After marrying Charles Viotto's daughter, Mary, Robert Nuccio took over that store, and in 1895 renamed it The Italian-American Grocery Company.

The rough-hewn nature of the Italian laborers was keeping the ladies away from their shopping, so John and Joe opened a restaurant next door.

[2] The owners, having waited in vain for a revitalization of Chinatown and Downtown as a nighttime dining destination, decided that it was time to retire.

As part of the revitalization movement of Chinatown, plans were put in place to turn the site of the restaurant into a retail and residential hub with a large car parking structure.

On December 2, 2013, Forest City Enterprises began demolishing Little Joe's to start the construction of a new $100 million real estate development, the Blossom Plaza project.