Cousin's Pizza in Mansfield a Family Affair

Frank Mylonas started working at Cousin’s Pizza in 1981, and has been working there ever since.

“If you enjoy hard work, it just becomes your passion,” he said.

Mylonas said he first started making pizza when he was 16 working as a pizza marker for a moving carnival. He said his boss, Dominic.

“He taught me how to make pizza,” he said. “It was fast paced, you always had to have pizza going. It was kind of cool.” Mylonas said Cousin’s was originally named when the landlord of the plaza let his cousin open the pizza shop.

“In senior year of high school I started working at Cousin’s,” he said.

Six months after starting at Cousin’s, Mylonas was able to purchase the shop.

“It grew a lot,” he said. “It’s a nice community with great people.”

Mylonas said his family originally moved from Greece to Massachusetts. He said he grew up in Brockton. He said his experience in the carnival helped to figure out what good pizza was.

“Everything is fresh,” he said. “Every night we make the dough. Freshness is the key.”

Mylonas said his pizza has seen quite a bit of the U.S. He said a tattoo artist friend of his from Easton used to come in all the time. Mylonas said he went through some serious hurdles to get his favorite pizza.

“We’d freeze them and he’d take them on the airplane as far as Hawaii,” he said. “I tell everyone my pizza’s been as far as Hawaii.”

Mylonas said he started with his parents, sister and later her husband.

“It was a real family thing,” he said. “Everyone says to me how did you become so successful. If it wasn’t for my parents being here with me from the start, I wouldn’t have been as successful. They helped so much in the business.”

He said he’d like his niece and nephew to take over when he retires.

“It’s been a wonderful 31 years, I’m just hoping they’ll take over someday,” he said.

Mylonas said looking back, he had an interesting experience that could be thought of as a fateful encounter. He said when he was in high school he played soccer for Brockton. As Route 495 was still not constructed at the time, the bus driver had to take Route 106 to get to Attleboro, and drive by Cousin’s.

“106 was just a bunch of fields mostly back then,” he said. “We were driving by and I thought Jees, that would be a nice place to have a pizza joint. Just as I was thinking that, I saw Cousin’s, and two years later I was working here.”

Mylonas said the purchase of the shop was more of a community effort from his friends and family.

“We didn’t have a lot of money,” he said. “I was born in Greece and my parents came here with nothing. I borrowed money from my neighbors, parents and Dominic to come up with the $30,000 for the deposit. A lot of friends helped get started.”

Mylonas said he’s now trying to expand the menu for more Middle Eastern flavors.

“We’re looking to do chicken kabob, steak tips, that kind of thing,” he said. “Although the pizza is still the number one seller.”

Mylonas said he sponsors youth baseball in Mansfield and donates to charity as much as he can.

“I never say no to anybody, especially for a fundraiser,” he said. “We’ve been supportive through the years, you really have to give back to the community.”

Cousin’s Pizza is located at 660 East St. and is open Sun-Wed, 10:30 a.m.-9:45 p.m.; Thurs-Sat, 10:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.