Author: Jeffrey Li, BSU student
Rosie’s Pizzeria is a staple for the community of Braintree, MA. After interviewing Greg Karterakis, the owner of Rosie’s, I found out that Rosie’s is no ordinary pizza shop. If you are a native of Braintree, you know, or have at least heard of Rosie’s. From customer service to food quality, this Pizza Shop is an iconic restaurant for Braintree. Even renown Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports rated Rosie’s Pizza a 9.2 out of 10, and he has rated thousands of pizza restaurants.
The reason for this high praise is because of the food. Rosie’s uses the best quality and most fresh food, like Boar’s Head deli meats, non-frozen meat that’s marinated overnight, pizza dough is made from scratch, as well as a unique pizza sauce and mozzarella that is shredded in house. Rosie’s also has a famous buffalo sauce that is delicious on anything. Besides having great food, people return because of the great relationships with the employees and Greg himself. Regulars are treated like family, and if you stop by you can tell by the great atmosphere and welcoming staff.
To find out how Rosie’s reached this popularity I asked a few questions regarding the history and business of Rosie’s. Opening in 1972, Rosie’s has been through everything from recessions to this current COVID Pandemic. This is a family business, and Greg is a 3rd generational owner. Greg has never thought of operating a different business and would change absolutely nothing, as his love and passion is with the business. On top of this Greg is community oriented, as Rosie’s support and cater to many businesses in the area, as well as sports leagues. No wonder why people leave such great reviews.
The main business challenges Rosie’s faces are during times of economic downtrends like the recession and this current pandemic. With people budgeting, eating out less, and uncertainty of the future, restaurants took a significant hit as sales decreased. Through ups and downs of sales reductions, and vendors and suppliers shut down causing increases in supplier prices, Rosie’s and Greg did not falter. They remained optimistic and did not lay off employees and retained as many as they can.
he biggest impact was when the lockdowns occurred where many people stayed at home. Some of Rosie’s biggest customers come from local businesses and schools that cater from Rosie’s. With schools, events, businesses, shifting to being at home and canceling events, this had the biggest impact on sales for Rosie’s. However, Rosie’s is making it through with help and support of the community and generosity of their customers, but the sales are still low compared to pre-COVID.
With the easing of lockdowns and increase in vaccinations, business has started to pick up again and will hopefully continue and return to normal soon. It says quite a bit about Rosie’s as the public image and strong support from the community came out when it was most needed.
A lot of businesses have transitioned to use more technology. Rosie’s has an updated ordering system, where all orders are recorded on a computer system, making processes easier and convenient. Additionally, everything is done in house. Rosie’s is not listed on delivery apps like Uber Eats, etc. All deliveries are done by delivery drivers in house and to order one must either go in store or call the restaurant. I asked Greg if technology would help in any processes, but it doesn’t seem to, as all the locals return consistently. Rosie’s does not have much advertisement as their name is spread around by word of mouth. That’s how popular Rosie’s is – they do not need to rely on advertisement to be successful.
Visit Rosie’s Pizzeria at:
305 Pond Street in Braintree, MA.
Contact them via:
Phone: 781-843-3168
Email: rosiespizzeria@gmail.com
Website: www.myrosies.com
Facebook page: Rosie’s Pizzeria