The high-school set finds Tower Pizza and lines up
Gardino Fresco is spot's big brother
By Suzanne Cristallo
At lunchtime on N. Santa Cruz Avenue in Los Gatos, watch out for the jam of kids headed for the new Tower Pizza. Word-of-mouth has made the pizza-by-the-slice eatery where Bento's used to be the popular spot to go. With each 9- by 5-inch slice sold to a high-school student, a 16-ounce soda comes free. Note--this is for students only, and there is no foreseen cut-off on the offer. Co-owners Tom Jillo and David and Jackie Slewo are trying to show their appreciation to the teens who are giving their place the rush.
"The first day we opened, three kids came in," Jillo says. "The next day, there were eight, then 14. On Friday, 96 showed up, and we ran out of pizza. Three kids didn't get any, so I promised them free pizza the next time they came in." Now on weekdays at lunchtime, Jillo and Slewo are ready for the lineup, which begins around 11:40 a.m.
Jillo offers New York-style pizza pie with a thin crust and a creamy top. "I got tired of all the California-style pizza around with its thick crust and chewy topping," he explains. The difference with his pizza, he says, is "all in the dough."
Jillo devoted three weeks before opening his shop to perfecting the dough. "I went through 450 pounds of flour to make the dough perfect," he says, noting that determining just how much oil, water, salt and yeast mixed with the flour to achieve the consistency he wanted is what consumed the time. "I didn't care if I paid on the lease for three months without opening. I wanted to get it right." His mistakes ended up in the garbage. His success is what he now offers for $3 a slice ($2.50 for plain cheese).
Toppings include cheese, pepperoni, pesto, ham, pineapple, chicken, steak, salami, sausage, shrimp and ground beef. Pies are prep-cooked in advance; when ordered, they're are placed in the oven for finishing--a two-minute process. "We offer the biggest family-owned and prepared pizza-by-the-slice in town," Jillo says. Full 18-inch rounds also are available for about $17.
If folks see Tom Jillo walking briskly down N. Santa Cruz Avenue Tuesdays through Fridays around noon, he's on his way to his other restaurant, Gardino Fresco. After baking pizzas all morning, he hurries to begin sautéing ingredients for the Italian food he serves at Gardino Fresco in the evening. He says regular customers pretend to get confused. "They come into Gardino's and ask for large pepperonis," he laughs.
Jillo, 37, left Chicago in 1980 for Santa Clara, where he now lives. In a series of local Italian restaurants, he worked his way through busboy, waiter, prep cook, line cook and then chef. He bought Gardino Fresco in 1993, doing all of his own cooking.
Slewo, 40, also of Santa Clara, had grown tired of his job as a waiter and bartender at the San Jose Fairmont Hotel when Jillo approached him. Eager to be in his own business, he joined Jillo when the Bento's owner moved his restaurant to Santa Cruz. Besides the walk-in trade, the partners deliver to business groups. On Mondays, for example, Slewo can be seen stacking 25 pizzas and 56 sodas into his van for delivery to Hall Computers.
The only drawback to making pizza, according to Jillo, is the sore arms. "Everything's hand-tossed here. We don't have any machines [to stretch the dough]."
Tower Pizza, 151 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos. Open Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m.-midnight. 408.399.6441.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
