Politics & Government
Jake N' Joes to Hire 60 to 65 Locals at Foxborough Location
The Foxborough Board of Selectmen approved the transfer of the all alcohol and restaurant license from Piccadilly Pub to Jake N' Joes at Tuesday's meeting and officially welcomed the sports grille to town.
Jake N’ Joes Sports Grille is opening a second location in Foxborough and will be looking to hire 60 to 65 employees from the area when it gets closer to its November opening, according to Gerrard D. Fruggiero, the restaurant’s manager.
“We expect to hire 60 to 65 people from the local communities to work for us,” Fruggiero told the Foxborough Board of Selectmen at Tuesday’s public hearing regarding the liquor license transfer from Piccadilly Pub to Jake N’ Joes. “Once we get into a timeline of opening and are four weeks from anticipated training of staff, we will do on-site hiring where we will set up a trailer to do interviewing and hiring.”
In its application to the town, – the former site of Piccadilly Pub, .
Find out what's happening in Norwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
While Jake N’ Joes, which has one location currently on Route 1 in Norwood, is described as a sports grille, Fruggiero and owner James Nocera – who also owns The Chateau Restaurant Company – said their restaurants are family-friendly and food first.
“We are 60 percent food, 40 percent liquor,” said Nocera. “We are not a liquor place. We are a food place first and liquor comes second. It’s really worked out well."
Find out what's happening in Norwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Fruggiero added the restaurant should not be thought of as a pub or tavern.
“It’s particularly different from a pub or a tavern,” Fruggiero said. “With a pub or tavern people more or less just sit there and drink beer. We are a restaurant first [establishment] with a sports bar concept.”
Jake N' Joes Sports Grille is the product of a dream Nocera and his brother had of wanting to open a sports grille. In 2010, they got that opportunity in Norwood.
“Our family is very into sports, six boys in the family and we were really into sports,” Nocera said. “We always wanted to try a sports grille. We had the opportunity across the street from The Chateau in Norwood to give this a try and it has gone very well. We enjoy it … all throughout the day it has different clientele – from business during the day to families for dinner and a late, younger night crowd.”
The plan for the Foxborough location was well received by the Board of Selectmen at Tuesday’s meeting.
“I had lunch Tuesday at the Norwood establishment and it was very good and I think it will be a nice addition to the town,” said selectman Virginia Coppola. “The food was good and the staff was very nice.”
The Board of Selectmen approved the transfer of the all alcohol restaurant license from Piccadilly Disposition LLC (Piccadilly Pub) to Grand Slam Restaurant Concepts Foxborough LLC DBA (Jake N’ Joes) Tuesday, green lighting the business to operate in town.
Jake N’ Joes plans to renovate the current space at 25 Foxborough Blvd., “knocking down walls and brightening up” the interior, according to John Michelmore of Foxborough, who represented Jake N’ Joes at Tuesday’s hearing.
“Piccadilly Pub had a lot of walls and it was very dark. Jake N’ Joes is proposing to knock down those walls, open up the space and brighten it up,” Michelmore said.
The proposed layout of the restaurant will feature two dining rooms and one bar with plenty of big screen televisions. The bar will seat 28 while dining room one will seat 80 patrons and dining room two will seat 92, according to the company’s proposed floor plan.
The square footage of the restaurant space, currently at 7,800, is expected to remain unchanged as a result of the renovations, according to the application.
Nocera said at some point, he would like to explore the possibility of adding an outdoor patio or outdoor seating but that won’t happen for “about a year.”
“We would consider doing some type of outdoor patio but it might be a year later when we ask for that,” Nocera said. “We would consider doing something outside. It’s a nice touch and we would like to be able to do that at some point.”
The restaurant owner added that he likes his establishments to be apart of the community and would like to have that same relationship in Foxborough.
“One of the things my family is most proud of is really working with the community with fundraisers and things that go on that we can help out with,” Nocera said. “We want to be a part of the community.”
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.