Cooks Acquire Giovan's Restaurant, Changes Underway

JOLIET, IL —Giovan's Jr. Pasta & Pizzeria on Route 59 is now under new ownership, and the new owners are trying to encourage more Joliet and Plainfield area residents to make them a regular stopping point for lunch. Jose Cano, George Cano, Miguel Cano and Leoneo "Juan" Arjon are now operating Giovan's in the Tony's Fresh Market shopping plaza along Route 59.

A long time ago, the Cano family worked for the restaurant when it was known as Salerno's, at 1804 North Larkin Avenue in Crest Hill, and then it became Giovan's.

Giovan's reinvented itself as a carryout-only pasta and pizzeria, opening March 30, 2019.

Last month, the Canos became the new owners of Giovan's, and they've expanded the hours in order to generate more lunchtime business.

Under the past ownership of Giovan Cullota, Giovan's was closed Mondays, and he usually opened at 3 p.m. during the rest of the week.

Now, Giovan's is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m, Sunday.

As far as the menu, "It's pretty much the same, the only big difference is everything is ready to order," Miguel Cano remarked during Tuesday's Joliet Patch interview.

Why did the Canos decide to purchase Giovan's?

"I think it was my something my dad always wanted to do. He was the head chef over there at Salerno's."

Since taking over Giovan's in September, Miguel Cano said a number of old Salerno's customers have stopped inside to place food orders.

"And we got a couple of calls later, 'Oh, the food's really great.' I hear that, and that's a lot of pride for me," Miguel Cano said.

The same pizza recipe is still being made, Cano said.

"Everyone is still doing the pizza because the pizza was always great."

Now, Cano said his biggest focus is trying to build a steady lunch crowd. He's created a full sandwich menu. For $10, customers get a sandwich, fries and a beverage. There are eight different sandwiches on the menu.

All the sandwiches are made on garlic bread.

Cano raves about the Italian beef and sausage sandwich. "Oh yeah, it's really good," he proclaimed.

"I want to say we've upgraded the sandwich menu," Cano explained. "For $10, you get a sandwich, fries and a drink. Definitely stop in for lunchtime because before they were only open at 3 p.m."

His second sandwich recommendation is the buffalo chicken with mozzarella cheese.

"Weekends are our busiest time," Cano said, noting that the pasta dishes remain extremely popular with the customer base.

"Everything we have, we strive for high quality," Cano remarked. "Me, personally, I'm a sandwich guy."

Cano urged people to "keep up with our specials on Facebook."

The phone number to place carryout orders is 815-725-6000.

Patch asked if the takeout restaurant mainly serving the residents of Plainfield, Joliet, Shorewood and Crest Hill would still be called Giovan's moving forward.

It will not.

"We plan to change the name in the future, but I'm not sure what to," Cano said. "We want something of our name."

Cano said it might still be "considerable time" before a new restaurant name is introduced.

Another upcoming change in the coming weeks is that the new Giovan's owners plan to start selling pizza by the slice, especially as they build up their lunch crowd.

"It's pizza slices coming soon, hopefully," the new owner's son said.

Located in the Plainfield area, Giovan's address is 2308 Route 59, Joliet. It's in the same shopping plaza as Tony's Fresh Market, and you can enter the shopping plaza off Caton Farm Road.