I grew up lucky. Not wealthy lucky — South Jersey lucky. And part of what made it lucky was the food.
My mom was a first-generation Sicilian-American. So were her two sisters. Between the three of them, our family table had it all — marinara, meatballs, sausage, every pasta imaginable, and my mom’s legendary braciole. And nobody — nobody — made pasta e fagioli like my grandma. I can still smell it.
But here’s the thing about growing up with great Italian home cooks in your family: the one place that could actually compete with your own kitchen was Joe Italiano’s Maplewood. For this South Jersey kid, that wasn’t just a restaurant. It’s a landmark, and what a story!
A South Jersey institution since 1945
The story of Joe Italiano’s Maplewood begins in 1945, when Joseph Italiano Sr. — a town constable in Hammonton — noticed a property for sale on the White Horse Pike known as the Maplewood Bus Stop, named for a large maple tree in the driveway. He purchased it, acquired a liquor license, and started serving spaghetti and pizza on Friday nights. Meatball sandwiches. Pepper sandwiches. The kind of food that made people come back.
His son, Joseph Italiano Jr., came out of the Navy in 1955 and eventually took over — and changed everything. He invented the restaurant’s signature white seafood sauce, a dish his own father told him was crazy. “Spaghetti can’t be white. It’s gotta be red,” the elder Joseph told him. His son tried it anyway. Now each location sells about 100 containers of white sauce a week.
From that original Hammonton location on Route 30, the family expanded — a Maplewood II in Mays Landing, a Maplewood III in Vineland. Three generations of Italianos, each carrying the same commitment to authentic Italian food and the kind of warmth that makes a restaurant feel like someone’s home.
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Joe Italiano’s Google Maps
Joe Italiano’s Google MapsA Moorestown chapter comes to a close
Which is why the announcement that arrived recently hit harder than I expected.
Joe Italiano’s Maplewood is closing its Moorestown location. The final day of operations is March 8th, 2026. In a letter to the community, the family thanked their customers for their loyalty and the memories, and noted that the Hammonton and Mays Landing locations remain open.
I was genuinely excited when they expanded to Moorestown back in 2018. It felt like more people getting in on something special — a taste of what South Jersey Italians have known for 80 years. Seeing it close is a loss, and I don’t think it’s an overstatement to call it that.
The memories that made the Maplewood
Our family went to both the Mays Landing and Hammonton locations for decades. When my mom, aunts, and cousins wanted a big gathering but nobody wanted to do the cooking — and trust me, that decision was never made lightly in our family — Maplewood was the answer. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays. I remember my parents going to the Mays Landing location for their anniversary dinners. I took a few dates there over the years. More recently I’ve met up with high school friends I reconnected with through social media at the Hammonton location.
That personal connection is by design. Many of the signature dishes on the menu are named after family members, longtime employees, and loyal customers — Rita’s Crab Cake, the Eleanor Special, Robin’s Chicken, Shrimp Geraldine. “We feel we honor the important people who helped the Maplewood become what it is today,” Jimmy Italiano said.
That’s not a restaurant. That’s a family — and they’ve been generous enough to let the rest of South Jersey be part of it.
Still going strong where it all began
The closing of the Moorestown location is a real loss for that community. But knowing that Hammonton and Mays Landing are still there is, genuinely, a comfort. For authentic Italian food rooted in South Jersey tradition — the kind that holds up even when your Sicilian mom and her sisters are the measuring stick — Maplewood is still the place.
It always has been.
Get a taste of Italy at this delicious NJ Italian restaurant
Gallery Credit: Kyle Clark
Dining and Cooking