11/02/2021
When we reopened over 16 years ago, we just wanted to serve up the same good pizza, wings, and subs that everyone was used to. But it wasn’t the food that made Family Pizzeria special…it was you guys- the community. The long days didn’t seem as long when someone would stop by that we hadn’t seen in a while or would poke their head in the kitchen after they were done eating to tell us how much they enjoyed their lunch or dinner. It had been a good run, but all good things must come to an end and with my age creeping up there, it was time.
I want to thank the Stafford community as whole for all your support, especially through the struggles of Covid. We’ve loved being a part of your birthdays, graduations, weekly dinner traditions, etc. We’ve gotten to see your kids grow up, go to college, start families of their own—and all that is what made this place what it was. A special thanks to the Stafford County Sheriffs Office for their unwavering support-- even when we caused traffic jams without giving you a heads up, or I yelled at you for pulling someone over and blocking up the whole damn parking lot. You know, the only ticket I’ve ever gotten in Stafford County was from a state trooper…So Sheriff Decatur, I’ll start to watch my speed more carefully now that we’re closed.
We’ve had some of the most loyal customers throughout the years, and not just at this location. We had customers that had been coming to Family Pizzeria for longer than I’ve even owned the restaurant (bought it in 1985), customers that travel from Woodbridge for their weekly pie, folks that have brought their kids, and now their grandkids. It still amazes me the devotion our customers had to my humble pizzeria. I do not say this lightly—We had some of the most loyal, dedicated customers I’ve ever seen patronize any business. I do want to give a shout out to one family that stood out our last couple weeks… the Martinez family has been coming in for quite a while, but these last two weeks Pompeyo would come in to pick up food for his wife, Maribel and two kids every day… while he was picking up his food for that night he would place his order for the next day to make sure they were stocked up (we even saw him twice a day a couple times)-- That’s the kind of dedication you don’t see very often.
We will continue to post on here (as long as Facebook-- or meta, or whatever the heck it’s called now-doesn’t shut us down) and monitor our messages and email. Keep an eye out for the date/time of the memorabilia sale.
For those that were wondering—the final count of the dollars on the ceiling came out to $570 (plus a couple random international bills). With the addition of the $570 collected from the various auction items we will be making two donations, one to the Stafford American Legion and one to the Fredericksburg VFW post 3103 (As some of you may know my dad was a WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veteran and was very involved with these two organizations).
Once again, we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.
Mike (and Lindsay)
