Central Maine Eats: Kasha Gray preserves family tradition as Gerard’s Pizza celebrates six decades in business.
Posted January 14: www.centralmaine.com
GARDINER — After 60 years, a Gardiner food staple is still going strong.
Gerard’s Pizza will celebrate 60 years of business on Jan. 20 with specials to celebrate the business and the community.
“We wanted to give back to the community that supported us for 60 years and kept us going strong,” owner Kasha Gray said.
Gray, 35, bought Gerard’s Pizza from her father, Claude Caron, who owned the restaurant for around 38 years. Claude Caron’s father, Real Caron, began the business in the 1960s with his brother and business partner Gerard, who later left the restaurant to open his own Gerard’s Pizza in Lewiston.
Longtime employee Jeff McCormick bought the restaurant in 2006 and ran it for 10 years. When he died in 2017, Claude bought it back from the McCormick family.
Over the years, Gerard’s Pizza had to withstand extreme weather conditions and even an apartment fire in the building next to the restaurant in 2015.
Gray bought the restaurant from her father in December 2023, about a week after a winter storm brought record flooding in Gardiner and caused damage to several stores on Water Street. Luckily, Gray said, the only damage to Gerard’s was to the kitchen floor and a water heater, which were replaced.
Ben Lamoreau cuts a pepperoni pizza Saturday at Gerard’s Pizza, which is preparing to celebrate 60 years in business in downtown Gardiner. The Water Street eatery was started in 1964 by the grandfather of the current owner, Kasha Gray. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
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Gray wanted to keep the family tradition going, so she went from being a stay-at-home mother to running the restaurant. The change wasn’t hard; it was second nature to her after working for many years at the pizza shop when she was younger. It was also a place to hang out with friends in high school.
“He approached me first. He said he was getting tired and ready to retire and I was glad I was able to financially take it over and keep it going and in the family,” Gray said.
She has kept things exactly as her father had it.
The anniversary specials are a way to give back to the community for supporting their family business for so long, she said.
A 10-inch cheese pizza for $1.50, a 10-inch pepperoni pizza for $2, among other specials, Gray said.
“I kept everything exactly the same,” she said. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. It’s been successful as long as it’s been because of keeping everything the same,” she said.
The anniversary specials will start at 11 a.m. on Jan. 20 and run as long as supplies last.
– Emily Duggan, Kennebec Journal
Image: Owner Kasha Gray stands in front of the counter in the restaurant her grandfather founded. Gray assumed ownership of the popular Gardiner restaurant just over a year ago. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal