants – of which, many of these high class counter joints are gone. Only a handful of the earliest Joe’s are still open. Here’s a list  . . .<\/p>\n

Antioch Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>Antioch [closed]
\nChico Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>Chico [closed]
\nJoe’s Fish Grotto<\/strong>, <\/em>Daly City [closed]
\nJoe’s of Westlake<\/strong>, <\/em>Daly City [open]<\/a>
\nLittle Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>San Francisco [open]<\/a>
\nMarin Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>Corte Madera [open]<\/a>
\nNew Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>San Francisco [closed]
\nOriginal Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>San Francisco [open]<\/a>
\nOriginal Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>San Jose [open]<\/a>
\nPalo Alto Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>Palo Alto [closed]
\nSacramento Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>Sacramento [closed]
\nSan Carlos Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>San Carlos [closed]
\nSan Rafael Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>San Rafael [open]<\/a>
\nStockton Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>Stockton [open]<\/a>
\nStrawberry Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>Mill Valley [kinda reopened]<\/a>
\nVaca Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>Vacaville [closed]
\nWest Portal Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>San Francisco [closed]
\nWoodlake Joe’s<\/strong>, <\/em>Burlingame [closed]<\/p>\n

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\nSan Rafael Joe’s, San Rafael <\/em>[open]<\/a><\/p>\n

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\nOriginal Joe’s, San Francisco <\/em>[reopened]<\/a><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, in 2007, a kitchen fire<\/a> at Original Joe’s in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco (above) \u2013 shut the doors indefinitely. I spent some time chatting with the owner a few years back, talked her into selling simple black tees with their logo and iconic clip art chef on it.<\/p>\n

joe’s variants<\/strong>
\nToday, there are a few knockoffs using the Joe’s name<\/a> – and, of course other variations<\/a> (cool logo!) in other parts of the state \u2013 as well as this nifty update in Half Moon Bay,<\/a> a North Beach-located Joe Dimaggio’s Italian Chophouse<\/a>, and North Sacramento’s Lil Joe’s<\/a> (seen below) – all working to keep some form of the tradition alive. <\/p>\n

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\nLil Joe’s, image found via Tom Spaulding’s photostream<\/a> on Flickr<\/em><\/p>\n

comfort food a la joe’s<\/strong>
\nBut when restaurant hunting today, it’s hard to find anything that compares to a real Joe’s charcoal-broiled beefsteak cooked medium with side of ravioli, boiled veggies, cup of pastina and fresh San Francisco sourdough. Gotta be real SF sourdough, any other bread  . . .  just doesn’t cut it.<\/p>\n

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\nVintage menu for Original Joe’s<\/em> [still open]<\/a><\/p>\n

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\nVintage menu for Joe’s of Westlake<\/em> [still open]<\/a><\/p>\n

And  . . .<\/p>\n

Posted recently, here’s my Martini playlist<\/a>, with Original Joe’s ashtray.<\/p>\n\r\n\t

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