BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — We all have a place we call home.
For Joe and Donna Giarratana, their home is Brooksville.
“There’s nothing like Brooksville,” said Donna Giarratana.
“We love Brooksville,” said Joe Giarratana.
Married for nearly 50 years, they both own Papa Joe’s Italian Restaurant, which has been in Brooksville for 44 years.
Watch ABC Action News reporter Larissa Scott interview the owners:
When you walk around the restaurant, it transports you to Italy.
Joe, who’s originally from Sicily, wanted his restaurant to feel like you’re on a street in his hometown.
“Whatever we do, we do from our heart,” said Joe.
The building that stands today isn’t the original restaurant that opened in 1981 though.
That one burned down in 2014.
“It was devastating, you know? And we were standing across the street and just I was wailing honestly,” said Donna.
Joe and Donna were able to rebuild, thanks to this special community.
“We were blessed with our builder, we were blessed with all the community coming together. What a place to live, it’s amazing! It’s Brooksville,” said Donna.
“When we needed them we had them. And when they need us, we’re there for them as well,” said Joe.
This version of their restaurant is even bigger as they share family recipes with people who come to visit. And just across the parking lot there’s now even a spa and gift store for customers to go to while they wait to be seated, called Healing Waters Day Spa & Capricci Gifts.
The continued support over four decades is also credited to the growth the area has seen, but it wasn’t always like that.
Joe and Donna took a gamble when they first opened Papa Joe’s.
“This road was just one road in, one road out, no traffic light,” said Donna.
“Well there was about 30,000 people back then, in the whole Hernando County,” said Joe.
That number has significantly increased.
“The past 3 to 4 years, we’ve had double digit evaluation increases on how much growth there is in the county. We’re growing. This year was like an 11% evaluation increase, which means… we’ve been averaging 4,000 to 5,000 of net increase in population every year. Which is significant for our community,” said Jeff Rogers, County Administrator for Hernando County.
He expects that growth to continue throughout Hernando County as more people and developments head to the area.
“We’ll see growth at this level for the next several years and we’re working hard to provide the infrastructure and the need for the community, but plan it properly,” said Rogers.
“I always tell people as long as it still snows up north and we have air conditioning and mosquito control down here, we’re going to be pretty successful in Florida,” he added.
As for Joe and Donna, they’re along for the ride and thankful that Brooksville is the place they get to call home.
“Brooksville been a great blessing to us and hopefully we’ve been a blessing to them as well,” said Joe.
