Islington Pizza – The Secret Isn’t Only The Sauce, It’s the Service

“It’s mayhem, but it’s good. It runs smoothly.”
 
Maria Tassiopoulos couldn’t have described the scene on a busy night at Islington Pizza any better. The phone rings off the hook. A line of customers stretches back from the counter. Delivery drivers come in and out the side door every few minutes. You see and hear the non-stop activity in the kitchen as orders are called, pizzas get moved around the oven, sandwiches are crafted, salads are tossed and jokes are cracked.
 
“It’s an organized hustle,” said Maria. “Everybody has their station. Everybody’s been doing it forever, so it’s almost like you can sense the people walking around you, leaning back, reaching, it’s just crazy. People are swerving and ducking and just missing each other. It’s what we do.”
 
Islington Pizza is everything Maria always wanted it to be – a neighborhood staple that’s now served the Westwood community for almost three decades. As we sit tucked in a booth, we chat about the growth and evolution of her family-owned business.
 
“Our first day of business here was December 26th, 1995,” said Maria. “I was considerably younger. My father used to own the spot where the current Dunkin Donuts is on Washington St. It was called The Coffee Grinder. My dad, mom, brother and I worked there full-time for three years and at that point we just wanted to be done. We both went to college and wanted to do something else. So my dad ended up putting it up for sale and Dunks bought it in October of 1994.”
 
To Demetrios Tassiopoulos, Maria’s dad, the appeal of operating his own restaurant was too strong. He was back in the game after 13 months and the day after Christmas in 1995, Islington Pizza welcomed its first customers. Maria and her brother, Evan, were on board. Perhaps a little known fact, the pies made at Islington Pizza today are the same pies made at The Coffee Grinder back in the day.
 
“It’s been the same pizza forever,” said Maria.
 
That secret recipe has attracted customers from Westwood and beyond as they travel Route 1A, and while “Pizza” is in the name, there’s more to Islington Pizza than dough, cheese and tomato sauce.
 
“Our food is extremely consistent,” said Maria. “We pound and bread our own fresh chicken breasts for chicken cutlets with our own bread crumbs and our own secret-spice recipe that goes in the bread crumbs. We haven’t changed it in over 20 years and I wouldn’t change it. Even if I found something that I thought was better, I wouldn’t change it because people love it. They say we have the best chicken parm around. And a hidden gem is the Sweet Asian chili sauce. You can get a Sweet Asian Chili Finger dinner or Sweet Asian Wings. It sounds exactly how it is – sweet and spicy sauce instead of a buffalo sauce.”
 
As Islington Pizza approaches its 30th anniversary, the Tassiopoulos family remains very busy. Mom and Dad live close by and still get delivery twice per week, and love what Maria has done since taking over the operation in Islington. Evan runs Pizzadoros on River Street in Dedham and her husband, Rob, owns Crisp, a pizza restaurant with locations in Walpole and Canton.
 
As the Tassiopoulos reach grows, the most important things remain the same, like Maria’s personal touch and friendliness.
 
“Everybody comes in, they’re like, ‘Hey Maria, what’s up?’ I know almost everybody’s name and what else can I say? It’s great,” said Maria. “I’m a people-person. I love to talk. I like to move. I don’t like to sit down at a desk. I like to keep busy. Even on my days off, I don’t lie down on the couch and watch TV.”
 
There’s no sitting down when you’re surrounded by mayhem. But it’s good… it runs smoothly.
 
Islington Pizza is located at 315 Washington Street. Stop by or call 781-326-8970.