5-23
When Methuen icon Don Smeriglio announced last month that he was selling Borrelli’s Deli on Merrimack Street, his customers panicked. All over social media, local residents expressed concern that the new owners may change the menu items and thereby change the unique nature of Borrelli’s.
A week after Borrelli’s was purchased by the Tomacchio family of Methuen last month, Paul and Jim Tomacchio appeared on the Paying Attention! Podcast with (now former owner) Don Smeriglio to talk about the turnover.
People are in a panic, they are afraid you are going to do away with some of the menu items that they love. Do you have any plans on changing any of the existing meals or signature sandwiches?
“Absolutely not,” Paul Tomacchio said.
“We are going to add menu items, but we are not going to be changing any of the existing items or specialties that Borrelli’s Deli customers have come to love over the years.”
“Don is a legend, Jim Tomacchio added.
“We have been going there for years. I actually knew Jenny and Billy Borrelli. It’s kind of surreal to be here now. As far as moving forward with Borrelli’s, we are looking at opening Sundays. We are not going to do it right away, we are going to go slow, take our time, and make sure everyone there is comfortable and we really know the business. There are so many moving parts to any business, and it takes an adjustment.”
“We are blessed by the people Don put in place so, I say ‘if it’s not broke, you don’t have to fix it’.
We aren’t going to change anything. We may put our thumb print on a few new things.”
LATER HOURS
“We are looking at staying open later in the evenings,” Jimmy Tomacchio continued.
“People say to me, you drive by there on your way to work and they are closed. Then when you drive by on your way home, they are closed. The only day for them to come is Saturday. So, again, not right away but we are looking to stay open a little later.”
Jim said that his son Paul is an amazing chef with great ideas. We asked Paul what his ideas were for upcoming new menu items.
“We are definitely trying to keep everything the same. All of the existing menu, the sandwiches, the meals to go, the sausage, all of that is going to stay the same. But we do want to make some additions. Maybe some extra meals to go where we can add some of our family specialties, while keeping what they already have. We’d like to introduce our family recipe for sausage as well. So, we are going to have a Tomacchio family recipe just added on the end of the sausage menu that they already have.”
A NEW PREMIUM MENU
“I also want to introduce an artisan lineup of sandwiches. There are so many super high-quality meats out there that people in the area don’t use. I really want to incorporate that into a premium menu. So, we are still going to offer what we’ve got and what Don has established, but introduce some different items and put our thumb print on it that way.”
The clientele that Don has built up over the years is incredible and that’s just by word of mouth. Now to keep that well-oiled machine and implement what we know about social media, the world is our oyster.
Asked if they had any other new ideas for menu items. Paul said that while they have no plans for pizza, they are considering spinach and/or meat pies.
“I just want to emphasize again, for all of Borrelli’s customers, the only thing set in stone is that what’s already there is going to stay there. We are not going to do away with any of the current items on the Borrelli’s menu.
In Haverhill, we own ‘Stacks’; it’s the old Lasting room,” Jim Tomacchio said.
“Our son Anthony owns ‘Loaded’ which is right behind it.”
“He does some crazy stuff there. Korean dogs and loaded fries and it’s top notch. ‘Stacks’ is a restaurant and bar we have 24 taps, boozy shakes with and without alcohol. We have a 26 foot by 46-foot deck out back, and we are doing the final install now on a permanent awning.
Paul added that ‘Stacks’ offers great pub food. “We’ve got smash burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, appetizers. We are working on Nacho’s.”
“My first restaurant was a burrito place called Stuffed. They had such a huge following. Eventually we closed down to do other things and it’s worked out well for us.”
“My first job was actually at Borrelli’s about 14 years ago.”
“We also have a place in Salem NH called Par 28,” Jim said.
“It’s in the old Coca Cola building. We have coal fired pizza and all the fixing that go along with it. We have a 34-seat bar, seven golf simulators and we have eight axe throwing bays. It’s a family business, so my son Joe and Jimmy are also involved in our endeavors.”
“We also own a pharmacy off exit 2 and we do specialty compounding, and ship all over the U.S. We also have a medical currier company. We were instrumental in COVID and vaccine deliveries, we do nuclear, fertility and a whole host of medical supplies.”
When asked how they started in business Paul said they started out selling sausages at various fairs throughout the state.
“We would go and sell our sausage subs, and that business has been around since 1953. That’s how we got into the sausage business. We pulled out of that and then when I opened my business Stuffed, that’s what proved to the family that we could really do this. Then we took on a larger endeavor with Stacks, and then even bigger with Par 28. So, it just kept growing to the point where we now have Borrelli’s!
“We are elbows deep into the business,” Jim added. “The whole family is partaking in all these endeavors.”
“We don’t just hire people and have them run it. Every business we have, has our family touch on it.” ◊