{"nrhp_refnum":"07001353","name":"Bono's Restaurant and Deli","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"15395 Foothill Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fontana","county":"San Bernardino County","state":"CA","lat":34.10643247500008,"lon":-117.46892623999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-01-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story commercial building at 15395 Foothill Boulevard (historic Route 66) in unincorporated San Bernardino County near Fontana, California. It began as a roadside produce stand in 1936 and was expanded into an Italian restaurant and deli in 1943 by the Bono family.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an important Route 66 commercial property that keeps a high degree of historic integrity from its 1943 to 1956 period. It served Route 66 travelers, wartime migrants and Fontana's growing Italian immigrant community, and it is one of the few remaining roadside markets of its kind along that stretch.","narrative":"Bono's Restaurant and Deli sits on Foothill Boulevard, a stretch of the original Route 66 east of Fontana, California. The Bono family opened it in 1936 as a small roadside market selling juice, olives, wine and local goods, in a stucco and light green tile building with arched wooden trellis doors. In 1943 the family expanded it to the south and west, turning it into a full-service Italian restaurant and deli. They glazed the arched openings and added painted red and green stripes, large signs and decorative grapevines to catch passing drivers. The nomination ties the expansion to heavy wartime traffic on Route 66 and to Italian steelworkers arriving for the Kaiser Steel mill, who made Bono's a social hub. The building keeps its original tile, stucco, signs and grapevines. It was listed for its local significance as a Route 66 roadside business, with a period of significance from 1943 to 1956.","period_of_significance":"1943 to 1956","architect_builder":"Built by the Bono family","architectural_style":"Modern Movement/Moderne (described as streamline moderne)","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still operating as a restaurant and specialty store; the 1970s plywood paneling was removed in 2006 to reveal the original tile and stucco.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.5461-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/07001353.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860732","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bono%27s_Restaurant_and_Deli","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16844402"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-bernardino-county/bonos-restaurant-and-deli-07001353/"}