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鈥楢 little bit better every day鈥�: Tony鈥檚 Pizzeria betting on simplicity, good eats
The Nob Hill pizza spot opened in February in the former space of Mesa Provisions
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Tony Nethery built one of Nob Hill鈥檚 newest pizza joints around the idea that a great meal doesn鈥檛 need much 鈥� just quality ingredients and something cold to wash it down with.
At Tony鈥檚 Pizzeria, that means classic Caesar salads, sandwiches and New York-style pies paired with a beer, soda or even Kool-Aid.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a nice little pizzeria with a smaller, tighter menu,鈥� said Nethery, who has cooked professionally for about 30 years and opened the pizza spot in February.
The pizzeria鈥檚 menu is quite a bit different from the restaurant that came before it.
Before Tony鈥檚 Pizzeria occupied 3120 Central SE, the space was home to Mesa Provisions, an upscale eatery known for its small dishes of Southwest and seasonally inspired New American cuisine. The popular restaurant, led by award-winning chef Steve Riley, relocated to a larger space at 3009 Central NE last year.
Nethery, who鈥檚 lived in the Duke City off and on since 1998, heard about the former Mesa Provisions鈥� space from his current produce purveyor. He was looking to start his own business after cooking for other restaurants in San Francisco and sa国际传媒官网网页入口, including The Artichoke Cafe.
鈥淚 wanted to work for myself,鈥� Nethery said. He added the venture was further fueled by a 鈥渓ove of Italian food, culture and pizza鈥� and a desire to make food that his family enjoys.
Nethery began subleasing the roughly 1,800-square-foot space from Riley 鈥� and with a $200,000 personal investment, Nethery gave the space a facelift to differentiate the business from Mesa Provisions.
Today, the space is a little brighter and more open, and can seat roughly 50 people. The business also employs 22 full- and part-time employees, including Nethery鈥檚 20-year-old son.
鈥淚鈥檓 totally all for the community, and this is definitely a family business,鈥� Nethery said, adding he lives in the area and hopes to make the pizzeria a neighborhood staple offering good jobs and food.
Nethery said customers can spend anywhere from $15 to $50 at the restaurant, but the sweet spot for the average customer is $15 to $20.
While largely simple, Tony鈥檚 Pizzeria does have some unique, locally inspired pizzas. One is what the business is calling Abuelita Pies, featuring green chile pesto. The other, which Nethery will add to the menu soon, is a taco salad pizza.
The first two months proved to be 鈥渆xtremely hard,鈥� Nethery said. But now, 鈥渋t feels like things are traveling in the right direction.鈥�
鈥淭he community has been great. Every day, I'm grateful,鈥� Nethery said. 鈥淚t feels like the food's getting a little bit better and the business is getting a little bit better every day.鈥�
Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.
