Stefano's in Mansfield a Product of Dedication

Tom Bissen has been working in the food industry for 42 years, and brought his experience to Stefano’s in Mansfield 19 years ago.

“I had been working a lot for other people for years and I figured it was time to start making the money for myself instead of making it for someone else,” he said.

Bissen bought Stefanos with all his savings in August of 1994, and it wasn’t a start he would have liked.

“It was real scary,” he said. “For the first few weeks, it was just standing here staring out the window all day hoping I didn’t make a huge mistake.”

Bissen said he and his wife looked around for a year before they picked Mansfield to make home.

“This one looked to be about the best so we took the plunge,” he said.

Bissen said he was one of eight children in his family, and either cleaned up or cooked every dinner. He said this was his first lesson in cooking.

“Everybody had to take turns every night and no one had a day off,” he said. “I was always doing something, cooking, washing dishes, peeling potatoes, just helping out in some way.”

Bissen said the pizza he makes speaks for itself.

“We have people that come from 50 miles away to get pizza here,” he said. “I’ve been told it’s the best pizza east of the Mississippi by more than one person.”

Bissen said he goes the extra mile and buys ingredients on the higher end of the quality spectrum.

“We pay top dollar for the ingredients and put them together,” he said. “We make our dough and sauce daily and make a damn good product.”

Bissen added five of his eight sons work at the store right now, and all of them have at one point or another.

Bissen said his family and the customers in Mansfield have developed a real rapport, and know each other quite well.

“They’re like part of the family,” he said. “They call up on the phone and as soon as we hear their voice we know their order. When they walk in they don’t have to tell us their name we have their order sitting out ready for them.”

Bissen said they donate to the local youth organizations, mainly because it’s the kids in the neighborhood that really rack up the frequent flyer miles.

“We were voted the best place in Mansfield by the high school graduating class,” he said. “I like to do a lot for the kids in town, because they’re the ones that drive their parents to go where they want to eat.”

He added they always mark the half days on the school calendars to make sure they’re ready.

“On half days it becomes the high school cafeteria,” he said. “We sometimes have 50 or 60 kids lined up waiting to get in.”

Stefano’s Pizza is located on 30 Chauncy St. and is open Monday, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon - 9 p.m.