Generations of Paterno family members operated Jefferson Park bar, pizza shop

by BRIAN NADIG

For the Paterno family, working at the family pizza business at 5303 N. Milwaukee Ave. was a labor of love.

“We all started working at a young age,” said Rachale Paterno, who along with her father Paul Paterno and her cousin JoJo Schaerli recently sold the longtime family business. The new owners plan to keep the Paterno name as part of the business and use the family recipes.

JoJo recalled growing up near the former Saint Cornelius Church at Foster and Long avenues and said that when she would walk over to help out at the business, her parents John and Carol would step outside the shop and watch to make sure she safely crossed the busy Central Avenue to get to the store. “Even when I was a young teenager (they did that),” she said.

For Paul Paterno, his introduction to the business world also started at a young age, working at his Uncle Anthony’s grocery store at Grand and Western avenues.

Paul’s parents Santo and Josephine along with him and his older brother John had left Mussolini’s Italy in the late 1930s. Santo left first for America, followed by Josephine, who traveled with Paul, an infant at the time.

“It had the first sit-down pizza place in Chicago,” Paul recalled of his uncle’s shop.

“I grew up in the business,” Paul said. “At 10 years old … I had to stand on a box” to be able to operate the sausage maker.

In 1954 Paul’s parents opened their own liquor store at 5251 N. Central Ave. A few years later it relocated to a building across the street — the current site of the Paterno parking lot.

Immediately to the north of the Paterno liquor store was a CTA bus turnaround that in 1969 the city of Chicago was looking to sell because a much larger facility was being built at 4917 N. Milwaukee Ave., the current home of the Jefferson Park CTA Terminal.

Paul recalled submitting a sealed bid in an attempt to buy the city land and fortunately it turned out to be the highest bid.

An approximately 11,000-square-foot liquor store was then constructed. At the time it was the largest liquor store in Chicago, Paul said.

While working as a civil engineer for the city, Paul continued to help with the family business, but he eventually left his city job. “My father needed another person to help run the business (full time),” he said. “The business was just getting bigger.”

Over the years a deli and a carryout pizza and sandwich counter were added to the liquor store and around 1990 a decision was made to rebrand as a pizza restaurant and bar, as the liquor business was taken over by new owners who lease space at the west end of the building.

Increased competition from grocery and convenience stores, which were selling more and more liquor, was one of the reasons for the change, family members said.

Paul’s brother John remained at the business until he passed away in 2015.

Paul and his wife Diane along with Rachale and JoJo recently were at the shop talking to customers and helping out the new owners.

Rachale and JoJo said that they will miss their dedicated staff members and their many customers, who often treated them like “they were part of their family.”

As for the key to the business’ success, they said that the food is made fresh — no reliance on preservatives. More than a dozen soups were made there.

And the corned beef was cooked on site, they said. “It wasn’t pre-sliced (and packaged) from Vienna,” JoJo said.

They recalled times when all family members were called into duty to help prepare dozens and dozens of food trays for large parish events, as many as 162 on one occasion.

The business also tried to do its best to help out the community in times of need. During a blizzard, Santo sent his grandson Johnnie out to help deliver milk to snowed-in families, JoJo said.

In a letter to the community, the Paterno family wrote the following:

“This is not the end of Josephine and Santo’s dream. It’s the evolution. Their grandchildren are retiring. Their great grandchildren have beautiful lives, families, educations and careers. Their great great grandchildren are brand new, taking their first steps in this world. Nonna and Nonno. Paul and John. JoJo and Rachale: they gave our family a start. Paterno’s gave us a start.

“And you, our community, have walked every step with us. From our family to yours, we truly and humbly thank you for your support.”

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