This is part one of a three-part series.
The orange booths in Generous Joe’s Deli were busy with families, couples, teens and kids at lunchtime on a recent Tuesday, eating pizza, sandwiches and Italian hoagies. The air was filled with chatter, laughter and music; staff talking with customers and each other; and customers’ congratulations to longtime manager and new owner Aaron Mengel. Owner Joe Natoli, Jr. retired in June 2023, transferring to Mengel the restaurant first opened in 1966 by Joe Jr.’s parents, Joe Sr. “Golden Joe” and Barbara Natoli.
Family Affair Begins
The Natoli family moved from D.C. to Greenbelt in the 1960s. The Fill Your Belly Deli at 107 Centerway has been a community gathering place and a family affair since the beginning, with “family” including the Natolis, staff and the Greenbelt community. When Golden, wife Barbara and other family members opened the Greenbelt Carry-Out, it was only as wide as the current kitchen and counter, with seating for just 12 (possible because the counter was further back than it is now). Joe’s is now a Greenbelt institution, one of only three businesses operating in Roosevelt Center (in one form or another) for over 50 years. (The other two are the Co-op Supermarket and the Old Greenbelt Theatre.)
Joe Jr. said of his father, “He loved people, talked to everybody and joked around a lot. He had a big personality, that’s why a lot of people remember him. His last 10 to 20 years [after retiring], he came down every day, hung out and talked to people.” Robert Wood wrote, “We put up with his outrageous sense of humor; he made us laugh all the time.” Charlene Shaffer Backstrom remembered all the times he gave her lottery numbers to play.
Barbara Natoli still lives in Greenbelt. Joe Jr. said she worked at the deli – Golden Joe’s – for a long time. “She really ran the kitchen, the real cook behind most of the work that got done, made sure things stayed on track. She was a hard-working lady and liked to cook. My dad liked the social part, he was in the front doing all the talking. She kept everything together in the kitchen.”
Golden’s 2011 obituary recalled childhood customers returning as adults, recounting his kindness to them as kids. Kevin McDermott wrote, “[Golden] always treated us kids with the same zest and appeal as his adult customers.” Mengel remembered growing up with Golden Joe’s as a place where you could go, know you’re safe and there was someone you can talk to and joke around with. He said, “If a kid came in and didn’t have money, Joe said, ‘don’t worry about it, go ahead and eat.’ That’s what Golden always did.” Anne Marie Moore Utterback remembered “going in as a 13-year-old kid with not enough money in my pocket to buy a cheese steak. Joe said, ‘I got it.’ I will never forget the compassion in his eyes and kindness. I was from a single mom household and was always hungry. Joe was the most giving human being ever.” Lynn Wells Davis wrote of Golden, “I know he used to call my mom in late at night on her way home from work and hand her a couple of subs, no charge. Great man.” Leslie Wright wrote, “He knew all us kids and always kept an eye out for us.”
Greenbelters A.J. Nuzzo, Jr., Kathy Reynolds and others organized a memorial bench installation at the Greenbelt War Memorial across from Joe’s, where the bench plaque includes: “Mentor to many – Friend to all.”
Part Two: Joe Jr. Flips Burgers at Age 12, Makes Partner by his Mid-20s.