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Joe Gorga Won’t Give the Restaurant Business Another Try After Pizzeria Closure: ‘We’re Not Restaurant People’ (Exclusive)

Joe Gorga Wont Give the Restaurant Business Another Try After Pizzeria Closure
Joe Gorga celebrates Melissa Gorga’s 40th birthday in New York on March 28, 2019. Michael Simon/startraksphoto.com

The second time will not be the charm for Joe Gorga. The Real Housewives of New Jersey star entered the restaurant business in May 2017 with the opening of Gorga’s Homemade Pasta & Pizza with wife Melissa Gorga and sister Teresa Giudice. However, that business closed abruptly in January 2018 and Gorga has no desire to give the food world another go.

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“No, we always talk about it, but I don’t think so, man,” he told Us Weekly in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, February 18, when asked if another eatery is in his future. “We’re not restaurant people. It’s a whole different world.”

Speaking of his past culinary effort, Gorga, 40, added: “I just opened up a little one. I opened that one real quick for my father, to keep his mind off my mother. And then he got sick and he really couldn’t run it.”

Gorga’s Homemade Pasta & Pizza opened its doors less than a year after Gorga’s mom, Antonia Gorga, passed away suddenly. The endeavor was meant to act as a tribute to his and Giudice’s parents and Antonia served as an inspiration behind many dishes served at the restaurant.

When the establishment unexpectedly closed its doors over two years ago, a source told Us at the time that Joe was “furious” about the closure, which was the result of a dispute with his business partners. “He feels duped,” the insider explained. “They never made good on their end of the deal so Joe was done … This isn’t a good look and people don’t understand why they didn’t give Joe the money he promised him.”

These days, the New Jersey native told Us he’s “going to stick in the real estate business” because that’s what he really enjoys. Furthermore, Joe has no intention of giving any restaurant advice to his estranged brother-in-law Joe Giudice, who teased on Instagram earlier this month that he might open a restaurant in the Bahamas.

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“He won’t listen to me,” the father of three told Us. “Joe is going to listen to whatever he wants to do. I don’t talk about business with him.”

Though the restaurant business might not be for him, Joe Gorga isn’t afraid to try his hand at stand-up comedy. In fact, he headlined his first ever comedy show, “The Real Italians of Comedy,” at the West Nyack Levity Live on Tuesday and there are more dates to come.

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“I just want to teach people, listen, when you have a goal in life, don’t sit back. Just go get it,” he explained. “Just try it. What could happen? You fail? If I fail, I’m coming back. I’m going to come back harder and stronger and work harder and I’m going to get it.”

With reporting by Marc Lupo

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