Tuscan Slice celebrates 13 years in Waxahachie

Jonathan Evola, Tuscan Slice co-owner, recently visited with the Sun about the popular restaurant’s success, detailing how it came to be and the success he and his brother, Joshua, have enjoyed.

Tuscan Slice recently celebrated 13 years in Waxahachie (an anniversary marked with free cheese pizzas served to its customers). Jonathan and Joshua opened the restaurant in 2010, wanting to create a family environment for their employees and customers. The driving forces behind the restaurant began years earlier, though.

Originally from New York, the Evola family moved to Israel in 1981 to be missionaries. They lived in Israel for 11 years, surviving the Gulf War, before moving back to America in 1992. Jonathan said they flew from Israel to Dallas, Texas, where “they had no other connection besides (his mother’s) brother and Christ for the Nations.”

It was difficult to transition to a country they were not familiar with while also dealing with the trauma of the war, said Jonathan, who at 16 years old, moved out of the house, lived on the streets and started working in the restaurant industry.

“I was hired off the streets as a busser and a dishwasher, and I was given an opportunity,” he said. “I would come to work like I was on fire. I would work my whole shift without ever complaining, always had a good attitude, and I was always happy because I had a roof over my head while I was there (and) I had food to eat. I had people encouraging me along the way.”

Jonathan felt he had found his place in the restaurant industry, saying it felt “natural” from the very beginning. For the next several years, he worked every position from dishwasher and busboy to manager and operational positions before opening his own restaurants. Because he never graduated from high school or attended college, Jonathan learned everything from firsthand experience.

“There’s a lot of things about those companies that I thought were missing like human touch…,” Jonathan said. “I wanted to create more of a family unit because I don’t have a big family.

“I wanted to create a world where misfits like me can find their place and become whatever they want to become, whether it’s lawyers, real estate or somebody in the medical industry,” he said.

By 2004, Jonathan had opened two restaurants with New York style pizza. His brother Joshua had just graduated from a firefighter academy and wasn’t sure if firefighting was the right path for him. Jonathan said Joshua approached him and asked, “Can I get a piece of that cheese?” Jonathan’s reply? “If you really want to open up a restaurant, I’ll help you.”

The Evola brothers, with the help of their wives and families, began finetuning the details for their new restaurant. Joshua also had prior restaurant experience, working the front of house.

“Tuscan Slice is a combination of who I am and my family and then who Josh is and his family,” Jonathan said.

Describing himself as a “pizza fanatic” and Josh as an “outdoor enthusiast,” Jonathan said both brothers enjoy repurposing items. Evidence of that can be seen throughout Tuscan Slice – from the taxidermy animals to the historic items, like old washing machines and kettles, used for decoration, to the repurposed chairs and tables.

In their first five years, the Evola brothers saw tremendous growth in Tuscan Slice. They opened three more locations in Sherman, Greenville and Tyler and had more than 350 employees.

“We grew way too fast, and we did it without the corporate backing and the structure that all these big chains have,” Jonathan said.

In 2015, Jonathan stepped away from overseeing Tuscan Slice and handed the reins to his brother Joshua, who successfully led the business for the next seven years. In 2022, Joshua stepped away from operations to spend more time with his family and to enjoy the outdoors.

“It’s my turn to come back in and carry the torch,” Jonathan said, noting that the brothers have remained partners throughout, even as they have rotated the business’ operational lead.

Although their other locations have closed, Waxahachie never did and continues to serve up the food for which it’s renowned.

“The Waxahachie community has been so good to us, so supportive, through everything – through us having to raise our prices because of inflation, through COVID,” Jonathan said. “I would never want to leave Waxahachie. This is where Tuscan Slice belongs.”

Over the past 13 years, Jonathan said he’s learned what it truly means to be successful.

“Does success look like having a mansion and driving a Ferrari and being able to go to your island every weekend, or does success look like having healthy relationships, fulfilled relationships, with people that you love and care about?” he said. “That’s what success looks like to me now, but for a while there, I was so determined to prove everybody wrong that bet against me. I felt like I had something to prove because I didn’t get to graduate from high school, go to college … I didn’t have the opportunities that other people got. Now, I’m focused on the relationships and on people and making sure that my family knows I love them.”

From June to August, Tuscan Slice will donate $1 to the hearing department at Cook Children’s Medical Center for every Kids Make Your Own Pizza sold.

“My son was born deaf, and he has cochlear implants,” Jonathan said. “We donate the proceeds to (Cook Children’s), so that they can provide other kids that can’t afford cochlears because it’s a very expensive procedure.”

There’s a new project in the works, as well, with Jonathan saying he hopes to have Tuscan Slice Express, a lunchtime buffet with pastas, salads, pizzas and desserts, open by the end of the year.

Tuscan Slice, located at 401 N. U.S. Highway 77, No. 15, operates from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays and from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

For more information, visit https://tuscanslice.com/.

Originally published May 26, 2023 - https://www.waxahachiesun.com/business/tuscan-slice-celebrates-13-years-in-waxahachie/article_0dc84c90-fc07-11ed-9219-4f93608a7149.html