No More Grease--Tommy's Is Sold

An era has ended. There will be no more greasy late-night fries.

There will be no more Tommy's.

Beginning this Friday, Tommy's House of Pizza will come under new management, and changes seem inevitable at 49 Mt. Auburn Street.

Since February 1958, when Tommy Stephanian opened Tommy's Lunch, the fast food restaurant has held a special place in the hearts of Harvard students.

Tommy's has served generations of Adams House residents, Crimson editors, Poonsters and Cantabrigians.

"When you need food at night, the only place you think of is Tommy's," said Kathy L. Sun '94 as she sat inside the restaurant yesterday.

For now, however, the restaurant will remain largely unchanged. According to Michael T. McHale, a primary shareholder in the management group which purchased Tommy's, reforms will happen gradually. Minor renovations are scheduled for spring 1995.

The most shocking modification McHale plans is a new name for the Harvard Square institution. For some patrons, this fundamentally changes the character of the place.

"I don't like the changes," said Tats Weldon, a second-year student at the Business School. "Without Tommy's name on the front and without the greasy fries, no one will come here."

McHale said a tentative name may be Fiore di Calabria, Italian for Flower of Calabria.

Tommy's menu will remain for the most part intact, though McHale emphasized that the food--including the fries--will be much less greasy.

"We're looking to give the Harvard students bigger portions, tastier food, wider variety, and, most of all, healthier food," he said.

New items which McHale plans to introduce in a few months include steamed vegetable pizza (almost 100 percent fat-free), fresh garden salad pizza, sesame seed crusts, and calzones--Italian dishes of bread stuffed with vegetables, cheese and sauce.

Although McHale's intentions may be good, many Harvardians said they are staunchly opposed to making the food healthier.

"The day I see a healthy meal in this joint will probably be the last day I come here," said Peter G. Whang '95. "I definitely don't come here for a square meal."

This is not the first time Tommy's has undergone change. In November 1992, Tommy retired and sold the business to Zaharias Mougros and Alex Bafris, the primary shareholders in Harvard Square House of Pizza Corp.

Mougros and Bafris changed the name to Tommy's House of Pizza.

For some, even that was too much change. Some students complained, in particular, that the new owners, unlike Tommy, were polite.

"Tommy's was my library and second home," Karin B. Braverman '94 said after the closing of Tommy's Lunch in December 1992. "It was wonderful. It was a great place; I'm going to miss it."

McHale is confident that his new, healthier food business will flourish. "We are interested in the pizza business, it's a great location and we have experience in Harvard Square."

But by changing the very name of the place, McHale may be messing with Tommy's traditional appeal.

"You can get healthy food anywhere in the square; this is one of the last hangouts of greasy eating," said Mike J. Morell '95. "It's something you'd like to come back to 30 years later and point out to your children."