The new store will be located in the current location of Cafaro’s Deli, 3639 E. Tremont Avenue, which has been in business since 1959, and is expected to be up and running by Thursday, May 1.
The store will combine the Menna family’s quality meat selection with a full line of Italian specialties like mozzarella and Panini in a one-stop-shop environment.
“We will keep up Menna’s tradition of customer service,” said Michael Menna, owner of Menna’s Meats. “I am combining my butcher business with their deli business.”
Current customers of Menna’s Meats will still be able to get their fresh, custom cuts of beef, poultry and lamb, along with the Cafaro’s popular specialties.
The shop will provide curbside delivery to clients’ homes or businesses, as well as full service door-to-door delivery for long-time customers.
The larger location will also allow Menna to expand his catering business, which has grown tremendously over the decades
Menna said the new deli would include four walk-in refrigerated boxes, allowing him to stock even more cuts of delicious meats and Italian foods.
Even with all the changes, he said he’d never forget his loyal Miles Avenue clients.
“If our long-time customers can’t make it to us, we will be more than happy to deliver their meat and other products to them,” Menna explained.
In March 2007, the driving force behind Cafaro’s, Joseph A. Cafaro succumbed to cancer at the age of 80. The community mourned the loss, losing a pillar of the Throggs Neck community, for residents and merchants alike.
Cafaro’s Continental Delicatessen was originally located across the street from the old Interboro Theater, and moved to its present location near the corner of Philip Avenue in 2001, the site of the formerly well established Joe’s Deli. Well liked and respected in the community, Cafaro continued to work in the deli into his golden years.
He was a World War II veteran. Captured by German forces during service, Cafaro spent several months in captivity behind enemy lines.
His amicable nature, which was not just rooted in his old-school belief in hard work, said his son and business partner, Joe Cafaro, but also in his deep appreciating for the people of Throggs Neck.
“He didn’t get a chance to thank people for their patronage,” Joe said. “But he considered Throggs Neck home – and he truly cared about the people of Throggs Neck. He saw many people grow up and have kids of their own.”
Menna said the tradition of strong family ties was one of the traits he admired about Cafaro’s, when he purchased the establishment from John Brown, who had recently bought Cafaro Deli, as the family dealt with their father’s illness.
He noted, “We will keep up the Cafaro tradition of a family business in our new location.”
