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About Us "We opened our first Italian Villa in Allen back in 1992," states Tony, one of the original founders and current Manager of The Italian Villa. "It was my parents, uncle and cousin, as well as myself. We bought the lease to our Allen location from my mom's cousin. He had started to build an Italian Restaurant, but in the process of construction he decided to sell it. So my family bought the lease from him and finished constructing the restaurant." "We opened in late October of 1992 around Halloween of all times. I had been raised around Italian food and restaurants all my life, and it was something that I was enamored with and enjoyed. I like creating something that people enjoy." "In the beginning, I was trying to attend college classes and run the restaurant at the same time. Even though I had plenty of help from my family, it was just too verwhelming and I eventually stopped going to school and concentrated on the family business full time." "Even though the hours were crazy, I enjoyed it. The relationships that you develop with your customers and how you get to know people through a restaurant business is great! That's what makes all the hard work worth it. I have always had a passion for cooking and to be able to do it for a living is great. The absolute best thing is when a customer comes to the kitchen and says, "Hey Tony...that was the best, Thank You!" That is what I find so gratifying about our restaurants." "Business was good and several Wylie customers kept inquiring when we were going to open an Italian Villa in Wylie, so we did! The Wylie location opened it's doors to the public in 2001. Some might ask "why Wylie?" but its a great little town, much like Allen. Wylie is growing and at the same time it has that small town atmosphere, the people are very friendly and outgoing." "Now my family and I have our hands full between the two restaurants, but ten years later it's still great. If you visit one of our restaurants, please feel free to ask for me and let us know that you saw our web site." Tony |
