ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
The new home of Lynnfield Meat & Deli will be at 142 Broadway (Route 1 North) in Saugus.
By LEAH DEARBORN
SAUGUS — Lynnfield Meat and Deli has been a local staple since 1992, but now the longtime family business is getting ready for a move this winter.
Owner Ron Cerra said they have been renting the building at 445 Broadway as tenants-at-will for the past five years.
The Cerras recently purchased the former Karl’s Sausage Kitchen on 142 Broadway in Saugus hoping to attract a bigger crowd after their move in February.
“We’re really trying to capitalize on the dinner rush coming home from Boston,” said son Joe Cerra, who has worked in the family business since he was 13 and will run the new location. “I want the Saugus crowd, but I also want to catch customers who commute north.”
Ron Cerra added that right now, many travelers go by the underpass and miss the deli altogether.
The younger Cerra said customers can expect a few small changes at the new location as the business shifts some of its focus toward more catering and prepared foods, branching out from a focus on butchery.
Ron Cerra got his start in 1952 at a butcher shop in Boston’s North End before opening Cerra’s Veal Company on Chatham Street in Lynn in 1970.
Joe Cerra said that as an adolescent with three sisters, cooking was a good way to get out of the house. He went on to attend culinary school at Johnson and Wales University.
“I just grew up around food,” said Joe Cerra. “It’s all I know. It’s my passion.”
A number of family members, nephews, nieces, and grandchildren, have worked at the deli on and off for more than 15 years. Ron Cerra said the deli also employs a lot of local kids over summer break, teaching them to marinate and other cooking skills.
Wherever the deli’s location, the Cerras have cultivated a loyal clientèle over the years.
One regular customer drives from Portsmouth, N.H., to buy his subs there. Another now lives in Florida, but makes a stop at the deli when visiting the area, even packing a cooler full of their meat to fly back home.
“Really, this (move) is just to extend what we do now,” said Ron Cerra. “Quality food, quality meats and catering.”
Leah Dearborn can be reached at: [email protected].