Restaurants & Bars
Joe's Hot Dogs Mystery: Will It Reopen?
Without providing its faithful customers any advanced notice, a closed sign appeared on the legendary Joliet restaurant window a week ago.
JOLIET, IL — One of the biggest mysteries in all of Joliet surrounds 810 Plainfield Road, an iconic takeout restaurant that has been in business since 1953. People around Joliet are asking why is Joe's Hot Dogs abruptly closed?
A sign on the window reads "Closed." It does not offer any explanation why Joe's Hot Dogs has closed or when the third generation owners plan to reopen. Loyal customers have posted questions on the Joe's Hot Dogs Facebook page.
"Hello, have you guys closed? Was by there yesterday during regular hours and you weren't open," a man named Henry asked on the Joe's Facebook page last weekend.
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Joe's has not been open since at least last Saturday, Oct. 24.
More than five days later, nobody affiliated with Joe's Hot Dogs responded to Henry's question.
Find out what's happening in Jolietfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In fact, there is no mention of Joe's Hot Dogs being shutdown on its Facebook page. The restaurant has nearly 2,000 Facebook followers and likes.
Joliet Patch's editor visited Joe's Hot Dogs on Thursday afternoon and nobody was inside the building. Patch later called the restaurant phone and it rang and rang without going to a voicemail message.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit Illinois and Gov. JB Pritzker shutdown all indoor restaurants and bars, the owners of Joe's chose to stay closed for about eight weeks. During that time, Joe's also expanded its parking lot and painted around the property.
Joe's has been a part of Joliet since 1953. Now, it remains murky as to when the doors will be unlocked and customers will be able to order a hotdog, a chili cheese dog or a Polish sausage.
Nowadays, Joe's is owned by Jill Huffstutler.
According to the Joe's Hot Dogs website, Joseph LaRose and Mary opened their hotdog wagon in 1953 in front of their home on Eastern Avenue. They opened their first Joe's Hot Dogs stand next door and it stayed open until the early 1990s. The Joe's Hot Dogs near Six Corners on Plainfield Road has been open since 1964.
Joe's Hot Dogs has 660 Google Reviews and an impressive rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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