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 People in your neighborhood -- ROSLINDALE MAIN STREETSJune 24, 2011 Tony DeBenedictis has operated Tony’s Market on Washington Street for 42 years. This year, Roslindale Village Main Street honors Tony’s Market as Business of the Year. We caught up with the village butcher and opera buff on a weekday afternoon. (A recording of Luciano Pavarotti performing the role of Canio in Il Pagliacci was playing in the background.) Who is your typical customer, and what’s your best selling item? About 70 percent of my business is to individual customers The other 30 percent is to restaurants. Sausage would be it. Everybody says it is the best they’ve ever tasted. What brings people into a specialty butcher shop like Tony’s Market versus, say, a grocery store that sells everything under one roof? It’s me! It’s the opera, Pavarotti! (Laughs) First of all, top quality products. And you treat people with respect. That’s all it is. You can carry the best food, but if you don’t treat the people with respect, they don’t care enough to come back. If you get a good reputation for being nice to people, you get a good business. They visit you, because you treat them right. What are people surprised to find in your store when they come in? They like the way it’s set up. It’s more like an old fashioned type of store. This kind of store is dying. You hardly find this kind of store anymore. They look around and say, “Wow! Beautiful store. I never knew this was here.” What made you come to Roslindale? I started in East Dedham 48 years ago in November. Then urban renewal came in and bought us out. I went back to Italy for a while. Then I came back here. Somebody told me this store was for sale. The owner came from the same part of Italy as me [province of Avellino]. He was 65 years old, had just retired. He sold me the store. It cost quite a bit to remodel. Then, he worked with me for 15 years, until he died, 80 years old. What are you doing to introduce Tony’s Market to new customers? My stepson sells sandwiches and things at the Farmers’ Market. Before the Farmers’ Market, on a Saturday during the summer, after 12 o’clock, business would die. Now, with the Farmers’ Market, I’m busy all day Saturday. What do you like best about being in Roslindale Village? The people. I’m a people person. I come from a family of nine. I’ve been in business 48 years. What keeps me going? I’m a good ballroom dancer. I love what I do. If you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work. And when nobody comes in, I listen to opera. What’s the greatest opera performance you’ve ever heard? It has been quite a few. I was in Arena di Verona and saw Aida two years ago. I saw Turandot at the Met. But years ago, the Metropolitan Opera in New York used to come to Boston at the end of the season. They used to perform seven operas. I saw some of the greatest opera singers of the time. One of the best I saw was La bohème, with Renato Tebaldi and Carlo Begonzi. I saw Androgene with Franco Correlli and Mario Sereni. Then I saw Tosca with Corelli. And Otello with Tito Gobi – some of the greatest opera singers that ever lived! The best ever recorded is Ernani [by Giuseppe Verdi, recorded live at the Florence May Festival in 1957]. But my favorite of all time is Manon Lescaut, by Puccini. Category: Eat *************************************************** FROM CBS Local.com December 2010 Tony’s Market 4253 Washington Street Roslindale, MA 02131 (617) 323-7313 www.tonysmarketroslindale.com Recommended by Universal Hub’s http://universalhub.com own Adam Gaffin, Tony’s Market is home to what many people say are the best sausages around. Tony’s is an old school butcher shop and is run by, you guessed it… Tony. Tony’s sausages – sweet, hot and Greek — are handmade on the spot, but the Greek sausages have to be ordered in advance. Tony’s specializes in all kinds of meats, but also sells imported groceries, such as pastas, prosciutto, cheese and olives. The butcher shop is very popular, so it is suggested that you call your order in ahead of time to make sure you get what you want. ******************************************* Search Reviews Recent Reviews36 Reviews Catherine B Roslindale 4253 Washington St Roslindale, MA 02131 (617) 323-7313 Tony's Market Categories: Grocery, Ethnic Food, Meat Shops Neighborhoods: Roslindale Village, Roslindale 3/13/2011 Tony's is one of those great little gems that makes you really love your neighborhood. If you want good meat - fresh butchered from a guy who knows his stuff - this is the place to be. Was this review …? Useful Funny Cool ********************************************************** 7/8/2010 Brian "Methy Hobo" D. says: Both the lamb kabobs and grilled Italian sausage at Geoffrey's in Roslindale are worth their