About
On July 19, 1976 Joseph and Janice Cemeno opened a small storefront pizza restaurant on Jefferson Street in Joliet, the result of a life-long dream. We were “born” as the first non-family franchise of Aurelio’s Pizza at the time. The moment we opened our doors, we outgrew our 100 seat “mom and pop” store as people would line up down the sidewalk to wait for a table. It quickly became known as a place to gather with friends and family.
In 1985 we opened our second location in the Twin Oaks shopping center, where we were able to add banquet rooms and a sports bar which we still fondly refer to as “Joe’s Dugout” a tribute to our dad’s love of sports, especially the Cubs and Bears.
In 1996 our parents bought property on “sparcely developed” Essington Road and built our current restaurant. In early 2002, we took another great risk and decided to dissolve our Aurelio’s franchise and hence became known as Cemeno’s Pizza. We still use the same recipes we did when our Grandma Tressie would come in and make our sauces and meatballs, using her hands as measuring cups.
We have been family owned and operated since 1976 and have had the pleasure of meeting so many great folks throughout the years who have created a tradition here where great memories are made. If this is your first time here, we are happy to say…”Welcome to the family.”
