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.