Joe Monastero would close his Northwest Side restaurant Monastero’s on major holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Otherwise, he’d keep the doors open no matter what.
“There could be 10 feet of snow on the ground,” said his son, also named Joe Monastero. “It didn’t matter.”
On Sept. 11, 2001, in the uncertain hours after planes were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, Mr. Monastero opened as usual, even as many restaurants stayed closed that day. Soon, the place was packed.
“We had so many regular customers coming in who didn’t want to be alone and just wanted to go someplace where they felt safe, and my dad felt it was an honor they felt safe in our dining room,” his son said.
Mr. Monastero turned up the volume on the television in the lounge, and everyone gathered there to hear the presidential address that evening.
Mr. Monastero died Sept. 7 of complications from dementia. He was 93.
For many, the restaurant, which closed in 2017, was a generational touchstone, with grandparents at the end of the table watching grandkids make a mess of spaghetti in high chairs.
Its vibe was an extension of what relatives said Mr. Monastero prized most: family.
Every Monday — the one day of the week the restaurant was closed — Mr. Monastero gathered his wife and kids at the dinner table of their home just down the block from their business for a traditional Italian meal that often included singing, music and dancing. Each of his three kids had to choose an instrument to learn.
Besides food and family, music was his passion, particularly opera. He liked to combine all three. Once, in 1974, the restaurant held a bel canto — Italian for “beautiful singing” — style opera competition for Northwestern University voice students. Along with his late siblings and restaurant co-owners Salvy and Gina, he put up the prize: $500.
The next year, the prize was singing lessons in Italy with the legendary baritone Tito Gobbi, and patrons enjoying the music started asking for a way to contribute. In 1976, the family established the Bel Canto Foundation to support the competition, which gradually was opened to students from across the Midwest.
Mr. Monastero married the 1976 winner, Martha Finch.
“The joke is: She won the competition, but Dad got the real prize,” his son said.
The couple might cap off the competition by singing a duet while holding hands. Their song? “Non ti scordar di me” — which translates to “Never forget about me.”
Mr. Monastero was born in Philadelphia on Sept. 21, 1930, the son of Sebastiano and Maria Monastero. His father, who had two shoe stores, was hit hard by the Depression and decided to ship the family home to Sicily when Mr. Monastero was only a toddler.
The future restaurateur grew up in the Sicillian town of Caccamo, where he studied music and played organ. His father was the first vice mayor of the city after the formation of the Republic of Italy in 1946.
With opportunities lacking, Mr. Monastero returned to the United States in 1952 to live with an uncle in Kankakee.
He was drafted into the U.S. Army and served as a radio operator from 1954 to 1956.
After his discharge, he joined his brother in running Monastero Brothers, a wholesale fruit and vegetable supply business. In 1962, the brothers and their sister bought a pizzeria on Devon Avenue, La Canopy.
The Monastero siblings opened their eponymous restaurant next door at 3935 W. Devon Ave. in 1967. Later, they added a conference and banquet center. They hosted birthdays and baptism parties and fundraisers for politicians, including Mayor Richard J. Daley and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“You walked into that restaurant, and you felt like you were walking into their house,” said Bonnie Shanahan, a longtime patron. “You were always warmly greeted and felt so welcome.”
She remembers how elated Mr. Monastero was when his twin daughters were born: “He kept saying, ‘Two babies, two babies,’ and handing everyone drinks. He would have given the place away he was so excited.”
Mr. Monastero did everything at the restaurant, from cook and run the kitchen to tend bar.
He got a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern Illinois University in 1976 and later was president of the university’s foundation for two years. He was a founding member and president of the Sicilian American Cultural Association and was knighted by the Italian government in recognition of his work in promoting Italian culture, language and cuisine.
In addition to his son, Mr. Monastero is survived by his wife, Martha, daughters Maria Giorgia and Elena Rosalia and five grandchildren.
Services have been held.