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Prince Pizzeria owner Steve Castraberti rushes a pizza to a customer during the restaurants 65th anniversary celebration on Monday. (Spenser Hasak) Purchase this photo

For 65 years, Prince is a slice of Saugus

Elizabeth Della Piana

by

SAUGUS — Prince Pizzeria has officially been leaning on Route 1 for 65 years Monday, becoming a staple in Saugus and around the North Shore.

To celebrate, the restaurant was offering one cheese pizza per party for 99 cents, one meatball per person for 65 cents, and a can of Pepsi per person for 10 cents.

Preparation for the celebration, which was set between 4 and 7 p.m., began early with the kitchen prepping 1,300 pizzas and 300 pounds of ground beef. Within the first half hour, 100 pizzas had already been sold.

As 4 p.m. approached, customers were already lined up out the door and wrapped around the building to celebrate the establishment. Inside, they were congratulating the owner, Steve Castraberti, on his milestone.

Castraberti said he was humbled to be celebrating 65 years.

“It’s amazing. I mean, I’ve thought about it for a long time … And business is very strong right now. And the staff is very stable, which is great. I have a wonderful staff. I’m 72, and I can’t figure out where I go from here, but I still enjoy working and have a really good staff,” Castraberti said.

He said that the secret to the pizzeria’s success, which wasn’t really a secret, was staying the same.

“We keep the food the same, the prices reasonable, and keep the culture the same,” he said, adding that the restaurant has so many families who come in with young kids, and that it’s a space where they can enjoy food and be a little noisy.

“I often hear stories about how often parents will ask children, ‘Where do you want to go?’ They describe this place. They’ll say the pizza place or the ice cream place. It’s very gratifying,” he said.

Castraberti didn’t want to do anything big for 65 years, but he did want to do something to thank the customers and staff.

“I’m always amazed. There used to be three generations of families coming in, and now some are even up to four. And new people will come in, look around, and try to figure out the place… And grandparents will bring their grandchildren here all the time,” he said.

Castraberti also said a big attraction is that Prince Pizzeria is one of the few restaurants on Route One that isn’t a chain.

“This is the only one … My father always said, ‘You have one place, and you should be able to run one place well.’ I’m hoping to keep it just like this regardless of what happens,” he said.

Castraberti also mentioned that the Giggles Comedy Club, part of the restaurant, was celebrating 35 years and still going strong, with comedians entertaining crowds.

“I want to stay consistent, but still try to grow somehow. The wholesale business has the biggest potential to grow,” he said, continuing that the restaurant delivers fresh pizzas twice a week and that they were also expanding on the catering side of things.

When asked about fond memories in the past 65 years, Castraberti laughed a bit, saying he has so many.

“I’ve been coming here with my father since I was around 10 or 11 years old. He’d bring me to work with him because I’d want to go, and after about six or seven hours, I’d say, ‘Dad, I’m really tired.’ Well, he called the state police, and a couple of times they picked me up. The barracks were in Lynnfield, and they’d bring me home to Burlington. After that, I said, ‘Dad, I don’t think I want to work a 12-hour day this young,'” he said.

Castraberti said the restaurant has also brought in a lot of music and other forms of entertainment over the years. He remembered a moment when comedian Bill Burr, who grew up in Canton and started at Prince, called to do a set before his show at Fenway Park.

“My grandfather … He wouldn’t let people cut their spaghetti. He would sit at their table and take a spoon and fork and show them how to twirl the spaghetti,” he said.

A recent moment that stuck with Castraberti occurred over the weekend, when the restaurant lost power during the storm. He said that while they do have a generator, there were still some issues, and that the staff had handled it perfectly.

“I just really enjoy the people. I enjoy them getting older and having the next generation come in, and then the next one. And having them still swear by this place,” he said.

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