Shop Name May Be Unusual, But the Faces Are Familiar

By MONICA CALZOLARI
ONEONTA

We ran out of pizza dough our first day in business,” laughed Kelly Tolley of Fatboyz Pizza and Badazz Bitez.

They opened with a soft launch a month ago, on August 2. Word of mouth spread so fast that Jordan Tolley, his mom Kelly, and Dave Baldo, whom Jordan calls dad, could not keep up with the demand.

Laughter seems to be the secret ingredient in this family-owned business. Family members crack jokes and share their enthusiasm from the minute you meet them.

Fatboyz Pizza is named for Kelly’s brother, Dave Wright, who died prematurely 12 years ago in his early 40s. Dave’s nickname was Fatboy. He had a beer belly.

Jordan came up with the idea of naming the business after his uncle. When they went to register that name with New York State, Fatboys Pizza was already taken and the state said they were not allowed to use “Badass” in the name.

So they decided to spell their name with several z’s in order to get their DBA registered.

Although they had just opened, Chef Jordan closed the pizza shop from August 31 through September 1 for the 12th Annual Biker Bash, a charity they launched in honor of Uncle Dave Wright.

Each year, the Tolley family raises money for a local family in need. This year, 56 bikers participated. Turnout was smaller than usual, according to Kelly, due to rain.

Jordan said, “One year, we raised money for Trinity O’Connor of Sidney, who was the same age as my kid, just 10 years old. She had neuroblastoma. My parents knew her parents.”

O’Connor later passed away from this form of cancer, which affects the nerve tissues.

Another year, the bikers raised money for a family who lost their house in a fire. Their insurance had lapsed and they had to rebuild on their own.

This year, the bikers rode in honor of Caitlyn Hilton for a second time. Cait is the youngest of six children. She has interstitial lung disease and needs to wear an oxygen tank at all times.

Traveling to her doctors, who are mostly in Boston and Syracuse, is expensive. Cait has been in and out of the intensive care unit quite a bit. Her mom, Elizabeth, works at Fatboyz Pizza.

She said, “Caitlyn wants to be a dancer for Taylor Swift and dreams about seeing her in concert one day.”

Kelly Tolley said, “Two tickets cost $10,000.00. We are looking for a way to make Cait’s dream come true.”

Taylor Swift has a concert in Florida this year. The family is considering improvising. They might sit in the parking lot to hear her perform.

Ever since Jordan Tolley graduated from Milford High School, he has been cooking. At age 19, he was a sous chef at the Cooperstown Country Club. He was a kitchen manager at Sloan’s NY Grill. He worked at The Depot and learned to make pizza at Roma in Sidney.

The Tolleys used to get compliments about the food they served at their football parties.
“Your parties are over the top,” guests would say.

So they did some catering and party planning before they met Mike, the landlord of 6730 State Highway 23, Oneonta.

Fatboyz Pizza and Badazz Bitez occupies the space that Azul Restaurant rented before expanding to Southside Mall. The chef’s mom said, “Jordon is a ‘comfort food’ foodie.”

In the future, Kelly Tolley plans to offer low-carb items for people with diabetes.

“I call these items shamelezz. Shamelezz Pizza has no crust and is served in a 7-inch tin with a fork,” she said.

It is a gluten-free option.

Kelly plans to introduce a low-carb macaroni and cheese dish made with cauliflower as well, that she calls “Mockaphony & Cheese.” She is also cooking up zucchini lasagna without the noodles.