Not all that long ago, Casey Groves was a stay-at-home dad researching the possibilities of buying a small business. He stumbled upon a listing that closely resembled a restaurant he and his wife, Shaina Groves, had frequented for years.
“It said, ‘large patio, downtown location, video games’ — stuff like that,” said Casey Groves. “And I’m like, ‘That sounds just like Taffy’s.' So we got super excited. And just with that excitement, we said, ‘If it’s Taffy’s, we should just try for it.’” They did, and in January 2014, the Groves took over the iconic Taffy’s Pizza, becoming just the third owners in the pizzeria’s more than 40-year history.
Taffy’s Pizza started out as the personal residence of Bob “Taffy” Tafejian, who converted his house on De la Vina Street into the pizza parlour in 1973, after less successful stints with retail and ice cream. A decade later, Greg O’Brien bought the restaurant and operated it for more than 30 years, adding popular breadsticks and a delivery service — including, for a while, free pies to parents of newborns in Cottage Hospital — to Taffy’s list of attractions.