When Joe Standley told his parents he wanted to go to culinary school, they laughed out loud. The Illinois Electric Cooperative members reminded him that the career path would probably require him to eat his vegetables, which he notoriously avoided. Nevertheless, he pursued his dreams, and today, Standley loves his veggies — as long as they are locally sourced and not from a can.
After attending culinary school at Kendall College in Chicago, he lived and worked in the city for a decade. When COVID hit and the restaurant industry drastically changed, Standley decided it was time to return to his hometown of Jacksonville. “It was always in my mind to move back home and open a restaurant,” he says.
Standley discussed with his family how they could design menus and concepts to be more resilient to [the] changing workforce and economy. They decided upon seasonal menus featuring locally sourced meat and produce.
“You have four opportunities to adjust your menu throughout the year to reflect pricing in the markets, work with different products, and make sure that you’re able to give your guests the best value,” he says.
Once the project was a go, the next challenge was figuring out a name that could encompass his vision. In those discussions, Standley says his late Uncle Richard kept coming up.
“He was the only other chef in the family,” he explains. “When I was in school, I was lucky to get to know him better. We had interesting conversations on our philosophies of food and how things should be done, and those conversations helped shape how I approach food today.”
In honor of his uncle, the new establishment was named Proud Richard’s Restaurant. “With the name, it was just a subtle nod to his memory,” Standley says. “I think he’d be happy that we’re here.”
The “proud” in the name is a reminder. “We wanted to build a culture that not only we could be proud of, but our employees could be proud to be a part of,” he explains. “This community has a wonderful ability to support the people who are here … doing things they believe in, so that was one of the founding principles of this restaurant. … We want our footprint to stay as local as possible, because those are the people who are going to be supporting us in turn.”
That community includes local farms, which Standley refers to as a “treasure trove of products.” “It just became common sense,” he says. “We’re going to do farm to table. That’s how we’re going to be able to keep our economic footprint as local as possible.
“The future of our economy and of our food system is sustainability, being able to decrease our carbon footprint, [and] lower the amount of food miles,” he adds. “It’s building something that’s based on quality rather than quantity and convenience. It makes my job a lot easier, because there’s less I have to do to make that food shine.”
Proud Richard’s highlights those local products in its contemporary American bill of fare. “We keep our menu nice and small — we usually have about six entrees at a time,” says Standley. “We take familiar, comforting American dishes and leave our own imprint on them, but then we always want to take a couple risks throughout each menu cycle, and introduce something [unfamiliar]. … I think that’s one of the bigger responsibilities as a chef, to be able to build a relationship of trust and education with our guests.”
Plenty of comfort food stays on the menu year-round, however, including baked mac and cheese topped with breadcrumbs and their Nashville hot chicken strips. Other crowd-pleasers include the baked crab and spinach dip paired with local bread and their custom-blend hamburgers.
“We want to leave a good portion of our menu static, so no matter what, there’s always something here that’s familiar that you’re able to enjoy throughout the year … not contingent on the seasonality of local products,” he says.
Housing the restaurant is a former railway depot. Prior to Proud Richard’s, it was home to a locally beloved Italian restaurant.
“It was a big decision we had to make. … If we [took] over the space, we wanted to make sure … we would be a higher-end dining option for Jacksonville, because that was where you always went for your special occasions,” he explains. “Even though we changed the name, [and] we definitely changed the cuisine, I think we’ve made good on that promise of being able to give Jacksonville a place to go to enjoy their special occasions.”
Certain dishes at Proud Richard’s are a special occasion in and of themselves. “We want to give you opportunities to try something new, but there are certain things that come back at certain times a year that you can always count on from us, like [our] pork shank,” says Standley. “It’s braised in a mixture of stock and milk, and it’s just fall-off-the-bone tender, served on this creamy bed of polenta … [and] a gravy out of that braising liquid. It’s simple, it’s hearty, and it’s comforting, like winter in a bowl.”
Now that the restaurant has developed a reputation for fine fresh cuisine, Standley says their customer base has broadened considerably, including people from St. Louis, Chicago and out of state. “It’s just wonderful,” he says. “Starting this from the ground up, it’s hard to build that reputation in the beginning, but being here in year three, we’re seeing more and more people from outside of the area. … It’s a big testament to my staff.
“My philosophy is, if we can make 95% of the people walking through the door have an excellent experience, we’re doing a great job, and that’s what we strive to do, to make sure that we do what we can to make sure that you have a wonderful time,” he adds. “Ultimately, we’re here to make people happy.”
Proud Richard’s Restaurant
