Walnut Creek: Opening of Original Joe’s heats up city’s dining scene

Kurt Annweiler and wife Betty Burri have been Thursday night regulars at Original Joe s in Daly City for years because he works at nearby San Francisco State But this Thursday he and Burri ventured out to the East Bay suburbs via BART for an exciting new Original Joe s experience The legendary Italian-American restaurant with roots in San Francisco going back to has opened its newest location in downtown Walnut Creek And it did so with Original Joe s fans like Annweiler and Burri lining up around the block to get in for the first seating when the restaurant opened its doors at a m A priest s blessing a mayoral speech and an old-fashioned ribbon cutting added to the excitement which is more than the city has seen for quite specific time for a restaurant opening according to city leaders I can t wait mentioned Annweiler who also frequents the more-famous Original Joe s location in San Francisco s North Beach He loves the house-made lasagna with meat sauce or the restaurant s grilled pork chop The food is great The people are great Joined by members of the Duggan family De La Salle High School chaplain LaSalle Hallissey right leads the blessing of the new Original Joe s restaurant in Walnut Creek Calif Thursday Aug D Ross Cameron for the Bay Area News Group The grand opening of Original Joe s in Walnut Creek on a prime corner in its premier Broadway Plaza shopping center provides another reminder that the city remains the nexus of heritage retail and dining in the East Bay suburbs The city also has become a destination for people all over the Bay Area largely because of Broadway Plaza which serves a metropolitan sub-region of more than million people I think of Walnut Creek as the epicenter of the East Bay reported John Duggan the grandson of Tony Rodin who opened the first Original Joe s in the Tenderloin before World War II I think people have been coming to Broadway Plaza to shop for years I think they ve celebrated a multitude of moments here in other restaurants and this corner was just a big corner that had the bones for our brand Duggan is talking about the corner of Broadway Plaza and South Main Street which was formerly the site for the popular Stanford s restaurant Duggan and his co-owner sister Elena Duggan have spent the past several years converting that former eatery into a stylish -square-foot space fronted by the iconic yellow-gold Original Joe s sign The restaurant employs about people Original Joe s in Walnut Creek serves hearty home-style Spaghetti and Meatballs Chicken Piccata and other Italian-American comfort food in a bright bustling space that feels like a chic brasserie complete with plush seating in the main dining room and bar Elena Duggan and brother John Duggan Jr cut the ribbon at the grand opening of Original Joe s restaurant in Walnut Creek Calif Thursday Aug D Ross Cameron for the Bay Area News Group The extensive menu also is packed with contemporary updates on elegant steakhouse classics Wedge and Caesar salads Filet Mignon and Wood-Fired Salmon Among the traditional options are Joe s Special a scramble of ground beef spinach onion and eggs invented decades ago and Joe s Famous Hamburger Sandwich Elena Duggan explained the specialties developed specifically for Walnut Creek customers include an peculiar Bone-In Veal Parmigiana a creamy pasta dish with pancetta and sun-dried tomatoes called Marry Me Farfalle and an affogato-style Espresso Martini A key feature of the Walnut Creek dining room is the counter seating looking onto the kitchen a hallmark of Original Joe s restaurants According to John Duggan Original Joe s helped pioneer that concept going back to the Tenderloin location which started as a -stool counter It s kind of common to see that now in restaurants but as I dependably say the counter is the original communal table he explained Original Joes first opened in San Francisco in is bringing its Italian-American fare to Walnut Creek photo by Emma K Morris for Original Joes While Duggan disclosed that countless of their San Francisco customers hail from the East Bay suburbs he realizes that the Original Joe s brand may still be unfamiliar to feasible new customers in the area We plan to bring in new customers with one smile one hamburger at a time and we look forward to creating great memories Duggan stated before the ribbon-cutting Walnut Creek Mayor Cindy Darling expressed gratitude for the family s efforts We strive very hard to make Walnut Creek a place where everybody can come and safely and happily enjoy living working playing and going out to dinner she explained We are so excited that Original Joe s has decided to make this kind of an resources in Walnut Creek