History

When, in 1960 at age 18, Joe Tumea arrived in the united States, he was unaware that one year later 13 year-old Lucretia Berardi would follow from their native Italy. They met for the first time a few years later in Des Moines, both working at Foreman & Clark. They married in 1967, and together had four sons: Sam in 1969, Joe Jr. in 1971, Mario in 1974 and Louie in 1980. Joe Sr. and Lu continued their tailoring professions, and took the boys along, where the little ones learned not only to rip out sleeves and neatly cut off buttons, but to work as a family as well. The practice was put to good use in January 1998, when , as a family they opened Tumea & Sons, and their dream – seeing themselves and their American-born sons self-employed – was realized. Using recipes from home and knowledge gained from previous restaurant jobs, the Tumea family feeds folks from Des Moines and the surrounding area. As Joe says – “to be a success, just takes hard work, team work and the support of family and friends.”