Tony & Alba’s Pizza & Pasta

Best pizza
Best service
Best family atmosphere

Try the Creamy pesto Chicken pasta, it’s awesome! this place is always crowded and the service is great.

This place is so bad I give u a –rating and don’t even tell me this Place is real Italian
2 times my friend ordered pizza and it was the worst shit I ever ate. Late and cold 10 blocks away and over an hour and half late. You Guys can’t even sell girl scout cookies.

CLOSED !!! I just went down the street to get a pizza and this location is CLOSED!!! Too bad because this was great pizza.

I have been a regular at «T&A» for more than 15 years. Even when I lived elsewhere in the country, I made a point of coming here every time I visited. I am not exaggerating when I say that this is my favorite pizzeria ever. But as of January 2013 it has closed!
Yes, there are one or two other T&A restaurants in Silicon Valley. They are independently managed by other members of the family and they aren’t quite as good as this restaurant. This was the original T&A, founded by Tony, Sr. and Alba decades ago. They retired several years ago and passed this location to Anthony, Jr., ran it just as well as his folks did. The pizza was superb, and Anthony always greeted me by name when I came in.
I was sad for Anthony when his dad passed away a year ago. I am sad for him today for losing his business and way of life. I could go on about what losing my favorite pizzeria ever means to me, but let’s face it, eating pizza is just eating pizza. For Anthony running this restaurant is his business and way of life. Stay strong, Anthony.
p. s. If things work out right for you to get back in the business, I’ll be there on opening day.

When I want gourmet pizza in Mountain View, this is my go-​to place. (Up there in my book with Patxi’s in Palo Alto, though totally different styles.) They have creative topping combinations that are fantastic; I usually like their white pizza or their chicken pizza, but everything I have tried is great. As others have said, it is hard to classify their pizza; I think the crust is sort of a floury New York thin crust but with a lower level of floppiness (on the way to a CPK slice?), but I would have to do a massive pizza taste-​test bash to do a proper analysis.
My first experience with their pizza was in their more literal Mom & Pop role (probably from the Santa Clara restaurant): I was in a high school musical with Tony & Alba’s granddaughter and they provided pizza for our cast party. High school me was not as worldly about her pizza, but I liked it even then.
Twenty-​something me likes their online ordering through GrubHub. Their pastas and salads are more run-​of-​the-​mill than their pizza or delicious garlic bread, but I often end up with them instead of pizza. They make delicious meatballs! They have been out of gnocchi fairly often, but (when I order online) they politely call and ask about a substitution.