weight in gold on a hot night. If you can snag a table out on the patio I recommend bringing your dog, ordering a Hendricks and tonic, your choice of grilled meats and just relaxing until the gin/meat daze sets in. ********************************************** 7/8/2010 chris d. says: Brian -- the italian sausage served at Geoffrey's in Roslindale village comes from Tony's Market right next door. Tony makes the sausage himself about twice a week. It is by far the best sausage we've had in ages and tastes fantastic on the grill at home. ************************************** Elite '10 Ashley J.Roslindale, MA 5/21/2010 I heart Tony. I went in there today for the first time and I spent over an hour chatting with Tony. He takes GREAT pride in his shop and the quality of his meat. I told him I heard he had the best sausages in Boston and he beamed. He told me he had already sold out of the 50 lbs of new Greek sausage he was experimenting with and he was making more for next week. His meats are the real deal. Old school, very high quality. I am impressed. I can't wait to grill those sausages tonight and see if he really is the magician everyone swears he is. Check out Tony's and support this great local business. *************************************** Elite '10 chris d. Roslindale, MA 5/18/2010 2 photos 2 Check-ins Here Can't believe that I have not reviewed this place yet. We've been getting meat and mozzarella here for a long time. What tickled me to write this review was a Saturday purchase of some sausages for a spur of the moment grillfest we were planning back home. The sausages were *incredible* - easily the highlight of the meal and they were also the first leftovers to go as well in later days. We'll be back for a much larger order very soon. The other reviewers are right about weekend shopping - since they don't open on Sunday they start clearing out the fridge case by Saturday afternoon. Always best to hit them on Sat. morning or call ahead if you really need something in particular. Kate M. Suffolk, MA 3/7/2010 ******************************* I think Tony's is super-fantastic-excellent. You have to get there early if you're trying to buy sausage on a Saturday because it's always sold out by the afternoon. His recipe is fabulous and makes any recipe that much better. Tony and his staff are always happy to help you pick out the perfect cut of meat or put together a special order. We bought our Thanksgiving turkey from Tony's and it was delicious! It was obvious the bird was air-chilled rather than water-chilled, which meant there was a lot more flavor and the skin browned nicely. We also are regulars at Tony's to purchase pasta. I always thought pasta was just pasta, but the brands you can buy there are very tasty. Glad to have this neighborhood gem. ************ Phil in Roslindale written 1 reviews posted: Wed Mar 3 2010 Imported Italian groceries, PLUS a butcher shop. The best part about Tony's, besides the atmospheric tin ceiling and the operas playing on the sound system, is that he is a butcher who carves and grinds fresh beef and pork daily, right in front of you. You won't have to wonder about the "mystery" contents of hamburger meat, nor worry about putting yourself at risk for serious E-coli food poisoning, when you buy your hamburger from Tony. I had slashed hamburg meat from my diet, following a series of disturbing news reports about people getting sick from mass-produced ground meat bought in grocery stores. But now that I have discovered Tony, I''m back with burgers and meatballs! Check him out, and pick up some imported pasta while you are there. 0Comment(s)|0Photo(s)|0Video(s)|Report Abuse|Write a Comment ******************************* Rating bunny40 West Roxbury, MA written 1 reviews the best sausages in boston, ma! Made to order for you hots &,sweet ital #1 This little store holds OUR BEST ital grocery! No need to go into the N End!! We have the best right in our backyard! You'll find that the Sausages are to die for and so is Tonys smile! You'll be ooh-ing and ahh-ing all through your meal!Best advice, call your order in at least 2-3 day ahead.. made to order or if you are lucky, he always has some frozen ready to go for new cust's. All are made within a day or two of freezing! Best on the grill, also in GRAVY!!!