Our story
We're John, Joanne and Joe Carnagio. We run McDonald's restaurants across Chicago's western suburbs, Joliet and Kankakee, and it started with one restaurant, two rejections and a house we had to sell.
Chapter one · Westchester
John Carnagio grew up in Westchester. His dad worked for public works, his mom cut hair out of the house, and John made his money mowing the neighbors' grass.
After college he landed a job he couldn't stand. What he wanted was a place of his own, and for a while the plan was a neighborhood hot dog stand. He found the storefront. He didn't have the money.
Chapter two · The answer was no
“I knew I was what they wanted, but I had no money, I was too young and had no experience.”
Joanne had a relative in the McDonald's business, so John wrote to corporate. They turned him down. He got a second meeting, and they turned him down again. He was 24.
So he and Joanne bought a house in Westchester, fixed it up, sold it, and held an estate sale to raise what they needed. He got to know the person who had rejected him, and eventually he was let into the training program. It was unpaid, so he worked nights the whole way through.
Chapter three · Channahon, [PLACEHOLDER: 1995 or 1996]
Near the end of training, they put a map in front of John and asked where he was willing to go. Anywhere, he said.
Anywhere turned out to be a McDonald's inside a gas station off Route 6 in Channahon, which back then was the middle of nowhere. John and Joanne moved there. He took orders, made drinks and scrubbed floors next to his crew. Joanne ran the counter and the drive-through. It was a quiet store, which made it the right place to learn every job in the building.
“When you own a McDonald's, you're not just the owner, you're also the owner-operator, which is like being a manager as well.”
Chapter four · Growing up
John will tell you it was never just his own hard work. He hired good managers, and a lot of them started as crew. The restaurants followed.
[PLACEHOLDER: 1995 or 1996]
Channahon
The first restaurant, off Route 6.
1998
Minooka
2000
Joliet
Houbolt Road, by the junior college.
2001
Joliet
Plainfield Road.
2007
Channahon West and Romeoville
[PLACEHOLDER: years]
[PLACEHOLDER: openings from 2008 to 2024]
2025
Nineteen restaurants
With the twentieth going up on the Downers Grove and Woodridge border.
“It's never just about your own hard work. In order to succeed, you need the right leadership around you.”
Chapter five · Joe
Joe Carnagio grew up working in the restaurants between sports seasons. Nobody pushed him toward the business. He studied digital marketing, spent a few years at ESPN, and then came back on his own.
He trained the way everyone trains: flipping burgers, taking orders and cleaning bathrooms. He came back right as everything behind the counter was going digital, and he helped bring every restaurant up to speed. Ask him his favorite part of the job and he'll say taking orders and making drinks, because you get to talk to people.
“My dad never pushed the business on his kids, which I really appreciate.”
What we believe
As a family-oriented company, we strive to give our employees the foundation to learn and grow, keep a great guest experience at the core of all we do, and honor our commitment to the community.
We live in the towns our restaurants are in. Decisions get made by people who know your name.
John and Joe learned every station before they ran one. We don't ask anyone to do a job we haven't done.
Someone took a chance on a 24-year-old with no experience. We try to be that someone.
“We strive to be good neighbors and not just a business.”
One more thing
When our Joliet restaurant closed, we couldn't leave the Ronald McDonald statue behind. He was a little beat up, so we took him to an auto body shop for touch-up paint.
Now he sits in the front window of our office in Downers Grove. We just thought kids would like to see him.
Whether you're looking for a first job, a career or a neighbor to partner with, we'd like to meet you.