Mountain View’s 19 current pizzerias (newest: Napoletana, One Love, and the Mountain Mike’s franchise that replaced Milan) span a gamut, from a rock-​bottom-​price take-​out-​only chain (Little Caesars) to two high-​end pizzerias under strict Italian rules (Venti, Napoletana) making Italian pizza styles with Italian ingredients,
Tony & Alba’s is your classic friendly, neighborhood, slightly funky, independent US pizzeria with character, unique menu items, loyal customers, and old-​world family founders. Does brisk business with two dining rooms, take-​out, and delivery. A second location is at Santa Teresa Blvd (managed rather independently, regular customers say).
Pizza dough is made three days in advance and twice-​raised. For each pizza, dough is weighed out, run through a roller machine to uniform thickness, then hand-​finished before the topping «build.» 550 °F ovens look like they have brick cooking surfaces. I find the baked crusts fairly thin, with fine-​grain leavening, and in the drier parts a particular cracker-​like flavor. (Other specialty crusts are available.) Toppings tried, like the crust, have shown flashes of uniqueness. Topping list is conventional, but the menu boasts local sourcing (Gilroy garlic, Morgan Hill mushrooms) and Alba’s family sauce recipes from Italy. After several tries (in-​person and delivery) I find Tony & Alba’s unpretentious, appealingly distinctive, real.
Menu pricing at $ 22.38 per 16-​inch pizza with 1 topping and cheese approaches upper range of MV pizzerias. (Round Table’s list prices are higher, but heavily discounted with specials and coupons. The only pricier MV pizzas are from the premium Amici’s chain and the two authentic Italian restaurants I mentioned above). $ 7.75 lunch special (til 4PM) offers pizza slice or half sandwich or pasta order, salad and drink.
Tony & Alba’s are pasta specialists too, with a MUCH wider paste menu than most pizzerias. Like pastas with spinach and mushrooms, or an old-​fashioned aglio-​olio version with sautéed garlic, sun-​dried tomato bits, and parsley — I found it much lighter and fresher than most local pasta offerings today, which lean to the heavy, meaty, gooey — or all three. (So, before Tony & Alba’s opened 30 years ago, I remember Frankie, Johnnie & Luigi Too offering a similar light garlic-​herb pasta. Today FJ&L’s pasta dishes incline to meat, cream and Gorgonzola — all at once! I am not making that up.) Half of T&A’s 16 pasta offerings are vegetarian; most come with your choice of several pasta shapes — each full order uses over ¾ pound (350 g) of pasta.
Sourdough sandwich menu has 12 items, baked with provolone slice and various fillings and served with salad, $ 8-​$ 10. I tried meatball and «Chicago beef» each once. Thought them well made, but nothing really special so far. Certainly when compared with enthusiastic sandwich-​focused shops like SteakOut, The Workshop, Le Boulanger, Clarke’s, Adamson’s French Dip (Sunnyvale), or The Refuge (San Carlos).
Note that for the summer, Tony & Alba’s is closed Sundays.

We ordered a large lunch (6 pizzas and salad to feed 12) at the last minute for a company lunch and spoke with Anthony. He was SUPER helpful and very patient. The delivery was on time (as usual) and we will continue to use them for company events. A+

Crust is very good. Great local pizza place even though the neighborhood has been changing over the years.

my husband and i live a block away and decided to try this place, at long last. we were not disappointed on this inaugural visit.
upon entering, you order at the cashier, he gives you a number, you pick a table, and wait for your meal to be brought out. the staff was patient and friendly.
the dining area could have been a little cleaner. our table & chairs could have used a wiping down, but they were ok.
here’s what we had:
*pasta special: ½ order of penne pesto, italian salad & soft drink
*side of grilled chicken
*sandwich meal: italian sausage sandwich, italian salad & soft drink
*garlic knots: large plate of baked twisted dough with marinara dipping sauce
*all this, for under $ 30, which was a great dinner for 2
how was the food?
*penne pesto was excellent, a great mix of pesto, herbs, and cheese
*italian salad had a good mix of veggies, but too much dressing mixed in, so it was a bit on the tart/​salty side
*grilled chicken was juicy, tasty, and complimented the penne pesto perfectly. i later found out that it was made with rosemary, garlic and white wine! what a great combo.
*italian sausage sandwich was hearty and very tasty
*garlic knots, well, let’s just say they were the cherry on top of the icing of the cake. each knot was topped with garlic, cheese, and some other seasonings. they tasted great on their own, dipped in marinara sauce, or dipped in the pesto from the pasta.
overall, a great meal, and we left with satisfied, full bellies. we will definitely be back, to try some of their other dishes.

I really don’t get what all the fuss is about with this place.
The ambiance here feels not unlike many other pizza places. Wooden tables with black tabletops are met with wooden chairs with black cushions. There are various sports-​related framed photographs hanging on the walls. Aside from that, there’s very little décor, except for neon lights of the beers that the restaurant has on tap.
You order at the counter, and then a server brings you your food. The interaction was pleasant enough, albeit incredibly brief. Nothing great about service here, though nothing to complain about either.
So, what about the food?
I came here with two other people, and we ordered the all meat pizza. Even despite a ton of meats on it, there just wasn’t any flavor to the pizza. It was utterly bland, and needs something to give it a little extra kick (perhaps some additional seasoning). All three of us left really disappointed with the pizza, which is unfortunate because all of us love a good pie!
That aside, my personal preference is for a softer crust; Tony & Alba’s crust is really crunchy, so that also was displeasing (for me, anyway, although I definitely understand that some people prefer a crunchier crust).
Lots of better pizza options in town; I won’t be returning here.

