For Joey Lucidi, restaurants have always been about more than what comes out of the kitchen. They are places where families gather, relationships form and, over time, a restaurant can become part of the rhythm of a community.
Lucidi learned that early. Growing up in Poway, California, he worked in his parents’ family restaurant, beginning as a server at 14 and taking on restaurant operations by 17. Those years gave him an understanding of both sides of hospitality: the warmth guests experience in the dining room and the work happening behind the scenes to make that experience feel effortless.
In 2013, Lucidi brought that experience to Peoria and took a chance on a restaurant concept of his own. He called it Haymaker, a name inspired by the idea of taking one big, knockout swing at building the kind of restaurant he believed could last.
The goal wasn’t to create a special-occasion destination. Lucidi envisioned something more woven into everyday life: a place for Saturday morning breakfast with the family, a burger on a Tuesday night or an easy meal with friends.
That first Peoria restaurant became the beginning of something much larger.
Today, Lucidi is the founder and owner of Westside Concepts, an Arizona hospitality group whose portfolio includes Haymaker, NW Coffee, Cantina Gueros, Copper & Sage, Maple & Rye and Four Corners Taphouse. Across its concepts, the company now employs hundreds of people throughout the West Valley, but the neighborhood mentality that shaped the original Haymaker remains central to Lucidi’s approach.
Behind the familiar comfort food is also an operation built around doing much of the work in-house. Nearly 90% of Haymaker’s dining menu is prepared on-site, with culinary teams spending hours each day prepping ingredients, hand-battering items and slow-cooking pork overnight. It is an approach designed to bring together the personality of an independent neighborhood restaurant with the consistency of a much larger operation.
As Haymaker has grown to locations in North Peoria, Goodyear, Verrado and Thunderbird, the concept has continued to evolve alongside the communities it serves.
That evolution can be seen in recent updates throughout the brand. Its longtime Goodyear restaurant underwent a significant remodel, drawing inspiration from the newer North Peoria and Verrado locations while maintaining the comfortable atmosphere regulars have known for years.
“Goodyear has supported us from the very beginning, so it was important that this remodel honored everything guests love about this location while giving it a fresh new feel,” Lucidi says.
The menu is evolving, too, while keeping many of the dishes longtime guests associate with Haymaker. New Harvest Bowls offer combinations featuring grilled chicken, blackened shrimp or salmon, while heartier additions include the Boss Hog Combo, Sonoran Egg Rolls and the shareable Haymaker Trifecta. A new lineup of Back Porch Refreshers adds a playful element with flavors like prickly pear, huckleberry, coconut and white peach.
For Lucidi, however, growth has never simply been about adding restaurants or menu items. More than 13 years after opening that first Peoria location, his original idea remains remarkably recognizable: build a restaurant people feel belongs to them.
It is a philosophy that has carried Haymaker from one Peoria restaurant to a growing West Valley brand, proving that even as a restaurant grows, there is still value in feeling like the neighborhood gathering place.