Sit down with Joe Johnston and his sons William and James at any of their Gilbert establishments, and you'll quickly discover something: This family doesn't just build restaurants and developments, they build community, one family dinner at a time, one field trip for local students, one act of radical generosity at a time.
Their story isn't what you'd expect. It's funnier, more human, and infinitely more relatable than the typical "successful family" narrative. It involves career paths that are completely swapped, a wife's brilliant 10-minute rule, annual badminton tournaments where nobody's actually good, and the kind of parenting that makes six-year-olds beg to wash dishes.
When Dreams Trade Places
"I was hell-bent on not doing anything in a restaurant," James admits, laughing. "I wanted to make furniture. That was my dream."
William, meanwhile, wanted to be a chef and run a restaurant.
Every summer growing up, the boys got a choice: work the farm or work the restaurant.
James chose the farm. Every. Single. Summer.
William chose the restaurant. Every. Single. Summer.
Fast forward to today: James owns Fire & Brimstone, beloved for its creative menu and warm atmosphere. William runs major development projects including Epicenter, having left restaurant management years ago.
"Did I know it was going to happen?" Joe asks rhetorically. "No. Really, no."
James: "I went to college for industrial design, got a job at an architect firm, and couldn't do the desk thing all day. It was driving me crazy. I worked unpaid internships during the day and had to make money at night, so I went to work at Liberty Market. I loved it. I was like, oh my gosh, I just wasted four years of my life. So I worked there for nine years until I could afford to open my own place. Met my wife there too."
William: "I still love cooking. I was GM of Liberty for four years. But I realized it wasn't a career I wanted to be in forever. An opportunity came up to work on the development side, and from there I just blossomed into everything else."
The irony isn't lost on any of them. Sometimes destiny shows up wearing the wrong nametag.
The Target Years and Other Lessons
Let's talk about the Johnston approach to childhood. No video games. Half an hour of TV per day. And absolutely no adult buying of toys at Target, no matter how much you begged.
James: "Mom would say, 'If you want that, make your own money and buy it.' Which at the time didn't make sense. We're like, well, you can buy it for me now if you want to."
But here's what they did get: The family built Vespas together. James still has the Mustang they constructed from the ground up. And perhaps most importantly, they learned that "Not my problem" wasn't cruelty, but rather a curriculum.
William: "Even at work, when we worked at a business that dad owned or was a partner in, if we had any issues and complained to him, he would say, 'Not my problem. Go talk to the person ahead of you and deal with it yourself.' Because if he just fixed everything for us, we would never learn how to solve our own issues."
William started as a dishwasher at Farm Grill for an entire year, despite having culinary skills. "It made me understand the importance of every position in the restaurant. Sometimes those who are the anonymous people within an organization carry the biggest burden load. Having that empathy and kindness was huge. Good things come from effort -they aren't just handed to us."
Now William's children are already asking when he can start working. "I've told my kids, you're gonna have to be a dishwasher. Go talk to Uncle James. They can't wait."
James: "My kids ask, can they work? They're excited to work because they understand it's an important part of being a Johnston."
The cycle continues, grease and all.
The Gift That Changed Everything
In 2015, the Johnston family did something that would make most developers choke on their coffee: They donated their farmland to create the Arizona Urban Agriculture Foundation, preserving it in perpetuity as an urban farm in Agritopia.
When Gilbert was exploding with growth and developers were paying astronomical sums, the Johnstons chose preservation over profit.
William: "The family is not owners of it anymore. We just support the foundation through our for-profit businesses. It's the idea of stewardship—leaving things better than we found it. Keeping this a farm forever at the scale it was probably wasn't the best stewardship role. So as we morph with the times, we do it in a way that's best for the community and not just ourselves."
Now all three host educational field trips regularly, James with culinary and agriculture high school students, William with college groups, their cousin Annie with elementary kids.
James: "Grandpa was very generous. If you're blessed in a way, it's your responsibility to bless other people too. That's always been a common thread for all of us."
The Sacred 10-Minute Rule
Despite countless expansion opportunities, both sons operate under an ironclad rule: Joe's wife's brilliant 10-minute rule. No business ventures more than 10 minutes from home.
James: "My goal was to make enough money to be comfortable and have enough time with my family. People ask us to open other Fire & Brimstones elsewhere. I'd probably never do it. The goal was good home life and family life. I still love coming to work, but I'm not here as long as I used to be because I don't need to be. To make my life more complicated for money that doesn't really benefit our family—that's where I'm at."
So when asked about Queen Creek? "No," Joe says simply. "The rule is the rule."
William: "Quality of life is super important. I coach basketball for the middle school at Gilbert Christian. My daughter's almost 14. Time flies. Sometimes being overly busy just for the sake of being busy when it's not necessary—you have to recognize that. Money is important, but excess isn't always."
They've turned down opportunities that would make most entrepreneurs salivate. But they've never missed family dinner at 5:30.
James: "This is one of the few places where I see kids outside still playing in the front street. Our kids run around with neighbor kids. We have a ladder over our fence to the neighbors behind us. Kids just run around being kids."
Badminton, Chess, and Being a Good Neighbor
Every year in Sedona at Orchard Canyon, the Johnston family brings out a portable badminton set.
James: "It can get a little heated. The kids get frustrated. We do it once a year. None of us are great. But we want to be."
William: "We're not really competitive. We're collaborative. If it's chess, JoJo's going to win probably." (Joe strategically joined the Gilbert Chess Club in high school instead of PE. "It was air-conditioned," he explains pragmatically.)
The family motto, from their Scottish heritage, is "Never unprepared." But their lived motto comes from something deeper.
Joe: "Home is more like a village here. It's the people we have around us, the relationships. I never feel like an anonymous person because I always run into people we know and love. Our church is here, our work, our friends, our family. It's a rich tapestry of village life."
His 50th high school reunion is coming up. He never left Gilbert. His sons never left. His grandchildren are growing up on the same soil.
William: "The intentionality behind what we do isn't just to make money. The goal is to make people feel like they're seen and special. We live in a world that's pretty lonely. We try to create spaces where people feel connected, part of the greater fold of Gilbert and not just anonymous."
James: "When I was younger, I wanted Fire & Brimstone to be the coolest new place, which it was for a bit. But the value is when you become an establishment where normal, everyday folks come in. We try to have something for everybody. We don't want anybody to feel out of place."
When asked what Gilbert needs as it grows, their answers reveal everything:
William: "Be good neighbors. Just being welcoming and supportive and kind. That's what makes Gilbert special."
Joe: "Everybody taking pride in their own neighborhood, picking up trash, plucking weeds. Don't assume somebody else is going to do it. Just do it yourself."
James: "More parks for kids. Not huge ones, just little spaces. Having more stuff for kids to do would be nice."
The Johnstons are terrible at badminton. They gave away a fortune in farmland. They refuse to expand beyond 10 minutes. They make their kids wash dishes and build cars and earn their own toy money.
And that's exactly why, when you visit any of their establishments, from Liberty Market to Joe's BBQ to Fire & Brimstone - you don't just taste great food. You taste home.
Visit the Johnston family's Gilbert establishments: Liberty Market, Joe's BBQ, Joe's Farm Grill at Agritopia, and Fire & Brimstone. Just don't ask them to open in Queen Creek.
"We live in a world that's pretty lonely. We try to create spaces where people feel connected, part of the greater fold of Gilbert and not just anonymous."
"My kids ask, can they work? They're excited to work because they understand it's an important part of being a Johnston."
Having that empathy and kindness was huge. Good things come from effort -they aren't just handed to us."