One of Altoona’s best-kept secrets is LaJo’s Italian Specialties. A little neighborhood market with a reputation for big flavor, owners Julia and John Laura have been serving their customers with premium quality Italian foods and great conversation for 40 years. LaJo’s offers a variety of domestic and imported deli and grocery items and carries a beautiful assortment of Italian bowls, plates and platters to artfully adorn your dining table. The imported olives and cheeses are fabulous. Julia and John also serve their own meatball and sausage sandwiches for carry out. Most notably, LaJo’s is known for its all natural sausage. Available in 19 varieties from chorizo to traditional sweet or hot Italian, LaJo’s sausage has no preservatives, additives, fillers or skins. Available by the pound at LaJo’s and most recently, locally, at McLanahan’s Downtown Market in State College, the product has gained a following by discriminating taste buds in many local eating establishments as well. The owners count The Corner Room, Champs, the restaurants of Dante’s Inc., and all of the Faccia Luna locations (State College and the Washington, D.C. area) as their customers. A visit to LaJo’s will give you a taste of nostalgia as well as delicious food. To get your taste of this Altoona institution, take the 17th Street exit off I-99 to Eighth Avenue, then follow your nose a few blocks to the market on the corner. Mangia! - SCM