Greater than every week after its splashy, red-ribbon opening in Walnut Creek on Aug. 14, Authentic Joe’s stays closed, following a kitchen hearth that has left the homeowners of the legendary Italian-American restaurant nonetheless unsure about once they can reopen.
“We look forward to sharing details on our reopening as it becomes available,” the assertion stated.
The fireplace was reported to the Contra Costa Hearth Safety District simply after midnight Monday. The harm it precipitated wasn’t thought of “major” but it surely pressured Authentic Joe’s to shut its doorways, simply three days after orchestrating one of many buzziest, new-restaurant openings within the metropolis’s downtown for fairly a while.
To herald Authentic’s Joe’s third Bay Space location, a priest gave a blessing and Walnut Creek’s mayor made a speech, adopted by an old style ribbon slicing. Folks lined up across the block to get seats after the restaurant formally opened its doorways at 11 a.m. Diners have been desperate to get pleasure from a style of the hearty, home-style pastas, appetizers, burgers and different dishes for which Authentic Joe’s first grew to become well-known in San Francisco almost 90 years in the past.
However seven days later, proof of ongoing repairs from the hearth harm could possibly be seen from the restaurant foyer. On Thursday night, the restaurant’s signature “exhibition kitchen,” which is open to the principle eating room, was hidden behind a tarp.
Authentic Joe’s Walnut Creek loved an “incredible” opening weekend, in line with the Duggan household assertion. Earlier than the hearth, the restaurant’s Instagram account was crammed with messages from folks speaking about making an attempt to attain reservations.
“We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of concern and support we have received over the last week from the Walnut Creek community and across the Bay Area,” the assertion stated. It talked about that town of Walnut Creek was doing what it might to assist with the reopening, and restaurant workers have been nonetheless “engaged with ongoing team trainings.”
On the grand opening, co-owner John Duggan stated the brand new restaurant was offering employment to 175 folks.
The Duggan household’s choice to open its latest Authentic Joe’s location in Walnut Creek was seen as a reminder that town stays the nexus of tradition, retail and eating within the East Bay suburbs. “I think of Walnut Creek as the epicenter of the East Bay,” Duggan stated on the occasion. He’s the grandson of Tony Rodin, who opened the primary Authentic Joe’s within the Tenderloin earlier than World Struggle II.
“I think people have been coming to Broadway Plaza to shop for years, I think they’ve celebrated many moments here in other restaurants, and this corner was just a big corner that had the bones for our brand,” he additionally stated.
Duggan was speaking concerning the nook of Broadway Plaza and South Essential Avenue, which was previously the location of the favored Stanford’s restaurant. Duggan and his co-owner, sister Elena Duggan, spent the previous a number of years changing that former eatery into a trendy 9,000-square-foot house fronted by the enduring yellow-gold Authentic Joe’s signal.
A key function of the Walnut Creek eating is the counter seating wanting onto the open kitchen, an indicator of Authentic Joe’s eating places. Based on John Duggan, Authentic Joe’s helped pioneer this idea, going again to the Tenderloin location, which began as a 14-stool counter. “It’s kind of common to see that now in restaurants, but as I always say, the counter is the original communal table,” he stated.