(yup, the red one!!!) A very rare Jewel!! (former chef... I give Tony's 5 stars!!) Photos from this review (click to view) Videos from this review (click to view) A thank you to the "nosincererlove.wordpress.com" folks, whose blog had lovely pictures from the store. They wrote, in February 2010, in part... On our way back to Geoffrey’s, we saw this store right next door. We actually joked, because in the window was a sign that said something about giving meat to your Valentine. Not what you’d typically think of for a Valentine’s Day gift. We decided to check it out and see if there was something we could pick up to make for dinner that night. And there was. Tony’s is a traditional Italian market with a great selection of fresh meat and domestic and imported Italian ingredients. I made a bee line for the pastas when I saw my favorite kind. I love papardelle, but you don’t see it often in stores. I was so excited to bring some home and got to thinking about what to make with it. The perfect idea came to mind: tomato sauce with sausage. Coincidentally, Tony’s also had fresh sausage which is made on site. We picked up a few other things for the sauce before heading out. I love stumbling upon places like... these. ***** He must be doing something right! Maybe it is the homemade sausage or the quality meats and Italian cold cuts that have kept Tony's market a favorite for shoppers. This is an old time butcher shop with personal attention that you won't find anywhere else. 4253 Washington Street, Roslindale. 617- 323-7313. Posted by Roslindale Village at 4:31 AM 0 comments I love Tony's Market! | Facebook Tony is a cool guy with a mean knife and an eye for the best quality meats. Check out his website for more: http://www.tonysmarketroslindale.com/ ... www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=45085307324 - Cached 8/8/2009 (Celia) Tony is an adorable old man who has owned his old-timey little shop for 50 years. He sells awesome meats and Italian products and, most importantly, grinds his own sausage. Now that I've tasted them, all other sausages are dead to me. The Italian hots are the best sausages I've ever had. And even though he is probably around 80, he's getting married! I heard some other customers teasing him about his big day! Congrats, Tony, and long live your store. 7/5/2009 (Agnes) Tony's Market is the most important stop in my Saturday shop around Roslindale Village, which also includes Solera for wine, Fornax for bread, and Boston Cheese Cellar. ******************************* While calling ahead means I get precisely what I want and it's all ready when I arrive, most of the time I like to drop in and ask Tony what's good today - EVERYTHING! He'll ask me what I'm thinking of doing, how many people, etc., head to the meat case or walk-in and then to his butchering station in the back of the market. While he's carving, we chat about his business, his ballroom dancing, his girlfriend (now his wife), my job and family. After going there for several years, he knows what cuts I like but he'll often suggest something new. His beef is only USDA Prime and you pay for it but you can't get this grade at the supermarket chains. His lamb, pork & chicken are also awesome quality and mostly comparable to supermarket pricing. He doesn't carry every cut - no ribs or pot roasts, for example. For holidays, he'll carry special items like prime rib roast for Christmas & New Year's and whole lambs for Greek Easter (and folks travel from some distances to buy these). I've even tried goat when a special order customer didn't pick up. Tony makes his own hot & sweet Italian sausages, and Greek sausage by request, but be warned his hots sell out fast every summer weekend. He also grinds his own hamburger, and will grind mixes for meatballs (beef with pork) and such. Some of the area businesses like Geoffrey's Cafe and Sophia's Grotto also buy meat & sausages from Tony. Tony also carries good quality Italian pastas & tomato products, Italian coldcuts & cheeses. All in all, because of Tony's Market, I don't buy meat at supermarkets any longer. Hope Tony doesn't retire any time soon!. 5/16/2009 (Megan) ******************************************* Last time I was here I got the best fresh mozzarella I've ever had in my life, some great roasted red peppers and advice on where to go ballroom dancing. ************************************** 2/14/2009 (Mary C) I know the man that owns Tony's and he is an absolute DOLL. Their meat is always very fresh and good quality. I recommend it to meat lovers anywhere :] ************************************** .....AND FROM FACEBOOK! -- Information Category: Common Interest - Food & Drink Description: The greatest steaks and sausage in North America. Tony is a cool guy with a mean knife and an eye for the best quality meats. Check out his website for more: http://www.tonysmarketroslindale.com/ Privacy Type: Open: All content is public. ********************************** Admins • Hank (creator)09/21/08 Tony's is the balls by Mark Henderson at Insider Pages I love Tony's Market. Excellent meats and home made sausage. I go for the fresh mozzarella and imported pasta, like the REALLY wide pasta. He always has good opera playing. helpful (0) not helpful (0) comment share | ||||||||||
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