Boca Grande pizza man resurfaces at new spot

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Fact Box

Antonio Trezza at a glance

Birth date: March 20, 1961

Family: Married 24 years to his wife, Phyllis, with two children

Home town: Salerno, Italy. Migrated in 1969.

Residence: Venice

Occupation: Owner of Lil Tony's Pizzeria

Favorite pizza: Pepperoni, anchovies and garlic

Antonio Trezza brought great pizza to Boca Grande two years ago but part-time island residents returning this season couldn't find him in his usual spot. Zoning issues had forced the Boca Grille to close and his pizzeria was lost along with it. He soon reopened as Lil Tony's Pizzeria in the Cape Haze Publix Plaza just one mile away from his beloved island. He still delivers pizza to the island with his special sauce and famous crispy crust. This week he tells what makes a great pizza, why people on the island are special and whether it's a myth Florida water can't be used to make a great pizza.

Question: When did you discover Boca Grande?

Answer: I worked on the island. I knew Bob Skidmore, the owner of the Boca Grille. He used to own Boca Grille. One day I started talking and we opened a little pizzeria over there.

Q: Is it fair to say you became an island favorite?

A: Yes, it's very fair to say. Island people are very, very, very nice people. They treated me well and I whoever gives me that kind of respect I'll double it back. That's the kind of person that I am. I'm telling the truth about that. You can ask anybody. I'll go out of my way if somebody treats me fair. If you don't treat me fair, I'll just stay away, you know what I mean?

Q: How did you connect with the island customers so fast?

A: My prices weren't, you know, people have the kind of attitude when they have a restaurant on the island: Oh, it's Boca Grande. You have to charge top dollar. I didn't believe in that. I believed in charging a fair price and trying to make friends more than anything. Those friends are the ones that are going to get you going during the summer. Because anybody vacationing, yeah, they are there for a couple of weeks, thank you very much, we appreciate your business, but then they're gonna be gone. The ones that stay there will keep you open. That was my aspect of running the business.

Q: Your business boomed for 18 months and then it was abruptly closed down by zoning issues. But business was good, wasn't it?

A: Business was excellent. We had a couple of issues, you know, so we decided to move on. Noise complaints was one of the issues, yes. A restaurant will be there no more. Prior restaurants had problems there, too.

Q: If non-business issues had not intervened, you'd probably still be there on Boca Grande wouldn't you?

A: Yes, I would. In a heartbeat. I loved the island.

Q: What made you decide to open Lil Tony's in Cape Haze just off the island?

A: Boca Grande. I'm close to it. (Laughs). Yes. I wanted to stay. I do still have a lot my Boca Grande clientele. They're still coming when they grocery shop at Publix, at least to say hi. And it's very appreciated they remember me.

Q: What first got you into the pizza business?

A: My wife's family and my family are both in bakeries and the restaurant business. I wasn't crazy for school in my younger days. I started helping out and one thing led to another and here I am doing the same thing. I should have went to school though.

Q: What makes a great pizza?

A: What has to be present is a crispy crust and the sauce has to be almost perfection. Without those two things you don't have a pizza because cheese you can buy anywhere. It's just a topping.

Q: Is it true Florida water makes it impossible to make a pizza as delicious as the ones up north?

A: Don't believe it. It's the matter of knowing how to do it. There's always a way to do it. You ask any kind of customers of mine. They'll agree with me.

Q: How many pizzerias have you operated?

A: This is my third actually. I had one prior in Venice. Tony's was a full restaurant but it was too big for me.

Q: You were forced to open a new restaurant in the height of the Great Recession. Do you ever wonder if that was the right thing to do?

A: I opened in September. This is the only thing I actually enjoy doing. It's the only thing I can possibly do that I've done my whole life. In a way I have no choice in it. If it wasn't here it would have been someplace else. I figure let's open here because I'm close to Boca and people around the Rotonda and Englewood area, they know me, so I figure I have a better chance of doing it here than anywhere else.

Q: How is business?

A: It's fair. It's not up to what I want it do yet but it's still a new business. Like when I opened in Boca, people had to get to know me. I'm hoping the same thing will happen here. On a good day I'll sell 40 to 50 pizzas.

Q: You're working long hours?

A: I'm open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day but 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. I'm the only one working the kitchen right now. In Boca I did the same thing except for the one or two weeks a year I shut down.

Q: What is the secret to your success?

A: Anybody who has my food and enjoys it, they always tell a friend. Then they come in and so on. I do get my complainers here and there, don't get me wrong, but you can't make everybody happy.

Q: What is the most popular pizza ordered from Lil Tony's?

A: Pepperoni or the works.

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