Made in Massachusetts: Cape Cod Cafe’s frozen bar pizzas

BROCKTON, Mass. — Bar pizza is a specialty of the Massachusetts’ South Shore, but a restaurant that boasts it was the first is distributing its pies throughout several states.

“We didn’t set out to make a frozen pizza. We made a pizza and froze it,” said Jonathan Jamoulis, the third-generation owner and operator of the Cape Cod Cafe in Brockton.

His grandfather bought the popular local eatery in 1947, which has been serving up bar pizza for more than 70 years.

“It’s a 10-inch pizza. Sauce and cheese go all the way to the edge. Nice crispy crust, thin, it’s delicious,” Jamoulis said.

The sauce is a family secret. Jamoulis said he, his brother and his father are the only ones who know the recipe.

About 10 years ago, the family decided to expand their pizza operation beyond the restaurant and move into the frozen food market. A mass-production facility was built across the street from the restaurant.

Inside, cooks and machines work in a rhythm, forming the dough, ladling sauce, sprinkling cheese and sending pizzas through an oven for precisely 5 minutes and 15 seconds.

Now, Cape Cod Cafe’s frozen pies are in high demand online and can be found in about 70% of grocery stores throughout New England and upstate New York.

“We get requests for Florida, California, Colorado. We ship nationally. So … we’re shipping everywhere,” Jamoulis said.

Wondering why a company based in Brockton, 45 miles to the bridges, is named after the Cape?

“Way back when, in the ’30s, Route 28 which goes through Brockton, which goes through Main Street, was the original way to get to the Cape. So, people coming from Boston had to go through Brockton to get to Cape Cod,” Jamoulis said.

Source: https://www.wcvb.com/amp/article/made-in-massachusetts-cape-cod-cafe-bar-pizza/37664857

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