A new restaurant, Joe’s Pizza, will soon open at 1185 Scenic Drive, Suite 101, in Herculaneum.
Sanna Trupiano, 20, of Effingham, Ill., co-owns the restaurant with her brother, Joey, 18, and business partner Jake Betts, 35.
Trupiano said the restaurant will offer pizza, appetizers, sandwiches and salads and may eventually offer pasta.
She said the restaurant will offer a variety of pizza styles.
“We have our standard crust, which is a thin crust, and then we also have stuffed crust, Chicago-style and thick crust.”
Trupiano said she thought Herculaneum would be a good location for the restaurant because there is a need for a more authentic Italian-style pizza, as well as Chicago-style.
“There’s not a lot of Chicago-style that I’ve seen in the community,” she said. “We try to put our locations in good communities and try to get more involved in the community as well.”
Trupiano said Joe’s is a family-owned chain of restaurants that her late grandfather, Joe Trupiano, started in 1972 in Olney, Ill., after he moved to America from Italy. The restaurants still use her grandfather’s recipes and make all their own dressings. The house dressing is a creamy Italian.
She said the restaurants pride themselves on their sweet pizza sauce.
Trupiano said the business has grown to 22 locations in Illinois. The Herculaneum restaurant will be the first one outside of Illinois.
She said about half of the locations are franchised, while the other half are owned by her father, Manny Trupiano, and her uncle, Joey.
The Herculaneum location will be the first one owned by Trupiano, her brother and Betts.
Trupiano said the Herculaneum location was the former site of an Imo’s restaurant, so it was already set up for their needs and will allow them to get up and running quickly, hopefully opening for business in early to mid-April.
She said the restaurant hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday and from 4-9 p.m. on Sundays. The restaurant will offer delivery within about a 6-mile radius, for a small fee, and a drive-thru will be available for pick-up orders.
Trupiano said the restaurant is primarily for carry-out and delivery orders and will only have one or two tables inside for those who need to eat quickly.
She said the Herculaneum restaurant is currently hiring staff and is mostly looking for delivery drivers. To apply, visit orderjoes.com/employment or call or text 217-821-6965.
Trupiano said as the restaurant opens, Joe’s Pizza will be running many promotions and deals, which will be found on their website at orderjoes.com or by following them on their Facebook and Instagram pages, joespizzaherculaneum.