Stephen Prisco was not going to go into the family business. He graduated from Dowling College with business and accounting degrees and took a job with an accounting firm. He immediately hated it, but stuck it out for a few years because he was learning. That is until he had a seaside chat with deli owner dad Stephen Prisco Sr.
“He changed my whole career path,” Prisco remembers. “I bought my first deli from him. That was eight years ago. Then I bought another one.”
He now owns Prisco’s Gourmet Deli on Montauk Highway in Mastic and Back Country Deli in Yaphank. His two sisters own Wine Country Deli in Calverton.
“We’re a close-knit family,” says Prisco, whose younger brother is a NYPD sergeant. Prisco grew up in Center Moriches and remembers making his first bacon and egg sandwich while standing on a milk crate. Throughout his career Prisco senior has owned stores from Farmingdale to Calverton, to Riverhead and plenty of places in between.
Prisco’s philosophy for success is simple and has served him well.
“As long as you’re working hard, everything else falls into place,” says the husband and father of two sons. “It just takes hard work and a little bit of smarts. You also have to communicate with your customers. Talk to them when they come in. Get to know them. It makes a difference.”
Prisco and his staff know regular customers so well that when they see them drive or walk up, they start the person’s order.
“We’re different from a restaurant,” Prisco explains. “With a restaurant people don’t come in everyday or three or four times a week. We are at a different price point, but we face some of the same inflationary challenges. Five years ago, a dozen eggs cost fifty-seven cents. Now they’re six dollars and twenty-four cents. Our customers understand that the price of things have gone up and we only raise prices when we have to. They know that if we raise the price of a sandwich, it is to keep providing the same quality ingredients.”
Prisco says taking care of his staff of eight years is another pillar of his success.
“I have staff who have been with me the entire eight years,” says Prisco, who adds that a large part of his off-season business is catering. “I don’t go out searching for catering jobs. It is usually because one of my customers has recommended me to his company. I can say that there are few better than us at catering.”
Prisco credits Thomas Jefferson for his mantra for his success as a caterer.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail,” says Prisco, who serves a seasonal menu. “We’re always trying to make something different that uses what is here now. The thing that is great, unlike restaurants, we are not married to one style of food. We’re also learning something every day. And, while I bought my first deli only eight years ago, I’ve been in the business twenty years. I grew up in the business, and I want to set something up for my kids as they get older. My dad didn’t try to push me into the family business, but I would like for my kids to be deli owners, if that is what they want.”
Prisco says that beating expectations is how he became successful and how he’ll have a great legacy to leave his children.
“That’s what the customer wants,” Prisco says. “That’s why they recommend us to cater for them. It is called ‘customer intimacy.’ You get to know them and what they want. This concept can be replicated in any business. I am a curious guy, so when someone new comes in, I ask them what they do for a living. Where they’re from. Customers appreciate that. My first store was in Mastic, and its seasonal. It would be ideal if we could just sell bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches. There is a lot of money out there. You just have to figure out how to grab it.”
Catering is how he learned to grab his share. It is about making money, but it also is about being reasonable with his staff well and leading by example.
“I want to do right by them,” Prisco says. “I’m in this for the long term. This business has treated me well. I know my wheelhouse, and running a deli and catering is my wheelhouse. We have a lot of blue-collar customers, so I’m not going to sell a six dollar cup of coffee. They come in and know the coffee is two dollars. My catering customers know I’ll deliver a good product on time as promised.”
Prisco enjoys being in business with family.
“It works, as long as there are enough slices of the pie,” he says of working with siblings.
Does he have advice that has served him well on the road to success? Yes, he does.
“Besides ‘work hard and don’t take the easy road,’ ” Prisco says. “You ain’t done nothing if you only do it half way. Put all you got into it and expect to work around the clock for the first five years. There is no such thing as easy money. When I bought my first deli, I did it with a two-year note, and high payments. You have to know your wheelhouse, know yourself. From the giddy-up, I never saw myself as an employee working for someone else. I like to make my own rules.”
Todd Shapiro is an award-winning publicist and associate publisher of Dan’s Papers.