It’s the kind of place where you want to be able to walk in, greet the people who own the place and work there, sit down, and have your favorite foods placed in front of you while exchanging the latest news, small talk about whatever game’s on, and witty banter– all without having to place an actual order.
This place is so convenient, I’m sure that will happen for me, like it clearly has for so many of the locals you see in the place being called by Sandlot-​style nicknames. That day will probably come embarrassingly soon. I really like pizza). But my boyfriend and I tried Tony & Alba’s for the first time the other night, and actually had to tell them we wanted the Pizza A La Gilroy (with garlic, jalapenos, and another topping– we chose mushrooms), an appetizer of bruschetta, and some diet cokes (fountain drinks, free refills!)
They brought us some warm, herby bread while we waited, and if there had been oil to dip it in, I probably would have moved into this place permanently.
The bruschetta was so good, warm and oily on toasty but soft sourdough. The tomatoes were fresh and flavorful, garlicky and parmesany and with the taste of olive oil without the grease.
Our pizza was much too jalapeño-​y, and the garlic was definitely very present. The cheese, too, has that distinct low-​fat off-​taste. Still, the crust was so good (flaky and crunchy without quite being thin-​crust), and the sauce was amazing (sweet and tomato-​y)… we just chose the wrong pie. The smallest size was perfect for two people, though, leaving us full but with enough room to walk over and enjoy some bubble tea on Castro Street!
Next time, we’ll be loading our pie with all the veggie toppings that crust can bear. I have high hopes for its structural integrity, for eclipsing the cheese’s weaknesses with zukes and shrooms and [spi]nach, and, generally, for Pizza A La Jon and Allison.

We’ve been frequenting this Tony & Alba’s since 1990, when we lived around the corner.
There are several features of their pizzas that I’d like to highlight; 1) The standard garlic topping is very generous, freshly chopped. A pizza with garlic as a topping will be a very garlicky pizza, make no mistake. They also (sometimes? always?) feature pizzas with entire cloves of roasted garlic, similar to Gumba’s in Sunnyvale. 2) The standard crust is very ‘herb-​y’; it’s distinctive, it’s not neutral, sometimes you might not be in the mood for it. But it is, what it is, no apologies. It’s light, not overly dense. 3) The Italian sausage topping is also very generous, and very tasty. Sometimes I’ll just pop over there for lunch & get a small Italian sausage & garlic. Awesome.
Pasta-​wise, I’ve had the Alfredo sauce & the pesto. Again, both are excellent; the Alfredo is not too heavy, and nicely peppered. The pesto sauce is quite oily, it’s a little more work if you don’t want to consume all that oil, but well worth the effort; try to score some fresh and warm focaccia bread to accompany each bite.

The pizza at this Tony and Albas was pretty bad. The crust was bland, the sauce had a really strange taste, and the cheese was … well, weird.
The garlic knots, on the other hand, were very good! They were freshly made, straight out the oven (they took twice as long to make as the pizza … hmm…). I would go back for only the knots, though. Skip the pizza.

This is a cute place, and the pizza I had was pretty good. There were a decent number of topping options, and most of them looked pretty appetizing. We also had some of the aioli garlic bread as an appetizer — which was pretty amazing.
But the thing that really sold me on this place was the friendliness of the staff — all of the teens who were bussing the tables were cheery and helpful, always checking in on us (and even offering us free garlic bread while we waited). The girl who delivered our meal made sure that our dessert wouldn’t be cooked until we finished eating our pizza, so it would be warm. As we ate, a man who I assume must be Tony was going around to different tables, chatting with customers (including us!) and making them laugh. This is some of the best service I had — and this place isn’t even full service! Definitely going back when I’m in the santana row area again.

