ROME — A new year, new opportunities. That’s the mindset for the owners of Mazzaferro Meats and Deli as they roll into 2023.

2022 was a devastating year for the Mazzaferro family, as their business went up in flames on April 29. It provided quite a change for the family-run business, but with tragedy and challenge came light and growth. “Business was good up until the fire,” says Joe Mazzaferro, “and relocating down on Railroad Street has been quite a change and challenge.” Joe co-owns Mazzaferro’s along with his brother, Brian.

The change and challenge he is referring to is that they are not doing the same amount of business as their former location on Black River Boulevard, and the size of the Railroad Street store location, which is 15-20% of the size compared to their former store, is also a factor. But what has not changed is their delicious food and full-service catering. Mazzaferro’s continues to make and sell deli meat, fresh cut meat, soups and hot foods. And as for the staff? Joe says they carried over pretty much the entire staff after the fire. “The people who want to come back once we open, there will be a place for them.”

Fortunately for the Mazzaferros, their Railroad Street location remained open because they do a lot of processing out of that store for different restaurants. The Railroad Street store was originally a house built by Joe and Brian’s grandfather back in the 1920s Their grandfather then opened a store that was attached to the home, which became Mazzaferro Meats. Then, when Joe, Brian, and their father began to run the business, they took over the house and enlarged the store. Joe and Brian have been running Mazzaferro Meats and Deli since the 1980s

The new location is projected to open this coming June in the same area but opposite of where they were. The entrance will instead be facing south instead of north, adjacent to where the produce stand was. The new building will be about 2,000 square feet bigger than the old one so that it can fit a larger kitchen and retail area. Additionally, their retail area will be larger. New for June will be a nice outside patio, where they plan on doing some smoking and grilling during the summer, and there will be a nice sitting area outside for customers to eat at.

What are they looking forward to the most? “An upgraded phone system, an improvement to our point of sale systems, and improved efficiency in all departments,” replied Joe. “We are going to have separate areas for things we do — a nice area for dry aged beef we do ourselves, and there are a few other surprises to look forward to.” Catering, hot foods, and soups will be pretty much the same as before, but “with some surprise new twists,” says Joe. 

Joe says first and foremost that he wants “the people in Rome and all of our customers to know how much we appreciate them coming down to the Railroad Street location. It’s really nice to see the support of the City of Rome, our customers, and the surrounding communities. It’s heartwarming.”

Mazzaferro’s is currently located at 100 Railroad Street and is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Catering is available.