Prince Pizzeria opens Prince To Go

SAUGUS – Prince Pizzeria?s second location, Prince To Go, is open for business on Route 1 North in Saugus after a “soft opening” Friday afternoon.?We?re going to kind of wing it,” said Prince owner Steven Castraberti. “Tonight if we open, if somebody comes in, great. If nobody comes in we?re going to cook and work on getting the place set up. (Saturday) we?ll be a little closer to being ready and Sunday will be another sort of practice day. We?re ready for customers, but we?re probably going to find there are some snags here and there.”Prince To Go is located at the old Karl?s Sausage spot and will feature much of the same menu as the main restaurant, but food will be available for takeout only. Online ordering will also be available in about a month, said Castraberti.?We came in here in the middle of September and had to redo everything from the floor and the ceiling to the electric and plumbing,” said Castraberti. “Everything was more challenging than I thought it was going to be. Everything took more time.”Castraberti spent much of the afternoon putting the “finishing touches” on the store while plumbers and electricians worked to complete the gas lines and ventilation.?The last thing to be done is get the food over here, put money in the cash register and put up the sign that says ?now open,?” he said as he struggled to push a giant open air refrigerator into place.The restaurant features a red brick floor and a new marble counter top with a glass deli case while the kitchen shined with brand new metal sinks, stoves, ovens, counter tops and exhaust hoods.Once the gas piping was finished, Castraberti fired up the new pizza oven for the first time, giving it an hour to heat up before its inaugural pie.?The magic number is 550 degrees to cook pizzas,” he said.There?s also a section with specialty Italian foods like canned tomatoes, olive oils, vinegars, cookies and crackers.?Our retail section, designed by my wife, is all set to go,” said Castraberti. “There are a lot of things here you can?t get in grocery stores.”With a second location on the opposite side of Route 1, Castraberti said he?s hoping to catch commuters heading home from Boston.?We want to be ready at 2 o?clock because that?s when the traffic really picks up here,” said Castraberti. “People traveling from the city who don?t want to turn around are going to basically come here. I think Mondays and Tuesdays in the afternoon we?ll be busier than any days of the week.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].