About Us

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Anna Cumbo opened Little Joe's in 1969 with her husband Angelo. They named it after their son Joe. Anna moved to Chicago from Italy when she was 14 years old. She always loved to cook for family and friends and loved seeing the enjoyment on their faces when they ate her homemade recipes.She brought this enthusiasm into Little Joe's with her culinary skills. Making the giardinera herself as well as the meatballs. She even seasons, cooks, and slices the beef herself. As Anna and Angelo's children grew older they were taught how to make their mother's specialties. Anna's daughters, Gina and Angela, now run the restaurant for their mother. But you can always see Anna showing up every now and then to keep an eye out or doing what she loves, cooking in the back kitchen. To this day she will say nobody makes the recipes as good as she does, not even her own daughters. If you don't believe us then you can always ask one of her nine grandchildren who can be seen helping out every now and then on a busy day. They lovingly refer to her as "Mama" as they grew up eating only the best dishes cooked by their second mother, "Mama". Or you can always question the mother off the boat from Italy, she is probably right. Our customers say the taste hasn't changed in almost 50 years.