Mourners remember Mr. Beef founder Joe Zucchero, inspiration for ‘The Bear’ — and ‘part of the community’

As his health worsened, Joe Zucchero told his family he had one wish for his funeral: “Keep it brief.”

Zucchero, the owner of River North’s Mr. Beef and part of the inspiration for Hulu’s hit show “The Bear,” worked until he was admitted to Rush University Medical Center Feb. 24. He died March 1 at age 69.

More than 100 people attended the hours-long funeral services for the famed restaurateur and Norwood Park native Saturday morning at Cooney’s Funeral Home in Park Ridge.

Relatives said Zucchero worked hard and surrounded himself with people who had a similar work ethic — a fact that was evidenced by the phones that often buzzed and beeped during the service.

Among the crowd were former and current employees, customers, business partners, friends and family, who were constantly moving in and out, sharing hugs and laughs and always keeping the atmosphere lively.

While many had known Zucchero from different times in his life, Mr. Beef — which was closed Saturday for the first time since Zucchero died — was the through-line connecting everyone there.

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Ernest Moore started out as a customer, which led to him becoming an employee and friend of Zucchero’s in the early days of Mr. Beef, just a few years after Zucchero had purchased the location at 666 N. Orleans St.

While Moore stopped working at Mr. Beef as a full-time employee long ago, he said he still stops by to help out whenever he’s in town, most recently suiting up for a shift around Thanksgiving last fall.

“It’s like riding a bike,” Moore said. “Some things you never forget.”

He reminisced on his days at Mr. Beef: early morning food preparations that were later rewarded with games of Strike Out — which has similar rules to baseball and was a Chicago staple in the 1970s and ‘80s — and eventually led to cleaning the store sidewalk to back room on Fridays.

Moore said it’s hard to stay away because the group there was “family” — sometimes literally, given his brother and nephews worked there after him.

“He touched people from all walks of life… Joe was a part of the community,” Moore added, noting that the sandwich shop’s white bags became synonymous with a good meal because everyone knew where they came from.

Throughout the years Moore said there were a fair share of celebrity customers, including Walter Payton, Roger Ebert and Jay Leno.

Moore said Leno loved Mr. Beef before he became famous, stopping by for food after doing standup sets at nearby clubs, and causing lines to extend out the door after he mentioned the restaurant on his show.

Radio personality Matthew “Mancow” Muller said Zucchero was his first friend when he moved to Chicago decades ago. After stopping in several times, Mr. Beef became part of Muller’s routine in introducing his radio guests to Chicago.

“Whether it was Van Halen or Russell Crowe, every celebrity I had on my radio show I brought in there,” Muller said.

Muller credited “The Bear” with a resurgence in customers at Mr. Beef, something he said was much needed after COVID halted business.

“I’m glad he got to live to see the TV show become a hit,” Muller said. “It was great to go in there the last year and to just see it booming… He got to go out on top.”

“You couldn’t get more Chicago than Mr. Beef,” Muller said. “It won’t be the same without him.”

Zucchero was interred with photos of his dogs, as well as buttons featuring the cartoon character Mighty Mouse, and another stating “I’m gonna live until I die” — a nod to his love of antiques, Frank Sinatra’s music and what his family described as a “sharp” sense of humor.

He is survived by his wife Camille, daughter Lauren and son Chris, who continues Zucchero’s legacy running Mr. Beef.