# eat at joes??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 12, 2002, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179 "2002-12-12T02:48:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/1 "2002-12-12T02:48:32Z")
Remember in the cartoons its always " eat at joes" why is this? Was it a real place??? is it still there??? ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/2 "2002-12-12T03:13:09Z")
Search, search, search. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83086&highlight=cartoon\*](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83086&highlight=cartoon%2A) Ahh, one of my first threads! ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/3 "2002-12-12T03:14:20Z")
Hey! The title is all capitalized, I guess the only started disallowing the recently. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/4 "2002-12-12T03:16:31Z")
I can’t give you anything but an opinion. I would think that the appearance of sandwich boards would be the origin of the “eat at xxxx” thingy. It was then probably picked up in newpaper cartoons, early comic strips, and finally movies. You used a “generic” name rather than a real place. Thus “Joe’s.” ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/5 "2002-12-12T05:18:00Z")
Maybe “Sloppy Joe’s” , another cartoon version I’ve seen. Sloppy Joe’s is a joint in Key West where Ernest Hemmingway ysed to hang out. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/6 "2002-12-12T05:38:24Z")
He, Thanks for finding that **Muad’Dib** , That Thread was also one of my first thread killers, with lots of hunting for the earliest dates. And my conclusion, even after finding likely candidates: > [@](#): > > But just to drive you crazy: chances are the cartoonists used a name that was common. Just like ACME was for companies, Joe was for restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/7 "2002-12-12T05:55:38Z")
I should add that it is one of my first threads after I ended a year of lurking. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/8 "2002-12-12T07:58:18Z")
Surprise!! there _is_ a “Joe’s,” in Redondo Beach, CA 90277, at the northeast corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Carnelian Street. It’s been there at least since the mid-60s. I know, because I saw it when I started attending Redondo Union High School, which is one block to the south. I still eat at Joe’s myself, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/9 "2002-12-12T08:09:06Z")
Surprise! not! You have not checked the linked early thread where I posted: > [@](#): > > Joe’s Cafe. 536 State St. (at Cota St.), Santa Barbara > > “When they say “Eat at Joe’s,” they’re talking about this Santa Barbara institution, going strong for 60-plus years. Which means your restaurant is late by 30 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/10 "2002-12-12T08:18:04Z")
Hey, I don’t know when the Redondo Beach Joe’s was _founded…_ 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/11 "2002-12-12T09:08:28Z")
Mmmm…“Eat at Joe’s”… Haven’t eaten there in quite a while, actually, but I remember it was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Janx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Janx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Janx)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/12 "2002-12-12T14:43:53Z")
I have eaten at Joe’s in Santa Barbara MANY times, great place! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eat-at-joes/142179/13 "2002-12-12T14:47:04Z")
There’s a Joe’s Pizza here in Schenectady, but they have a much better slogan than “Eat at Joe’s”: “Watch your pizza being made by imported hands.”