P . 28 | OCTOBER 2022 | THE HAMMONTONIAN
Generations feeding generations at Joe Italiano ’ s Maplewood
by JOSEPH F . BERENATO
For generations , one restaurant in Hammonton has stood above the rest as being the gold standard for Italian food , not only locally but also regionally : Joe Italiano ’ s Maplewood , located at 470 S . White Horse Pike .
Founded in 1945 by Joe Italiano Sr ., the Maplewood has become synonymous with great food and a family atmosphere .
CULTURE
Jeremy Italiano — Joe Italiano Sr .’ s great-grandson — said that it was his grandfather , Joe Italiano Jr ., who started the restaurant on its rise to prominence .
“ He was the one who made it not just a bar but a restaurant , and expanded the name . He worked closely with Ed Hitzel , a food critic in Atlantic City — that ’ s why we have the Ed Hitzel Special on the menu . He put out a lot of good press for us , and that ’ s when we really started expanding ,” he said .
That expansion has yielded two other current locations : one in Mays Landing , at 6126 Black Horse Pike , which opened in the early 1980s ; and one in Moorestown , at 400 N . J . 38 at the Moorestown Mall , which opened in 2019 .
After Joe Italiano Jr . retired , his son , Jimmy Italiano , took over operations ; now , his sons — the fourth generation of Italiano family members — are helping to run the family enterprise .
“ There are five of us , and four of us are involved ,” Jeremy Italiano said , noting that his twin brother , Jesse , currently lives in Minnesota .
Jeremy Italiano said that being a fam-
A BIG PART OF THE MAPLEWOOD ’ S CONTINUED SUCCESS IS THE |
MULTI-GENERATIONAL PARTICIPATION OF THE ITALIANO FAMILY , |
INCLUDING ( CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT ) JIMMY ITALIANO JR ., |
ROMEO ITALIANO , JAMIE ITALIANO , JIMMY ITALIANO , ROBIN ITALIANO , |
JESSICA LOCKHEAD , JEREMY ITALIANO AND LORENZO ITALIANO . |
ily-run business is part of the Maplewood |
ing location and runs the restaurant |
’ s success in the region . Two of |
alongside |
general |
manager |
Mike |
his brothers , James Italiano Jr . and |
Savino . |
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Joseph Italiano , are in the kitchen in Hammonton , where Jeremy Italiano works as both a server and in administrative capacities .
“ My older brothers , one is the chef and the other one ’ s been cooking with my grandfather in Mays Landing since he was young . Until [ my grandfather ] passed , he trained my brothers , and I learned from them . I started doing salads , and the family ’ s always been a part of it ,” he said .
The fifth son , Justin Italiano , runs the front of the house at the Moorestown location . Tommy Italiano , Jimmy Italiano ’ s brother , cooks at the Mays Land-
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Jeremy Italiano said that Savino has worked at the Mays Landing restaurant “ since he was a kid ” and is a longtime friend of the family , a background that is common with management within the Maplewood .
“ We have managers that we trust ; it ’ s not just family . Most all of them have been brought up in the Maplewood , worked for 10-plus years before they got into management , so they already know what Maplewood ’ s all about — and they ’ re helping to oversee and keep the employees happy ,” he said .
That longevity , Jeremy Italiano said , applies to many of the employees as
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well .
“ We have a lot of servers who have been here for 30 years . People don ’ t leave when they come here , because we treat everyone like family ... Also , a lot of the cooks have been here for 30-plus years , too ,” he said .
One such individual , he said , is Jose Montalvo , who started as a dishwasher at the Hammonton Maplewood after arriving from Puerto Rico .
“ He ’ s been managing the kitchen for 30 years now . He came up with my dad when my dad was still cooking all the time . When my dad took over from my grandfather and had all the office stuff on him now , and didn ’ t have enough time to be in the front of the house , he trained Jose to take over . I think that helps a lot , too , having one steady person who learned from a family member and knows what to do ,” Jeremy Italiano said .
All of these pieces , Jeremy Italiano said , come together to help make what is the Maplewood ’ s biggest claim to fame : its food , which Joe Italiano Jr . started advertising as the “ World ’ s Best
See MAPLEWOOD , P . 29
JOE ITALIANO ’ S MAPLEWOOD HAS LONG BOASTED HAVING THE “ WORLD ’ S BEST SPAGHETTI .”