WAUPUN — Pizza is one thing Tony Evola knows, and it’s the only thing his customers want.
“I was born in Sicily and came to America with my parents in 1973,” said Tony Evola, owner of Tony’s Pizza. “My dad was in America several times before that. He made pizza in New York City, and later in Chicago. He was a shepherd — a sheepherder in Sicily — and would go back and forth.”
Then Grandé Cheese hired Tony’s father, Gaspare, because he was an expert in making goat cheese.
“That’s when we moved to Waupun,” said Tony who was only 15-months-old at the time.
Besides numerous trips over the years to see relatives back in Sicily, Tony, a 1990 graduate of Waupun High, has stayed and prospered in Waupun.
There was a brief experiment with a second location in Mayville, and people there still talk about how good it was.
“My sister Caterina and her husband Tomasso, and Danyel, who was my fiancé at the time, and I opened a second Tony’s Pizza on Main Street in Mayville in 1994 but because of health problems we sold it after only 10 months. It stayed in business for a while, but is closed now,” said Tony.
His wife, Danyel (Perre), is a 1995 graduate of Waupun High.
“I got a job here, and the rest, as they say, is history,” said Danyel who still works on the weekends, and tends to their three children (Gaspare, 10, Nico, 7, and Vinny, 4) during the week.
Tony said over the years the recipe to their pizza has never changed, but that the varieties have.
“Today, of you can eat it, you can put it on a pizza,” he said. “But pepperoni is still the most popular.”
And what makes a great pizza?
“Freshness is the secret,” he said.
To celebrate their 35 years in the business, the Evola family is offering an all-you-can-eat buffet Nov. 2 through 5 after 4 p.m. The price is $3.99.
“This is a way to show our appreciation to our customers for their business,” he said.
Tony’s Pizza is at 420 Fond du Lac St. For delivery call 324-9162.