Joliet council to vote on Cemeno’s at the Park plan at Inwood

A future Cemeno’s at the Park awaits a Joliet City Council vote for a liquor license.

Cemeno’s, the family-owned Joliet restaurant on Essington Road, plans to open a location in the Inwood complex at 3000 W. Jefferson St.

It would occupy the space owned by the Joliet Park District, which operates the Inwood complex. Cemono’s would replace The Dock at Inwood, which closed last year.

Cemeno’s would be the latest restaurant to provide food at the Inwood complex since a McDonald’s opened in 1993 when the facility was rebuilt after a fire.

The council on Tuesday will vote on a liquor license for Cemeno’s at the Park.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy, also the city’s liquor commissioner, recommends approval for the liquor license.

The matter was discussed briefly at a Monday workshop meeting of the council with no indication that there would be any opposition to a liquor license for Cemeno’s.

The popular restaurant has been doing business in Joliet for nearly 50 years.

It started on Jefferson Street as the first franchise of Aurelio’s Pizza and operated under the Aurelio’s name but was always owned by the Cemeno family, starting with the late Joe Cemeno.

The name was switched to Cemeno’s in 2002, when the family moved the business to Essington Road and broke away from the Aurelio’s chain. Joe Cemeno died in 2007, but the Cemeno family continues to own and run the restaurant.

Cemeno’s would be the latest of a number of restaurants at the Inwood complex, which includes an athletic club, softball fields, and an ice arena across from the restaurant space.

The Dock at Inwood opened at Inwood in December 2018. It replaced Traditions Restaurant and Pub, which was the first to have a liquor license at the Joliet Park District facility.

Traditions opened in 2008 and replaced a Lindy’s-Gertie’s. McDonald’s was the first restaurant at Inwood when it opened there in 1993.