In a story by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin about Joe Bono greeting Route 66 tourists at his long-closed Bono’s Italian restaurant in Fontana, Calif., was this little nugget:
Looking over architect’s drawings, Bono said the restaurant, whose front windows are just a few feet shy of the now-four-lane Foothill Boulevard, will be moved south back from the highway. This will accommodate widening of the street as well as the construction of a huge warehouse planned on the other side of Sultana.
He said he was confident that Bono’s restaurant would reopen in the near future, to accommodate Fontana’s next century and for future travelers seeking the romance and adventure of Route 66.
Bono has told travelers for years he would eventually reopen the restaurant. We’ll have to put this prediction into the “We’ll believe it when we see it” category.
Bono’s gets a lot of visitors because of its Bono’s Historic Orange — a 7-foot-high orange-shaped stand where thirsty travelers would buy glasses of fresh orange juice before the age of the interstate. Bono said the stand dates to 1936, and you could buy all the orange juice you could drink for 10 cents.
Kumar Patel at the nearby Wigwam Motel posted this interview with Bono from the same weekend:
I hope all is going well for joe, what a wonderful man. A great historian and lover of route 66.
I would love to make this my hang out. I remember it opened for like 3 months like 7 years ago. does anyone know about that? I missed going in there. But I really want to get involved, I want to feel a sense of community here.. I live right up the street and have watched the move of the building back a few feet on foothill. I watched the warhouse be built next to.. the roads repaved in front of it.. yet no re-opening..Its been years. I believe I saw a sign that said opening soon years ago..I guess seeing will be beliving. I think the people of Fontana are ready. Places with character and a story are so much more welcomed than another Applesbees or Sushi place in a new strip mall. I would love a old fashioned hamburger fries and coke. I will keep hope that someday in my lifetime I will be able to hang out with my friends . Please come back! I love J fillipi and Galleano wineries from that same area and time frameand go there just for support older icons let alone I love the character and story. Brings me back to a simpler time.
My family misses it. We go by it everyday hoping to see that it will reopen soon. The salad was so cold and crisp so good and the food was good miss it so much.