A small, white building sits back from the street near the corner of North First Avenue and East Fort Lowell Road. The green sign by the street dates to the 1950s. The restaurant logo — a man dressed in chef's clothing tossing pizza dough — is painted on the front of the building. People may pass Mario's Pizza several times and never notice it.
"I get that all the time," owner Vince Vollero said. "The building has been here since probably 1958."
However, a small business does not survive for three decades without notice or loyal customers. Mario's celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
The joint was hopping during lunch on a recent Wednesday. Customers lined up at the order counter. Several booths and a few tables were occupied by customers chowing down on pizza and sandwiches.
Gabe Lopez and his friend William Rivas stopped in for lunch.
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"It's Tucson tradition. I've come here since they opened," said Lopez, 45.
His favorite? "The basic pepperoni slice," he said. "I like the thin crust, the fresh cheese and the pepperoni."
"The food is consistently good," said Rivas, 45. "Great price. Quick service."
You might expect the owner of such an establishment to be in his 60s or even 70s. Vince Vollero is 46.
In 1985, Vollero was tired of his job as a certified auto mechanic. Mario's owners wanted to sell — but he had no experience running a restaurant.
At age 22, after one week of on-the-job training, Vollero became the owner of Mario's Pizza.
"It just kind of happened . . . literally," Vollero said. "The reason I did it (bought the business) was because it looked easy."
The business became a family effort. Two months after he bought the place, Vollero's sister, Ann Charles, went to work for him.
"In the beginning, my mom and grandmother helped with part of the prep," Vollero said. "My grandmother helped with the financing."
Vollero said his dad helped out with the occasional repairs or electrical problems. He inherited two employees, but one quit, and he fired the second one two weeks later. Vollero and Charles kept the business running with a constantly changing lineup of part-time employees.
"The first five years were the hardest thing I've ever done," Vollero said. "The biggest problem I had was that people didn't respect me because I was so young. I had to fire a lot of people."
Charles, 49, manages the restaurant. "We had so many people saying that it would never work because family can't work together," she said.
The secret to their success, according to Charles, is the food and their customer service.
"The food is good and it's not expensive. I don't know another place in town where you can have a burger and fries delivered," Charles said. "If you've been in here more than a couple of times, employees generally remember your name."
The menu hasn't changed much in 30 years. Pizza is still the biggest seller.
"I added wings, poppers and a few sandwiches. I never followed trends," Vollero said. "This is a pepperoni, sausage and cheese neighborhood."
For the past 20 years, Chuck Zimmerman, 59, has eaten Mario's once a week. "It's consistently great pizza," Zimmerman said.
He said he asked Vollero to cater his funeral. "When it's my time, I want it to be more of a party. I intend to have it catered by Mario's," he said.
Now that's customer loyalty.
If you go
• What: Mario's Pizza.
• Where: 3157 N. First Ave.
• Phone: 622-3668.
• Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 4-10 p.m. Sunday.
• Web: mariospizzaonline.net
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