An Italian restaurant institution in San Francisco is about to expand to the East Bay for the first time in the business's storied history. Original Joe’s will open a location in Walnut Creek, inside the space in the Broadway Plaza center formerly occupied by Stanford’s Restaurant at 1300 South Main Street. When it comes to the new venue, it was apparently love at first sight for sibling co-owners John and Elena Duggan.

“The minute we walked in through the doors to look at it for the first time, we immediately thought, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be the new Joe’s,’” owner Elena Duggan told The Chronicle. The new location won’t open until sometime in 2024, but there will be plenty of space, boasting a 9,000-square-foot floor plan.