The restaurant business started out with Jackson Cunio’s uncle who started out washing dishes at a restaurant. Mr. Cunio started working with his brother at a restaurant and started cooking with him, he instantly fell in love with it.

“My dad moved up to being a sauté chef and then from there moved up to owning the restaurant. He decided to travel the world from big chef to big chef and wasn’t being paid, all he wanted to do was to learn,” Cunio said.

He went to Italy, Hawaii, and London to learn from the best chefs. He wanted to become one of the best so he came back to Seattle and owned the Brooklyn with his brother. His dad stopped working there and went to own the Paragon with a man named Edwin. After about five years at the Paragon he left due to complications with the other owner, he decided to take a year off. He started looking for a new restaurant to own and found a place in Clearview. The restaurant was named Mongo’s for six years and they ended up having a trademark on the restaurant name. His dad then named it Cunio’s.

“I now work at Cunios, I enjoy working there because I know everyone personally and we are all like family,” Cunio said.