Profile: Tony DiSilvestro

[ by grace hobson ]

DiSilvestro has launched multiple locations of Ynot Italian. But his vision extends to making Virginia Beach thrive for other business owners as well as for its residents and visitors.

Tony DiSilvestro hails from New Jersey but resides in Virginia Beach as ounder and president of the restaurant chain Ynot Italian. Having founded over 31 businesses and currently employing over 450 people through his own, DiSilvestro has a growing portfolio of franchises and professional ventures. In 2020, Distinction Magazine recognized DiSilvestro as Entrepreneur of the Year. He serves as a member of the Virginia Beach Vision Board, which includes the top 125 business owners in the region and is heavily involved in the Entrepreneur’s Organization. In addition, he has founded his own mentoring company, Business Scaling Blueprint, and is an internationally renowned business and leadership trainer. DiSilvestro moved to Virginia Beach and founded the first of many Ynot Italian franchises in 1993 on Great Neck Road. These days, Ynot Italian prepares to expand up and down the East Coast with 50 to 100 franchises opening in North Carolina, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Fairfax in the next five years. “I really don’t want to expand anywhere that I can’t reach in one day, so we can support our brand,” said DiSilvestro. When the pandemic hit, Ynot Italian adapted its business and opened a to-go-only store that focused solely on delivery orders. Eighty percent of Ynot Italian’s expanding stores will be smaller, to-go only stores, with the remaining 20% being the larger, eat-in-formatted franchises. Having garnered such success with his own business, DiSilvestro has mentored entrepreneurs for over 20 years and recently launched his formal mentorship program to help other businesses in the Tidewater region thrive. “For me, it’s so hard when I drive past a business and I see that it failed. Most people just say, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe they went out of business.’ But how I look at it is, they saved for 20 years to open up that business, and now they’re out—it’s heart-wrenching to me,” DiSilvestro said. “So if there’s anything I can do to help businesses sustain and grow, I’ll do it; that is my passion in life. I love entrepreneurship—it is in my blood. My goal is to help every business succeed if I can.” In addition to his personal business endeavors and the role he plays in that of others, DiSilvestro is highly involved with the economic development of the Virginia Beach community. “[Virginia Beach] isn’t like New Jersey, where seashore towns are busy four months a year and then there’s nothing else happening,” said DiSilvestro. “We have such an amazing economy behind the oceanfront...and our city truly is represented by that culture. I want the people of Virginia Beach to love where they live.” Part of DiSilvestro’s involvement includes his role as a critical resource in the development of the Princess Anne Innovation Hub. He will open six buildings or 270,000 square feet of office space to be used by the Innovation Hub. “We’re working on bringing large, Fortune 500 companies to this region to create better jobs. I’m working with Northern Virginia and a couple

DiSilvestro prepares to expand Ynot Italian up and down the East Coast with franchises opening in North Carolina, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Fairfax in the next five years.

COURTESY OF YNOT ITALIAN SCENE FROM ABOVE: Ynot Wednesday Free Summer Concert Series at Sandler Center Outdoor Plaza provides live music every Wednesday evenings from July through September.

of universities and trying to have them develop with the campus here,” DiSilvestro said. “I want them to understand what it’s like to live and work here; there are not many places you can work in, pick a nice income and then have the beach and golf courses. The quality of life here is unbelievable and compared to any other city, it’s just an amazing place to live. What we’re trying to do is show these companies that this is an amazing place of opportunity for them and their employees.” On top of everything he has going on professionally, Tony’s passion and desire to see Virginia Beach continues to grow shines through more than anything. “The city just needs to continue to work on improving processes and procedures to make it an easier place to live. Every city is going to deal with problems, so it’s all about how we deal with them and how we can communicate properly,” DiSilvestro said. “[Virginia Beach] definitely has problems, but it’s how well do you articulate and communicate with the citizens to make them understand that we will get through them? We’re strong enough as a city to get through anything, but it takes everybody working and coming together as one.”

Grace Hobson is a junior attending Virginia Tech and studying multimedia journalism. Aside from her affinity for writing, she’s also a self-proclaimed Catan champion with an undying love for Master Yoda and is just trying to make her past professor of media writing proud.