Rax Roast Beef, A Joliet Tradition Since 1968, Still Thriving

JOLIET — A limited menu. Quick service. Loyal and long-time staff. A business philosophy of keeping it simple and consistent. Those have been the hallmarks for the Joliet Rax Roast Beef fast-food restaurant's sustainability for 56 years and counting.

Inside his dining room's atrium, Joliet owner Terry Bucciarelli was in the middle of Wednesday's interview reflecting on his Rax Roast Beef's longevity when in came Cindy, his restaurant's general manager. A customer at the counter wanted to buy a Rax Roast Beef commemorative T-shirt.

Turns out, Rax even sells souvenir T-shirts ranging from small to double extra large. The Joliet Rax sells visors, too, like the one Bucciarelli wore on Wednesday.

A lifelong Joliet resident, Bucciarelli has owned and operated Joliet's one and only Rax Roast Beef since it opened back on March 25, 1968.

Fifty-six years ago, Joliet became the fifth Rax Roast Beef restaurant to open in the United States. At one time, Rax had roughly 500 restaurants scattered across the country. But as the decades passed, in many other parts of the country, Rax restaurants closed.

More than 30 years ago, Rax introduced Mr. Delicious, who was supposed to go down as one of the classic fast-food advertising characters.

These days, Mr. Delicious is long gone, and there's only about a half-dozen Rax restaurants left.

Rax's second Joliet area restaurant, in Crest Hill along Route 30/Plainfield Road, closed many years ago, where the Sonic Drive-In is now. However, in spite of the Ohio-based company's inability to remain a powerful nationwide fast-food juggernaut, Joliet's Rax at 2136 W. Jefferson St., always managed to remain relevant and profitable.

For several years, Joliet's claim to fame is being the only Rax that's still open in Illinois.

As for 2136 W. Jefferson St., in the Marycrest Shopping Center, "this was always right up there, top three, sometimes, we would be number one," Bucciarelli told Joliet Patch. "Food is food, but it depends on consistency. We have a great, great, staff. Some of the girls have been with me over 30 to 35 years, so the food is very consistent and very few complaints."

Cindy, who is pictured at the top of this Joliet Patch article, has worked for Bucciarelli for 39 years. She's his restaurant general manager.

"It's made from lots of love, that's our secret," Cindy told Joliet Patch.

Tina, their cook manager, has worked at Joliet's Rax for 40 years. A previous general manager, Sue, who left in 2015, had worked at Joliet's Rax for 35 years, the crew noted.

"You're only as good as your employees. We've had this same crew. I'm very, very fortunate," Bucciarelli remarked. "They keep everything as consistent as possible."

These days, Bucciarelli has about two dozen staff. One of the distinctive features of his Joliet Rax is the atrium dining room that was added in the 1970s.

"With the atrium seating, we were kind of innovative," Bucciarelli remarked.

Today, the drive-thru lane generates the lion's share of business; about 65 to 70 percent of customer orders.

Joliet's Rax is best known for its regular roast beef sandwiches as well as its patented "BBC" sauce — beef, bacon and cheddar sauce.

"The regular roast beef," Bucciarelli commented, "that's the top seller."

Of course, plenty of menu offerings drive customer traffic.

"People really like the pot roast sandwich, that's a big seller," Bucciarelli said. "Our fries are big sellers. We call them twisty fries. The bratwurst sandwich comes on a brat bun, and it's permanent now."

And there's the loaded baked potatoes.

The West Jefferson Street Rax carries at least a half dozen different baked potatoes. Typically, the most popular are the broccoli and cheddar or the bacon and cheese.

Even though Bucciarelli said he does not use social media, he said his Joliet Rax Roast Beef is featured and promoted favorably all over Facebook and Twitter.

It's quite common for travelers who had a Rax close in their community visit Joliet and take photographs in front of his restaurant and business sign, "Because there's a nostalgia in that," Bucciarelli explained.

Joliet's beloved Rax remains open seven days a week. It's open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"Lots of customers are repeat customers," Bucciarelli remarked. "And like Merichka's, we've been here a long time. Word of mouth. We don't advertise a lot."

All the beautiful flower beds and flower baskets displayed around Rax Roast Beef were put there by Bucciareli. Earlier this week, Joliet Patch found Rax's owner standing outside with a shovel in his hand, turning dirt in front of his atrium, planting more flowers.

"It's a lot of work, and I do it myself," he said.

Bucciarelli said he's grateful for his staff's longevity, including Cindy, the general manager.

"Customers love Cindy," he said. "She yaks and chats up everybody."