Baked lies and burnt truths: The story behind Stash’s Pizza

Stavros Papantoniadis, the owner of Stash’s Pizza, was arrested on March 16, 2023. He was convicted by a jury on three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor. According to NBC news reports, he assaulted an employee who planned to quit, threatened others with deportation, and even chased one worker down Route 1 in Norwood. These weren’t just workplace disagreements, they were violent and deeply harmful acts that exposed a darker reality behind the business many of us thought we knew.

Stash’s Pizza has always been a familiar part of my life. Whenever a carnival came to town, my friends and I would end the night with a slice from Stash’s. It wasn’t just a pizza spot, it became a tradition. 

To get a deeper perspective, I questioned two longtime customers who had been going to Stash’s for years. I wanted to understand how they felt about the recent news and whether it changed the way they viewed a place that had once felt like a second home.

Ayomide Olumuyiwa is a long time customer of the restaurant. His last visit was on July 9th and has been dining there for the past 10 years. He stated that the people working there were different and that the food didn’t taste the same. It was said that the only possible reason for this is the new management. Despite everything that’s been going on within the restaurant, he feels every employee involved deserves the justice they seek. He just really hopes that they can step it up in the culinary department. 

Another customer I interviewed, Andres Oliveria, mentioned how the last time he’s been there was over two years ago and said that “The food tasted good only because Stavros knew the workers weren’t getting paid, but couldn’t complain because they had no paperwork to be in this country.“ The Spanish workers worked in the back of the kitchen while his management team had white people working in the front taking orders and they were friendly.

Their experience reflects something many others have felt; subtle changes that now feel like signs. Based on this interview, and conversations with others, it’s clear that the service and quality at Stash’s have been going downhill ever since the controversy began. What was once a beloved, dependable pizza shop now feels unfamiliar. The warmth, the consistency and the connection people once felt is no longer there.