The long-closed Bono’s Deli, a fixture along Route 66 in Fontana, California, for decades, recently reopened as Bono’s Italian Restaurant.
And, yes, the Bono’s Historic Orange still is there.
Lynne Miller of the California Historic Route 66 Association wrote this on the route66 yahoogroup:
It was always a dream of property owner Joe Bono to re-open the restaurant and deli that was started by his parents in 1936. That dream came true when new restaurant owner, Pino Mele, decided to expand his existing restaurant and move to this site. The restaurant is located at 15395 Foothill Blvd. in Fontana. The place was packed when I was there on Saturday for a late lunch. Delicious, authentic Italian food and an unbelievable assortment of deserts.
More about Bono’s, including the restaurant’s menu, may be found here.
Bono’s gets a lot of visitors because of its Bono’s Historic Orange — a 7-foot-tall orange-shaped stand where thirsty travelers would buy glasses of fresh orange juice before the age of the interstate. Joe Bono told a newspaper the stand dates to 1936, and you could buy all the orange juice you could drink for 10 cents.
Joe Bono moved back to his parents’ house behind the restaurant when his mother died in 1995.
Bono’s was designated to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. The entire restaurant was moved back 20 feet a few years ago because of a widening of Foothill Boulevard (aka Route 66).