Family celebrating 10 years as owners of restaurant

LYNN – Taso Mavros and his wife, Nancy, are celebrating their 10 years of ownership of the landmark Hayward’s Restaurant on Sluice Pond at 125 Lynnfield St., and touting its recently updated waterfront deck.Taso, who formerly owned The Oceanview Restaurant at Salem Willows for eight years, bought the Lynn restaurant known for its seafood in 2004 from the Hayward family of Lynn, who operated it for about 25 years.”I bought Hayward’s because it’s open year-round for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” he said, whereas The Oceanview was a seasonal business.”This place is known for its seafood and we get fresh seafood deliveries every day,” he said, adding that Hayward’s has also attracted a loyal breakfast crowd over the past decade.”We’ve added a lot of things over 10 years, changes to the menu and updating things,” Taso said, noting that the renovated patio with new furniture seats 40 and in the restaurant seats 48 inside.”This past winter was one of our worst here (because of extreme weather),” he said, which he said is why he focused on improvements to the deck in time for the summer.”We have a lot of customers enjoying breakfast out there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings,” he said.The dinner menu at Hayward’s has also evolved, Taso said, and features daily specials that have proven popular: steak tips on Tuesdays; chicken parmesan on Wednesdays; chicken and steak teriyaki on Thursday; and baked haddock and lobster pie Fridays through Sundays. He noted there is also a lamb special on Sundays.Hayward’s also has a variety of gourmet pizzas, calzones and salads. The restaurant is closed on Mondays, open Tuesday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.; on Fridays and Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sundays from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.Asked the secret to success as a restaurateur, Taso said promptly, “Good quality food. If I’m not going to eat it I don’t serve it. It’s all about the quality.”Taso said his wife Nancy also works at the restaurant and their daughter, Amanda, a student at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, also works at Hayward’s when she is available. The restaurant employs a staff of 10 part-time workers.