Joe and Peggy Buonavolanto opened the first Buona Beef in Berwyn, IL just a half-mile from their family home. It was Joe and Peggy’s dream to create a family-focused, community-centric restaurant with their five sons—one that would specialize in Italian Beef Sandwiches and elevate the Chicago street-food staple with high-quality ingredients and a secret family recipe.
from washing floors and running the kitchen all the way up to running the organization and its many branches. For Buona (Italian for ‘Good’), the belief is that hard work truly does pay off, and nowhere is that more evident than the dedicated employees and multiple generations of Buonavolanto’s that, to this day, still facilitate every aspect of the company’s operations across Chicagoland.
26 locations. Dozens of awards. Millions of happy humans served. Buona is now the largest family-owned Italian Beef restaurant group and largest Italian Beef producer in the country.
