After 70 years, Original Joe's owners look to sell San Jose landmark
The Rocca family has run Original Joe’s in downtown San Jose for seven decades, and while the landmark restaurant isn't closing, the third-generation owners say they’re ready to pass the torch.
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.
While the Rocca family once owned the historic building Original Joe's calls home, that hasn't been the case for decades.
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 honoring the restaurant’s longevity, and singer Jerry Sauceda serenaded the crowd for hours. Both Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual” and Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” seemed appropriate anthems for the night.
But few had as good a reason to be there as Karen Rosendin — who was toasting her own 70th birthday with family and friends in Original Joe’s upstairs lounge, the Hideout. She was born at 12:31 a.m. May 24, 1956, the same day the restaurant opened, about 17 blocks away at San Jose Hospital.
Her dad, Lou Rosendin, celebrated the birth of his daughter by taking his parents — Rosendin Electric owners Moses and Bertha Rosendin — out to Original Joe’s. Of course, he was there Sunday night to celebrate with his daughter, too.
“I’ve been hearing that story my whole life,” Karen Rosendin said.
AN INVESTIGATING PARTY: The clues were there that the guests at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s recent gala, “Suspects & Sequins: A Mystery Masquerade,” were all guilty — of being supporters of the Tony Award-winning company. The stylish guests, many of whom dressed as detectives or femmes fatales, raised more than $620,000 for TheatreWorks at the event, held May 17 at the Palo Alto Hills Golf & Country Club.
Robert Kelley, TheatreWorks’ founder and artistic director emeritus, presented the Spotlight Award for Artistic Excellence to Olivier Award-winning composers Irene Sankoff and David Hein. The Spotlight Award for Philanthropy was presented by former state Sen. Joe Simitian to longtime Applied Materials Chairman and CEO Jim Morgan and Becky Morgan, a former state senator and former CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley.
TheatreWorks Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli also addressed the crowd in the perfect outfit — dressed as "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" detective Olivia Benson, who is played by Sardelli’s sister, Mariska Hargitay.
GREEK-A-GO-GO: The San Jose Greek Festival is this weekend at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church on Davis Street, and organizers are doing something a little unorthodox for this year’s festival for those who can’t make it but would still like a taste of the festival.
For the first time, you’ll be able to order some of those Greek food favorites — like gyros, moussaka and baklava — ahead of time and have them delivered to your car. The “Greek to Go” service starts at 11 a.m. Friday, hours before the festival opens at 3 p.m.
Of course, you should attend the festival to get the full effect with Greek music and dancing, along with tours of St. Nicholas — and the full food menu. It runs through Sunday, admission is $5 and, while there is no parking available at the festival itself, there is parking on the 1900 block of The Alameda with shuttles running to the festival. You can get all the details — including instructions for ordering the drive-thru food — at www.sanjosegreekfestival.com.
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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 4:08 PM.