Greggo’s Pizza & Subs carries on the tradition of Greek Tony’s family Italian dining

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Six years after the closing of a Woodlands institution that fed the bodies and nourished the spirit of countless thousands of diners for decades, the next generation has opened up a new restaurant that carries on the family and community heritage.

Woodlanders past and present are familiar with Greek Tony’s, a pizza-and-subs restaurant that operated on Sawdust Road since 1985 (and in Conroe for a few years before that). For decades, families, visitors, sports teams, and more came to enjoy the home-cooked Italian fare that proprietor Greg d’Avignon created in his kitchen. The entire community was devastated when the restaurateur passed away from a rare form of lymphoma in 2011. Though his son, Ryan, kept the restaurant alive for another five years, it eventually ceased operations.

Today, Ryan celebrates the rebirth of family heritage with the grand opening of Greggo’s Pizza & Subs, named after his father and carrying on the same delectable tradition to the delight of diners everywhere. Greggo’s is located at 2466 FM 1488, right on the line that separates The Woodlands from Conroe, in the former location of Zazza Pizza Café. The family dining establishment is open seven days a week from 11 o’clock in the morning until late in the evening.

Ryan’s goal was to come up with a restaurant concept that used modernized cooking and dining techniques while maintaining the venerable Greek Tony’s vibe. Many familiar and favorite original items are on Greggo’s menu – including the bestselling ‘Number 2 Italian Sub’ – and Ryan made sure to use as many of the original Greek Tony’s vendors as possible, including the meat distributors, which turned out to be a major task to accomplish. Ryan himself makes all the dough to help ensure that the specialty pizzas remain the same.

Woodlands Online was able to sit down with Ryan d’Avignon, who took a few minutes from his busy schedule to tell us some of the family history of Greek Tony’s and the future of Greggo’s.

“Our family came to Texas from Michigan back in 1982, when I was four years old. My father Greg had a warehouse job, and was good friends with Tony, a ‘real’ Greek who – like Dad – cherished the concepts of both family and hard work. When my mother was pregnant with me, she befriended the lady in the bed next to her at the hospital; the lady and her husband became fast friends. After a while, the friend convinced my father to open a pizza place. In an old-school move, my dad and Tony shook hands on the deal and shortly thereafter Greek Tony’s Pizza & Sub Shop opened its first location on Loop 336 and FM 105 in Conroe.

“Greek Tony’s was my entire life. Although we were all young, I and my two older sisters would every night hop in the car with the rest of the family and head out from our Panther Creek home to help work at the restaurant.

“This routine lasted for a while, but soon enough my dad got tired of the commute, so he moved Greek Tony’s to a new location on Sawdust Road in The Woodlands. My father absolutely dove into the community; he immersed himself into local causes and organizations, and help build businesses and other local entities such as sports teams. He turned Greek Tony’s into the official sponsor of Orwall.

“Fast forward to a couple of decades later, when my dad had put three kids through school. In the early 2000s, he moved the restaurant to an expanded space right next door. He even added a soccer bar, since we’re all big soccer guys. So much so that we worked like crazy to get the new space open in time for the World Cup that year, and we barely made it. During that global soccer series, our expanded restaurant was crammed with so many people that our ventilation fans could barely keep up; but no matter how hot and sweaty it got, no one cared.

“A few years later, on July 25, 2010, my dad passed away from a cancer so aggressive that he died within a month of his diagnosis. It was so swift that – even though my mother was a nurse at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston – he never made it down there.

“It was a rough time, and we shut down the restaurant for a couple of weeks. The years that my dad had invested in the community came back in spades when we saw how many people showed up at his funeral at Woodlands United Methodist Church; the huge space was totally filled with people, and there was even a line down the hall.

“When we reopened, I owned and operated the restaurant with my mother for six years. Unfortunately, it was a tough time because my father’s old-school business philosophy worked against a smooth transition and his estate was tied up in probate for a long time.

“For several years, every day was an emotional struggle; my dad was my best friend, my everything. Taking on the restaurant was my choice and my honor, but it profoundly affected my life, and not in the good way. We made the decision to sell the restaurant. My siblings and I happily gave our mother all of the proceeds of the sale, hoping that she would retire. She did, of course, but a year later she couldn’t handle not working and now you can catch her as an employee at the local Walmart.

“Ironically, selling Greek Tony’s didn’t really help me out, emotionally speaking, and I spent way too long kicking around various jobs. Finally, a longtime friend (and equally longtime Greek Tony’s patron) started nudging me to think about opening up a new restaurant. He’d actually tell me, “I got you, if you want to do it.”

“Finally, in September of last year, he told me that Zazza’s on FM 1488 had gone out of business and closed down, and that we had ‘dibs’ on taking over the space. The timing was right, and I was ready, and I said okay to the proposal.”

Ryan has high hopes and high expectations for Greggo’s, and is determined to carry on the decades-long tradition started by his beloved, soccer-loving father. He invites all diners – whether they’re returning Greek Tony’s customers or new visitors to Greggo’s – to come sample the menu and revel in the community spirit so indicative of the d’Avignon family.