WORST PLACE EVER! I placed a delvery and included a «brownie’ from their dessert order… umm it was an OREO BROWNIE! When I called to complain the guy hung up on me and told me I was RETARDED! Oh, and the MANAGER didn’t apologize for his employee and was equally rude. I will NEVER order from here again. They could not have been more rude and told me that everyone calls in their delivery order to double check… am i different from the rest of the population? NEVER ORDERING FROM HERE AGAIN… I’ve worked at a restaurant and understand the annoyance of complaints/​how to handle customers and if these people worked at the restaurant I worked at they would have been fired on the SPOT!
i give this place one star b/​c that’s the minimum option…

I am a Italian pizza snob from NJ/​NY. I do not eat chain pizza like Dominos, etc. One thing that I have found mind boggling here in the Bay Area is how expensive pizza is compared to the NY/​NJ metro area. Pizza and my I add outstanding pizza is the cheapest thing you can eat. A large pizza with a ton of toppings is deemed expensive if it is around $ 18.99.
So $ 27.00 for a large pizza here in CA better be pretty damm good!
The wait was disappointing as we ordered from their online order option. As advised by the website we headed to pick it up 25 minutes later, but they hadn’t even made it when we arrived. We thought ok, maybe it is gonna be worth the wait…
NOPE! Their large pizza is more like a medium and OMG! the toppings were very scant. The worst part was the pizza had a sour taste. Couldn’t put our finger on it, but my husband was sure something was spoiled. Perhaps the pizza sauce was old. Based on that, in the trash it went. What a waste of time of money!
We should of took it back, but it was late and they close at 9pm. Live and learn, but we won’t be back.

I have been going here since they first opened in the 1980’s and they have always delivered superior pizzas up to now.
When I was getting started in business I would invite my clients to dine here in the funky informal atmosphere, and even if they did not like pizza the pasta and salads were a huge hit with my clients wanting to return with their families.
They never charged for groups to meet there like other pizza places or have a minimum order, very open and friendly like. An old guy would appear from a corner and give you the wrapped silverware and free pizza bread, and then bus the tables for the next horde.
It has been a popular haunt for decades and with large dining rooms I have seen from amateur sports teams to pyramid schemes hosted here. One evening I inadvertently attended a memorial dinner get together for Navy P-​3 crews that crashed off the coast!
Unfortunately this location of Tony and Alba’s is in decline, with only one adjacent room is now available for dine in, and the cozy open areas to hide in are all gone.
What caused me to write this was my last order of a combo pizza did not even resemble the quality I experienced in years gone by.
Even the chain has separated into two separate north south groups separated by the Santa Cruz Mountains! I guess the business is breaking up!
This is more of an epitaph of the once thriving family owned pizza joint than a review.
Sorry to see another great institution slowly dies…
Poor Tony is probably spinning in his recent grave because of this.

Okay. I had taken away my original negative review, because the owners said they would make things right. Well, I waited and waited since March, and no coupon in the mail. Not even another response to my email when I asked politely that whoever was in charge of mailing them must have missed us.
Our pizza had been burned on the bottom — it was charcoal. I don’t mind eating a little burned pizza, but the whole thing was burned. We spent over 40 bucks on those two little pizzas, not like Slice of NY where you can get a whole pie for $ 20. Both pizzas were small and inedible, we tried to eat the top but it just wasn’t worth it. The fact that no one cared to make it right, well, I know they can’t care about every customer. And I’m not going to play the «oh I’m so important» card. Well, okay, I am. Our pizzas are bought elsewhere. I’m not spending another $ 40 on pizza to have the same thing happen :(

I really liked this place for several reasons.
1. They serve pizza (part of my essential diet)
2. Mom and Pop certified!
3. Great service
4. They use some great quality cheese
5. Whole Wheat dough! to make you feel a tad healthy. Plus, it was crispy and had a nice flavor.
I will need to go back a few more times to see if it can be on my constant rotation, but man, we brought in some Saber Cat ticket stubs (promo that Tony and Alba’s offered if the Saber Cats won the game!)and received free personal pizzas! Can’t beat that at all!