Original Joe’s is considering opening a restaurant in the former Left Bank Brasserie space at 635 Santa Cruz Ave. in downtown Menlo Park. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the restaurant group is interested in taking over the property, although it has not yet signed a lease. The possibility was also mentioned by Menlo Park Mayor Betsy Nash in her newsletter.
Founded in San Francisco in 1937, Original Joe’s is a family-operated restaurant group known for Italian-American cooking. The business is currently operated by Elena and John Duggan, who oversee the restaurant’s locations and related concepts in the Bay Area.
The restaurant’s menu includes several traditional Italian-American dishes. According to the Chronicle, the brand is known for chicken parmigiana, house-made ravioli and baked lasagna. Its restaurants have maintained a connection to the original San Francisco concept while expanding to other communities in the region.
Original Joe’s began in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. After a fire destroyed the original restaurant in 2007, the family reopened in North Beach in 2012. The group has since operated additional locations, including restaurants in Daly City and the East Bay.
The proposed Menlo Park location previously housed Left Bank Brasserie, which closed in June 2026 after 28 years in the city. The restaurant was part of Vine Hospitality, which shut down its Bay Area restaurants.
Original Joe’s has not confirmed that it will move forward with the Menlo Park property. A lease agreement and further details about the potential restaurant’s opening schedule remain outstanding.
