Bay Area staple A Slice of New York has shuttered its Sunnyvale restaurant at 1253 W El Camino Real — near establishments such as Ike’s Love & Sandwiches, Madras Cafe, and Starbird Chicken — in order to expand its operations in San Jose.
For readers who are unfamiliar with the history of the business, Kirk Vartan founded A Slice of New York in San Jose in 2006 alongside his wife, Marguerite Lee, as a response to a lack of New York-style pizzerias in the city at the time. After experiencing success, the business expanded, opening a location in Sunnyvale in 2011.
The decision to close the Sunnyvale outpost now was made by the business’s board, which currently includes nine employees, who chose to stay in San Jose and enlarge that location — found at 3443 Stevens Creek Boulevard — by taking over the neighboring space in order to provide additional seating.
“People are energized right now… the light is coming on, and we really see the future for our business and the growth that we want to have. And that’s really exciting because that little spark has really invigorated some of our team in ways I haven’t seen in a while,” Vartan tells the Journal.
Regarding the W El Camino Real spot that A Slice of New York is leaving behind, the business is passing the baton to the owner of local business Slice of Homage, as reported by What Now San Francisco last month.
“We’re a small, independent businesses in an industry that’s under pressure all the time, and this is a way we’re actually able to help each other,” Vartan shares. He adds, “We’re collaborating together. We’re sharing strategies. We’re really working at a level that is atypical.”
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