“Not only does Sullivan know everyone; she seems to be genuinely friends with them. With her blond ponytail, darting blue eyes and no-nonsense attitude, she has this restaurant wrapped around her finger,” wrote Smith College senior Katherine Keenan in a recent Daily Hampshire Gazette piece about Meaghan Sullivan '05, owner of Joe’s Cafe in Northampton, Mass.
Joe's Cafe, known to locals for the unusual setting of pizza and other Italian dishes served in rooms decorated with paintings of Argentine gauchos, all under a sign with a neon sombrero, has been under Sullivan's charge since her father and his business partner retired in 2011. She’s lived next door to the restaurant since graduating Amherst with a degree in history.
“While she was in college, Sullivan didn’t want to own a business. But the idea grew on her. When Sullivan finally came around, she became the first solo owner of Joe’s Cafe, and the first woman to run the restaurant since Camella and Joe Biandi opened its doors more than 70 years ago,” Keenan wrote.