Customer loyalty already building for Favio's in Geneva

One might say Favio's Pizzeria on the east side of Geneva has come out on the good side of a pizza “perfect storm.” It also doesn't hurt that this pizza place, open just four months in the retail strip on East State Street just west of Kirk Road, offers some tasty fare.

“It's been going really well for us,” said co-owner Giacomo Favia, who also manages day-to-day operations. “We have a good, loyal customer base already.”

That perfect storm? Favio's opened not long after Geneva lost Orlando's, an east-side pizza location for 40 years, and Tivoli's, which had good pizza but a short run in the retail strip near the Dairy Queen. It leaves Favio's, Charlie Fox's Pizza and Munchie P's as the pizza players on that side of town.

The loyal customer base comes from St. Charles and even Campton Hills, because they know about Favio's roots. The place comes with plenty of pizza experience within the family.

“My father, Pete Favia, owned the Armand's of St. Charles pizza restaurant in downtown St. Charles,” Giacomo Favia said. That restaurant became Pi Pizza Perfection, which Pete Favia also operated, before closing in 2012.

That location, across the street from the Arcada Theatre, at 102 E. Main St. in the heart of downtown, has since become Riverside Pizza.

Pete Favia is not an owner of Favio's. That distinction falls to Mino Scivittaro, a cousin to Giacomo Favia. But the Favia name combined with Scivittaro, to a certain extent, results in Favio's.

While the Favio's menu offers various pizzas and appetizers, a quick glance at the “family favorites,” which are 10-inch pizzas, gives you an idea of the Italian family influence at work here.

“I would say the Margherita pizza has probably become the favorite here,” Giacomo Favia said. “We have sold quite a few of those recently.”

And one of those was to me. This pizza, with an olive oil base, mozzarella cheese, fresh tomato and basil, was quite good.

“We're getting people from the east side of Geneva and even West Chicago now,” Giacomo Favia said. “I think we are in a pretty good spot.”

Have say on ‘diet'

Geneva city officials seem pretty positive about this “road diet” concept for Route 31. Considering how most diets end up for people, they should drop that term and just say what it is: They want to reduce the number of lanes from four to two just north of Fabyan Parkway to Elizabeth Place.

When heading north, Elizabeth Place sits just before the bend in Route 31 and the light at the Kane County Government Center and Third Street.

The public gets to have its say in meetings at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Feb. 4 at the Geneva Public Works building. City officials will decide what to do after they get feedback.

I don't travel this stretch at rush hour, but common sense would tug at my sleeve and ask, Does it really make sense to eliminate lanes on a busy street near a train station?

A center turn lane and possibly some bike lanes are part of the proposal. I don't ride a bike, and wouldn't do it on Route 31 no matter what types of lanes were set up.

This concept, tied into the timing of a scheduled repaving of Route 31, is being pitched as a safer setup. If that's true, it's worth the effort to change it.

But it's hard to envision how traffic will merge and move along at a better pace.

And that's why there are meetings. If you travel this stretch at peak traffic times, it would be wise to sit it on a meeting.

Casino, bowling mix

Years ago, the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization always impressed me with its annual bowling fundraiser. It was so much fun to get a team organized to participate.

Batavia Foundation for Educational Excellence and Batavia MainStreet are teaming up to take that concept to another level with its annual Casino and Bowling Night fundraiser March 13 at Funway in Batavia.

The adult event (yes, no kids running around) will of course feature bowling and casino games, with the $40 entry fee including $25 worth of extra gambling chips.

For those not inclined to spend time or money at one of our area casinos, just get your betting fix in for a worthy cause like this.

The money goes toward the Batavia Foundation scholarships and grants.

A true Viking

We hadn't seen longtime Geneva businessman and city supporter Weldon Johnson walking his dog at Wheeler Park in some time but didn't equate it with him being ill.

He mentioned his bad knees on occasion, so maybe he was just staying off his feet a little more often.

It was sad to find out he was indeed ill and passed away last week.

Everyone will think of his many Swedish Days parades adorned in Viking gear, or his friendly demeanor at his Viking Office Supply for so many years.

I will remember his venture into “Dancing With the Geneva Stars” in 2010, the year after my wife and I participated.

On the evening he and his partner, Joanne Buckley, were assigned their dance at State Street Dance Studio, I told him he might want to avoid the quickstep if his knees were bothering him.

And that's the dance he ended up getting. And he tackled it with all of the enthusiasm he brought to everything else “Geneva.” He was a great guy, and the city will miss having him around.

Made season ‘Bearable'

When the Bears were awful, which was often last season, I could always count on Daily Herald sports columnist Mike Spellman to help me quickly forget their follies.

His hilarious take on Sunday's nonsense was far better than the games. And you could rarely argue with his view on things.

To open the paper last week to discover he had passed away far too young was a shock. Thanks, Mike, for making the Bears far easier to swallow.

dheun@sbcglobal.net