The Lake Como Community
Lake Como Pizza has been a Yeshiva University staple for decades. Generations of YU students have relied on Lake Como’s oven for Saturday night slices, Monday morning bagels and as an overall reliable refuge from the cafeteria’s suspect fare. Lake Como not only feeds the YU student body, but also employs many YU students, including the author of this very article. They are a pleasure to work for and have always taken into consideration my class schedule, working with me to make sure I’m able to attend class and complete my assignments on time.
The owner of Lake Como, Josh Chaitovsky, was a YU student himself before he purchased and began operating the business twenty years ago, so he uniquely understands the needs of his student employees and customers. Everything about the Como “vibe” is tailored to their YU customer base, from the sports on TV to the Celsius fridge and even the employees, who are encouraged to learn customers’ names and build a unique rapport with every customer. When you walk into Lake Como Pizza, there are three televisions behind the counter and one television looming over the eating area; if a game is being played, you can watch it at Como. Livestreams of Maccabees basketball and volleyball games ensure that they feed their customers’ eyes as well as their mouths. An oft-heard remark from YU students is that Como always has great people and vibes.
I sat down with Josh to find out more about his cultivation of the Como vibes and what its like to own a business on the YU campus:
Gabriel Simon-Hakalir: How long have you been the owner of Lake Como Pizza and who do you take inspiration from when running your own business for this long?
Josh Chaitovsky: I’ve been the owner of Lake Como for twenty years now. There’s no one person I look to in particular, but I’ve been reading more business books and definitely find that I’ve been learning as I go.
GS: So Josh, how have rising egg prices affected Lake Como’s business?
JC: We are definitely seeing less egg sales in the morning because of the expense. The expense has caused us to raise prices and that’s discouraged some customers from ordering eggs in the mornings.
GS: What is the most popular beverage choice for YU students?
JC: You probably know better than I do, Gabe, but Diet Peach Snapple and Diet Coke are popular choices for sure.
GS: How many YU student customers do you estimate Lake Como serves on an average week?
JC: It’s difficult to estimate because we see so many repeat customers over the course of one week, but I’d say around 1,000 YU students a week.
GS: What is your favorite thing about owning a business on the YU campus?
JC: I definitely think that the ability to meet all these YU guys through the years, seeing them progress through college and beyond, getting to know the people, makes it very special.
GS: What is one piece of advice you have for YU students who hope to be successful business owners one day?
JC: The most important thing is for you to go into something you enjoy, not just something that makes money.
Josh gave me a lot of illuminating information about Como, but he’s not the only one keeping things running over there. Andy Epstein, the manager of Lake Como, is a more familiar face to any frequent Como customers, so much so that he’s often mistaken for the owner. A soft, smiling face with round glasses, the typical concert or band t-shirt, and a sing-songy delivery of your order when it’s done is guaranteed when Andy is behind the counter. He is responsible for the daily operations of the restaurant, scheduling employees, throwing slices in the oven, arranging taxis to deliver pizza to midtown and rushing on Saturday night to open the restaurant. These are just a few herculean tasks he accomplishes with a smile and jolly attitude. He thinks “working on the campus is special because we really have this community here. I see guys growing up throughout YU, building relationships with these guys I’ve been feeding since their freshman year, seeing them in synagogue or around town, and it’s more than just a customer-server relationship. I’ve cultivated a lot of friendships.”
You can also often see an older man named Mike assembling pizza boxes in the corner of the store. He’s the restaurant’s “grandpa” and hands out lollipops to any child who comes into the store, calling them his “grandchildren.” Thomas is another man responsible for the success of Lake Como Pizza. Usually seen wearing an apron, he’s typically found behind the counter churning out pizzas, calzones, pretzels, pizza rolls and garlic knots. Although he isn’t very talkative, he is always a hard worker, and you can tell he enjoys his work when he’s whipping calzone dough around and around to make it perfectly up to his standards. Of course there’s Wahabu, without whom Lake Como would probably cease to exist. He is the dishwasher, sauce maker, janitor, flour-hauler and even sometimes egg maker. He can always be spotted sweeping behind the counter or doing the dishes to the most unique music I’ve ever heard. There’s also Stan, aka Stan the Man. He is the same age as many of the students here and is always a vibe, and he’s an incredibly eager worker, typically filling the schedule gaps the YU student workers leave.
Then there’s the YU student employees: myself, Eliam and Akiva. We work hard, or hardly work, depending on who you ask, although you can always count on us to taste-test the product to ensure it meets the high YU student standards.
This group of guys: Josh, Andy, Mike, Thomas, Wahabu, Stan (the Man), myself, Eliam and Akiva work together like a well-oiled machine to churn out monumental amounts of pizza, bagels and mozzarella sticks nearly every day of the week. We’ve established friendships with each other and our customers, and it’s rare to see anybody at Como without a smile on their face. As a matter of fact, it’s hard to imagine the Wilf Campus without her steadfast center of community, vibes, slices and smiles: Lake Como Pizza.
Photo Caption: “Grandpa” Mike folding pizza boxes
Photo Credit: Gabriel Simon-Hakalir
