About Tumea & Sons Restaurant
Serving Des Moines, IA Since 1998
Tumea & Sons Restaurant dates back to 1960 when Joe Tumea first arrived in the United States at age 18. He was unaware that just a year later 13-year-old Lucretia Berardi would follow from their native Italy.
A few years later, Mr. Tumea and Ms. Berardi met for the first time while serving at Foreman & Clark in Des Moines. In 1967, they got married and had four sons: Sam in 1969, Joe Jr. in 1971, Mario in 1974, and Louie in 1980. Joe Sr. and Lu continued their tailoring profession and took the boys along where the little ones learned to rip out sleeves, neatly cut off buttons, and - most important - work together as a family.
The practice was put to good use in January 1998 when the family opened Tumea & Sons Restaurant, and their dream of seeing themselves and their American-born sons self-employed was realized. Using home recipes and knowledge gained from previous restaurant jobs, the Tumea family has been feeding folks from Des Moines and the surrounding areas for decades. Referring to this, Joe says, "To be successful just takes hard work, teamwork, and support of family and friends."
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