It was January 23rd 1994 when we nervously opened our doors after a month of remodeling and menu preparation. The Forty Niners vs. Dallas Cowboys were competing for right to play in the Super Bowl and a restaurant with TV, Sports, and beer was born.
We opened our pub that day. “Public house” was our concept, to us that meant always open and available for anyone. Now 25 years later, we have eclipsed 9099 days in a row of serving customers with a smile.
During the floods, when the power went down, we rented generators to keep the place open. During the 2 major earthquakes that rocked Napa, we cleaned up the broken glass and plates and opened. To date, the 6.0 earthquake of August 14, 2014 was the record food sales day at Downtown Joe’s. Everyone in the area was affected – homes turned upside down, businesses closed. The staff at Downtown Joe’s is family – many gravitated back to Joe’s to see what happened to our restaurant. By the time we got the place cleaned up, it was 8am, the power came on, and my son said “go change your clothes and get back here, we open in an hour.” The busiest day was on – zombies serving zombies – and we sold everything in the kitchen, loaded up with deliveries the next day, and sold it all again the next day. It was 2 weeks of this before everything went back to normal.
We survived 2 recessions, flood control construction, earth quake retrofitting, remaining open every day throughout. When there was no kitchen, we served BBQ on paper plates outside on the patio. When the brewhouse was torn up, we served our neighbors’ brews. Never say never is the attitude. Downtown Joe’s, our staff, and our town have been through a lot together. We count on each other. For that, I am forever grateful.
Thanks, Joe
