Joliet's Sunshine Cafe: 'First 2 Weeks I Was Super Afraid'

JOLIET, IL — When Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that restaurants and bars were being shutdown to guests as the new coronavirus spread across the state, Jessy Rodriguez feared dark days ahead for her new family-owned downtown Joliet restaurant.

Last September, she and her husband Ruben Rodriguez opened Sunshine Mexican Cafe, 406 N. Scott St. Their restaurant specializes in breakfast and lunch. Locally, the couple saw that several Joliet area restaurants opted to temporary close down during the coronavirus outbreak.

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Sunshine cafe entertained the idea of temporarily shutting down but ultimately didn't. Its owners decided to persevere.

"The first two weeks," Jessy Rodriguez told Joliet Patch on Tuesday, "I was super afraid. I didn't know if we should close or continue. We're kind of new and so we decided to stick it out and we decided to see that as an opportunity.

"The first week was a little slow, but I tried to do a good job on social media."

Fast-forward a month. Sunshine Mexican Cafe is gaining lots of traction on social media. Brian Bessler, who launched the Facebook group, Joliet Area Restaurant Delivery/Curbside/Carryout Options, helped the small family-owned Joliet restaurant gain more exposure.

Before the coronavirus, Sunshine cafe had about 1,600 Facebook followers. "Now, we've exceeded 2,000 followers," Jessy Rodriguez proudly told Joliet Patch on Tuesday.

People from Minooka and Plainfield have recently driven to downtown to order takeout from Sunshine Mexican Cafe, the owners remarked.

"I really want to thank Brian. He did a great job by doing that page," Jessy Rodriguez said.

Like Jody's Hot Dogs on Republic Avenue, Sunshine Mexican Cafe has also embraced the grassroots effort to provide meals to Joliet-area first responders. There's a large plastic jug on the counter for customers to make a cash donation.

"On Monday, we delivered about 100 meals to Silver Cross Hospital and today (Tuesday) we did about 30 to Silver Cross," Jessy Rodriguez said. "So we're trying to do at least two deliveries per week."

The restaurant owners say they are active at Joliet's St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, and a lot of church members as well as dear friends have helped support their efforts to deliver meals to local first responders.

"I know we all have that inside where we all want to help," she said.

The owners of Sunshine Mexican Cafe also run Party Time RJ in Joliet.

"I think for us, summer is coming and catering in the past has been super strong for us," Jessy Rodriguez said. "With all these parties being canceled, we don't have that income. All March and all April was booked for parties and we had to postpone that."

Thanks to more social media exposure, Jessy Rodriguez said she has been posting regular photos of her restaurant's daily specials. That's generated more interest from would-be customers.

On Tuesday, Joliet Patch's editor called in a takeout order for the $10 special: spare ribs on green salsa, rice, beans and handmade tortillas.

Other specials on the menu included $1.50 steak, pastor, chorizo and chicken tacos.

The owners say their Mexican Sunshine meal: a skirt steak, buttered shrimp, grilled onion, peppers and cactus, is $15.99 and a big crowd favorite.

Another popular entree are the Pambazos for $6.45. It's a Bolillo bread dipped in guajillo sauce filled with chorizo and potato.

"Our tacos are $1.50 everyday," Jessy Rodriguez said. "Right now, the breakfast is pretty slow. People start ordering after 11 a.m."

The restaurant posts information about its menu and specials on its Facebook page: Sunshine Mexican Cafe - Party Time RJ.

During the coronavirus outbreak, Sunshine Cafe is staying open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. To order takeout, Sunshine Mexican Cafe's phone is 815-630-3036.

Jessy Rodriguez said she is glad she and husband chose to keep their restaurant open for takeout orders during the pandemic.

"I think it's going to be hard for the restaurants that closed," she said. "It's going to take a week for them to get back."

She looks forward to the days when she can serve her customers their homemade meals straight out of the kitchen as they remain seated at one of her inside tables.

But, she's a realist, too.

"I don't think the situation is going to get better in a week or two," Jessy Rodriguez said Tuesday. "It's going to take longer than that."

Sunshine Mexican Cafe is one of the small businesses to fill out Joliet Patch's simple online survey to let everyone know they are open and their current hours of operations during the coronavirus outbreak.

Nearly 125 Joliet businesses have now been added to Patch's list so far. If you want to add your business to Joliet Patch's list of open and closed businesses, you can do so here.

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