Josephine’s Brings Authentic Italian Flavors + Heartfelt Hospitality To Fruita

Jody Corey and Jeff Snook’s new Italian restaurant, Josephine’s, builds on their longstanding commitment to hospitality, community and cuisine in the Grand Valley. Josephine’s is the only Italian restaurant in Fruita, located on Mulberry Street, open seven day a week from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Corey and Snook, also the owners and operators of Spoke and Vine Motel and Fidel’s Cocina & Bar, opened Josephine’s doors to the community in October 2025.

When Corey and Snook were asked by the previous owners of the building to come see the space, Corey took one step inside and was immediately brought back to her childhood.

Photos courtesy of Josephine’s

“We walk in, and it is a big metal building, a shell,” Corey says. “It smelled like a mechanic’s garage. My grandpa worked in construction in Brooklyn and the smell and feeling brought me back.”

Today, a wood fired pizza oven’s warmth, light and natural scents waft throughout the dining room, bringing you into a space where you feel present and cared for. Corey and Snook bought the building and redesigned the interior to evoke a similar sense of home and ease that Corey felt when she originally walked into the room’s bare bones.

Corey says she and Snook knew they wanted to elevate Fruita by adding a cuisine that the town did not already have. Corey immediately knew she wanted to share her Italian heritage. She says she spent nearly every night of her childhood eating her Italian grandmother’s homemade dishes, and when her family did not eat in the home, they dined at Italian restaurants.

“Food was essential to my upbringing,” Corey shares. “The best conversations happen around a table. There is an energy and vibrancy to Italian restaurants. We want Josephine’s to feel like the restaurants I went to growing up in Queens. There is a heartbeat where the owners remember you and you feel like family. I haven’t found a place like that here, and I wanted to create that.”

Josephine’s is a full-service dining experience where you can be comfortable and nourished with friends and family. Corey and Snook create an inclusive space where there is always enough food. Josephine’s is the spot for both a romantic date night, where you linger over every course, and the post winter-adventure nosh, where you warm up with a casual Neapolitan wood-fired pizza and an Italian wine.

The menu is purposely petite, so you are guaranteed high-quality ingredients. Everything is made in-house — from the bread, pizza dough and many of the pastas to the sauces and Snook’s signature limoncello. Corey and Snook use as much local produce as possible. The menu is set for the winter season, with specials on the weekends. The vegetables may vary depending on the season.

Although Corey does not have her grandmother’s exact recipes, she has an exceptional memory for flavor. She says flavors and smells have the ability to evoke memories. “I think food has the ability to transport you and conjure up memories you have not thought about,” she shares. “Food can be curious. It can have a power over you and be a powerful experience.”

Inspired by memory and made for community, Josephine’s invites guests to slow down, connect and experience honest Italian cooking.

169 S. Mulberry St., Fruita, CO
970.610.3500
josephinesfruita.com

Originally published in the winter 2025-26 issue of Spoke+Blossom.