LIFESTYLE
APRIL 11,2018
ELONEATS
At Sal’s, family and community define the business
Sal Mazzurco follows his
father’s footsteps running the
family Italian restaurant
Selina Guevara
Elon News Network | @selinaguevara
Sals Italian Restaurant didn’t al
ways look the way it does now. Es
tablished in 1977, it was originally
a high-end Italian
_ cuisine restaurant,
FINE DiNING kind where the
Sal’s Italian tables are covered
restaurant white tablecloths
has been , n i
in business and fine glassware
since 1977. Burlington res
idents dress up to
sit down.
“Burlington has never been a
real high-end town,” current own
er Sal Mazzurco said. Mazzurco’s
father, who ran the restaurant
when it first opened, wanted to
start something new. He pulled out
all the stops of a gourmet experi
ence, but he soon found out that it
wasn’t the best way to connect to
the community.
IF YOU GO...
Cuisine: Italian food
Location: 402 Huffman Mill Road
Hours: 11 am. to 11 p.m. Sun-Thu,
11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Fri-Sat
Cost: $io-$i6
SCREENSHOT COURTESY OF SELINA GUEVARA
Sat’s Italian Restaurant owner Sal Mazzurco says he and his workers use 1500 pounds of flour for pizza dough every week.
A Family Affair
One day, Mazzurco’s father
folded up the white tablecloths,
put away the glassware and went
for more of a pizzeria-style restau
rant where people could relax with
their loved ones on a regular ba
sis. “He built the restaurant more
around families, which is what we
are known for,” Mazzurco said.
4 That mission - to build com
munity and focus on family - is
still at the heart of everything they
do today.
T Mazzurco grew up in the restau
rant and started working for his
dad when he was eight years old.
He had a few jobs at other restau
rants and a local tavern while grow
ing up, but he eventually grew tired
of the nightlife scene and ended up
running the family business.
Mazzurco became manager
of Sal’s Italian Restaurant a year
before his father died. Current
ly, he manages the restaurant
while raising his two kids, four-
year-old Giovanni and two-year-
old Gabriella.
To keep the family tradition
alive, Mazzurco still makes all
the food from scratch. Their most
popular dish is their pizza, closely
followed by the chicken parmesan.
Mazzurco said they use about 1500
pounds of flour for pizza dough
every week and cook 80 pounds of
WHAT’S COOKIN’
1500
pounds of flour for pizza dough is
used every week.
80
pounds of chicken parmesan is
cooked every week.
40
gallons of Sal’s special homemade
sauce is cooked in just one batch.
parm. Their special sauce is cooked
in homemade batches 40 gallons at
a time.
The menu contains more than
four pages of options. Entrees
range from $10 to $16 and include
meat dishes and salads in addition
to traditional Italian pizza and pas
ta cuisine.
Community Connection
Having grown up in the area,
Mazzurco feels strong ties to the
local community. He sees families
who have eaten there for up to four
generations. “We’ve built such a
regular clientele here in the Burl
ington market,” Mazzurco said.
In fact, Mazzurco stayed close
to home for college. He is an alum
nus of Elon University.
Elon students make up a large
part of his clientele, and Maz
zurco enjoys seeing the familiar
faces. “As a student, I got to know
a lot of people, and after gradua
tion, I knew a lot of people from
Elon,” Mazzurco said.
Because he’s been working at
the restaurant for so long, Maz
zurco says he likes to watch Elon
students grow up and come back
to Elon during Homecoming. “A
lot of them are very great kids,”
Mazzurco said.
Mazzurco sees some students
come in three to four times a
week, and he loves to provide an
environment where groups of
friends can hang out.
Occasionally, Mazzurco likes
to walk around Elon’s campus
with his own kids. “I like to
see how much the campus has
changed, and when I go back,
sometimes it blows my mind.”
Mazzurco also likes to go to
community events and give back.
For ElonThon April 13-14, Sal’s
Restaurant will be donating piz
za for the dancers. The restaurant
also sponsored a soccer field at
Joe Davidson Park.
He says residents choose to
spend money on local businesses,
so it’s important to donate locally.
“Community involvement
is a big part of the restaurant
business because it builds re
lationships with the locals,”
Mazzurco said.
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