Tony Vaccaro Brooklyn Pizza Company, Sky Bar & 4th Ave Yoga
by Tyler Woods on Nov. 09, 2012, under Uncategorized
I have to admit, I was never a real pizza person. I just never cared for it. I was simply a late bloomer. I finally, in my 30′s I developed a taste for pizza. It was not a food that I jumped for joy for, well it wasn’t until I ate pizza at Brooklyn Pizza Company that I kicked my heels up and said, “I love pizza!” With that said, Tucson Biz Beat proudly salutes Tony Vaccaro Brooklyn Pizza Company and his other businesses on 4th Ave.
Let’s face it we all have our favorite, and Brooklyn Pizza Company seems to be many Tucsonans favorite pizza because it always has people standing patiently watching the hand tossing of that wonderful dough as they wait for that mouth watering pizza to create what I call pure palate pleasure. Their pizza is just that good.
What I like about this pizza is there are no frills or lace. There is no stuffed crust, or thin or thick crust. There is no deep dish or any of the other gimmicks out there. No, owner Tony Vaccaro takes the complication away. His pizza is so good he only sells one size and one kind of crust with your choice of toppings. “We don’t try to upscale people,” Tony says, “We want to make it easy.” Tony makes it so easy that people stand in line for a wonderful taste of that pizza.
I like the fact that you can go next door to Sky Bar, which Vaccaro owns. You can sit and watch TV, or listen to music, or be outside on 4th Avenue watching the people. Sky Bar has games, entertainment, telescopes, open Mic night and drinks galore. They make their own lemonade, ginger ale and is home of the perfect cup of iced coffee for a buck! They serve drinks, beers and other alcoholic beverages that go perfectly with pizza.
Still not convinced that Tony has it all going for him? This amazing man, who opened Brooklyn in 1996, decided to make not only Brooklyn Pizza Company solar, he made Sky Bar solar as well. He believes deeply in “doing things creatively that helps the community,” and help the community he does. He employees about 60 part-time people at the pizza place, about 20 people at Sky Bar, and wait a minute, we are not done with this amazing man yet, he also owns 4th Ave Yoga and employees Tucsonans there as well. His business feeds into our community while conserving energy.
How much does he conserve by going all solar? 80,000 gallons of water is saved each year, 29,700 lbs of CO2 which is the biggest contributor to global warming is saved each month and about 160,000 lbs of coal yearly. It took 5 long years and he did in three installments, So why did he decide to do this? It’s simple, he says, “I want to leave this world in a better place than how we found it.” He doesn’t want to see the desert destroyed. He has respect for not only his community, but the environment within his community. I believe this makes his pizza taste even better!
I don’t want readers to think I am biased with Tony, so I asked a variety of people sitting at Sky Bar what they though. I got great feedback like, “Best place to get a buck iced coffee” to “perfect pizza and great people working here.” One person said they came because of the concept. No matter what the reasons are, people come and enjoy these businesses that Tony owns. Even his employees stated it was a great place to be part of. Tony has gained respect from his workers and his community.
I was unsure how to title this story because Tony Vaccaro owns three successful businesses on 4th Ave, and he is respectful of our environment, to our needs and has compassion to this community. “I care,” he says “I care a lot in general.” So thank you Tony Vaccaro for Brooklyn Pizza Company, Sky Bar and 4th Ave Yoga and your deep compassion for the Tucson community. Tucson Biz Beat proudly salutes Tony Vaccaro and his successful businesses on the Avenue. I personally tip my hat to this most wonderful man who is so aware of Tucson and the environment and using creative ways to give to this wonderful community. Thank you Tony!
