LYNN — Hayward’s Restaurant, a popular Lynnfield Street establishment, will close next week after more than 40 years in business.
Hayward’s, at 125 Lynnfield St., will close April 27 — it has been sold to new owners, Enrico and Jaime Mancini for an undisclosed price.
The couple will be opening a new restaurant, Dock 125, in place of Hayward’s, in June.
Taso Mavros, 50, a Lynn resident and the owner of Hayward’s for the past 15 years, said his health was a factor in deciding to sell. He was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in his tonsils last year. Although doctors say he’s cancer-free now, he’s still getting treatment.
“I just can’t work 15-hour days anymore,” Mavros said. “We worked at it (Hayward’s) very hard. We built it up and did good business there. We built a good relationship with the customers and life throws you curveballs and you have to take care of yourself and your family before anything else.”
Mavros put the family-owned and operated restaurant up for sale over the summer, and the sale is expected to close on the same day Hayward’s will shut its doors. The property is assessed at $216,100, according to the Warren Group.
When Mavros bought Hayward’s from the original owners, the Haywards, he owned another restaurant at the same time, Oceanview House of Pizza in Salem, which was seasonal. He wanted a year-round restaurant.
Regular patrons of Hayward’s would know that it serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and specializes in seafood. The new owners plan to continue serving breakfast, lunch and dinner and incorporating some of the seafood staples from the Hayward’s menu, according to Jaime Mancini.
Mavros, who moved to Lynn from Greece when he was 9 years old and graduated from Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, grew up working in restaurants — his parents owned restaurants in Salem and Cambridge.
Mavros said he’ll miss the restaurant business, along with his customers and employees. He’s happy the establishment will stay family-owned and operated under the new owners. His wife, Nancy and daughter, Amanda, also work at Hayward’s with him.
“We’d like to thank our customers for all these years that they supported us and we wish the new owners, Enrico and Jaime Mancini, all the luck,” Mavros said.
Jaime, 45, and Enrico Mancini, 46, are Lynn natives, high school sweethearts who dated throughout their time at Lynn English and celebrated 25 years of marriage in November. The couple is in the midst of moving back to Lynn from Wildcrest, N.J.
Jaime said she worked at Hayward’s when she was a kid, from 12 to 25 years old. The couple moved to New Jersey in 2010, where they opened up and operated a restaurant for seven years, selling it in the summer of 2016. She said they also leased an oceanfront restaurant and a coffee shop, which were both seasonal, but decided not to renew either lease this year.
She said they kept track of Hayward’s being on and off the market for the past couple of years, before ultimately being able to purchase it.
“Since we sold our restaurant down there, we decided the best thing to do would be to move back and be close to two of our children and do what we love to do,” she said.
The couple’s two sons, Enrico Jr., who will be working in the restaurant, and Benjamin, live in Lynn. Their daughter, Mackensie, lives in New Jersey.
Jaime, who also works as a realtor, said it was exciting to come full circle to own a restaurant she worked at as a kid, a well-known landmark. Her time in the restaurant business has also included a stint as a manager at the former Red Rock Bistro in Swampscott.
Dock 125 will be a year-round grill-style restaurant, which will be keeping some Hayward’s menu staples. There will also be salads, burgers, steak and pasta dishes. Enrico, a cook, will be running the kitchen.
Jaime said the establishment will undergo four to six weeks of renovations. The name, Dock 125 is a play on its address and from it being on Sluice Pond.
“We’re going to close down and do some serious renovations throughout the dining room and bathroom,” she said. “We felt a new look warranted a new name.
“We’re looking forward to coming back to our neighborhood where we grew up and putting out good food, fresh local food, and hopefully everybody will like it.”
