The Massaro family has their slice of life at Border Town Pizza

Laura Massaro has turned the former Pizza Factory chain into a family-friendly staple of downtown Blaine as Border Town Pizza. Laura is succeeded by Kara Massaro, her daughter, as the two run the family business together.

Border Town Pizza, 738 Peace Portal Drive, has been serving homemade pizza, pasta, sandwiches and more since Laura parted from the chain to create a more mom-and-pop style restaurant.

“I decided to de-brand and make it my own,” Laura said. “I get to make all my own recipes and go with what I wanted to.”

The restaurant serves meals featuring fresh ingredients and family-secret recipes.

“Everything is made daily,” Laura said. “We marinate all our own meats, we make our own sausage, we make our own chicken, we make our own just about everything.”

Managing Pizza Huts in Las Vegas, Laura learned how to make a pizza fast, and she has used that same timely mindset at Border Town Pizza.

“I want that pizza in the oven within three minutes after getting the order,” Laura said.

Her dedication to fast service comes from her desire to satisfy every customer who walks through the door. Laura emphasized that she wants the restaurant to be a place where families and kids can visit as a third place outside of home and work or school.

“There’s not a lot for teens to do in this area,” Laura said. “It’s nice to see Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation [District 2] doing a phenomenal job with the kids because that’s what we were trying to do here for so long.”

Recently, the restaurant hosted Teen Night for the first time since the pandemic. It took place in their newly renovated party room, which features a pool table and foosball table, among other entertainment.

“It’s really exciting,” Laura said. “We were super involved with the community for a lot of years, and everything went away.”

By welcoming outside families into their extended home, the Massaros feel like their pizza parlor is more than a restaurant.

“It’s definitely more like a home for us versus a restaurant feel,” Kara said.

Restaurant recommendation: Laura and Kara recommend the chicken bacon ranch pizza, the chicken parmesan pasta or the meatballs, which come as a sandwich or with spaghetti.