Jay's Inc. became a reality on April 23rd,1976. The founders, Muriel and Justin Fortuna started this business as a spin-off of Margie's Beef on Kammerling and Cicero Avenue in Chicago. Marge and Al Vitullo, the owners, were Muriel's aunt and uncle. Needless to say, Muriel worked at the "beef stand" in the sixties and learned the business. Muriel and Justin's son Jay urged his Mom and Dad to open and operate the same type of business.

So in April, the doors were opened and we never looked back. Our staff included all family members. The most important member was Muriel's Mother, Edith Del Principe, affectionately known as Nanny. She knew the recipe for cooking the beef for years and slowly perfected it as time passed.

All the children, Jay, Ginny, Frank, and John all worked different shifts to help get business going. Justin kept his job at Revere Aluminum Siding Company until the business was well on the road to success. He was also involved in basketball refereeing and coaching, and as a result he left the company and concentrated on the business and the basketball. In the end he was widely noted for being a competent and fair official. Justin officiated many years and loved the sport.

As a matter of fact, he loved all sports, beginning as a young man playing one season for the Chicago Cubs and then Uncle Sam called him to the Korean War. After his tour of duty, he decided to end his baseball career and move on to other opportunities. He enjoyed the work in the business very much but left us too soon in April, 2000.

We operated the restaurant from 10 AM to 12 AM 7 days a week. We cooked all the beef ourselves cooked the peppers and made our own hot peppers (giardiniera). Business grew and finally added "employees" other than the family to the payroll. As a business grew we bought the property and eventually razed the original building and replaced it with the existing site at 4418 North Narragansett. 5 years later we opened the second location Jay's in Schiller Park at 9732 Irving Park Road.

Today Muriel still works in the business and enjoys it very much. Her brother is Luke DelPrincipe who owns the Luke's Franchise. He has relocated in Tucson, Arizona and has a number of Luke's in the city.

Jay's son Tony has opened up his own Jay's Beef in Downtown Chicago. He opened the business a few years ago and now a variety of customers get to taste a real Italian Beef.

Now the 3rd generation is involved in the business. Most of Muriel's grandchildren worked or have worked at the two stores. Hopefully we continue with the three locations and look to open others in the near future.