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‘We’re here for them’: Red Lion’s Golden Crust Pizza celebrates 40 years in business

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‘We’re here for them’: Red Lion’s Golden Crust Pizza celebrates 40 years in business

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If you’re driving through Red Lion, odds are you’ve passed Golden Crust Pizza.

The townhome-like building still looks just as it did back in the ’80s, when owner Vincent Caltagirone opened up shop at 59 E. Broadway.

For the first-generation Sicilian, pizza wasn’t something that was in his blood, but it did always fascinate him.

“I was intrigued, and I loved watching people make pizzas,” Caltagirone said. “I learned the process, stuck with it – and it scaled from there.”

Following years of trial and error in his pizza-making journey, 25-year-old Caltagirone opened up Golden Crust in 1984. They started out selling Neapolitan style pizza, pan pizzas, stromboli and lasagna, all of which remain on the menu today, 40 years later.

The restaurant name was inspired by the Golden Nugget casino and hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, a logo Caltagirone loved.

In the early ’90s, Caltagirone bought the building next door and created an adjoining doorway through the pizza shop’s kitchen that led to Vincenzo’s, an upscale BYOB Italian restaurant that now serves as Golden Crust’s dining room.

When the restaurant acquired a liquor license in 2010, the business model started to shy away from the upscale Italian restaurant and established a taproom in the back of the restaurant. Now, Golden Crust serves over 40 beers on tap, made locally and across the country. And their rotating tap list can be found online at untappd.com/v/golden-crust-pizza-and-taproom.

The menu has grown throughout Golden Crust’s 40-year run, including the Big Bite pizza, created by Caltagirone. The 18-by-12, thick-style crust baked in a sheet pan and cut into eight large squares was added on the menu in the mid-’90s. You can even order a Mini Bite which comes with four slices.

And the menu offers more than just pizza. Giant sub sandwiches served on Italian rolls delivered fresh daily from Philadelphia, come served cold or hot. Cheesesteaks made Philadelphia, California and Italian style are also on the menu, as well as fresh made salads, calzones, Italian pasta dinners and more.

The upstairs dining space, which serves as an event space for large parties, at one point were apartments, and before that it was the Caltagirone home, where he lived with his wife Maria and their sons for six years before moving their growing family.

40 years later: ‘We’re here for them’

Golden Crust has developed a loyal following through the years, and when it was announced on social media that the restaurant hit a milestone, the community showed its support.

Many congratulated the business; some expressed that Golden Crust is their go-to spot for weekend pizza, others call it their favorite restaurant in Red Lion.

“We are a family-run business,” said Caltagirone who works with his wife as well as his sons and daughter. “Coming in every day, doing what we have to do to give the demand that our customers ask for, we’re here for them (customers).”

“This business has put me through a lot of birthdays, anniversaries, weddings − I’m very fortunate for the community supporting our family business.”

“He said I never had to work a day in my life,” joked Maria, who Caltagirone met 41 years ago in Montreal, Canada. While she found herself working more than she might have initially expected, as she stood in the kitchen, her smile lit up while talking about the business and her family.

His son Michael expressed his joy for working side-by-side with his parents since childhood. “We grew up here. It (40 years) makes me happy for my parents who put a lot of work in here − it’s been a blessing.”

Caltagirone said his have children expressed interest in taking over the restaurant some day and continuing their parents’ legacy. Until then, here’s to another 40 years.

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