GILROY — Garlic City Billiards Owner Bob Tapella knows how
important it is to have a place for young people to hang out to
keep them out of trouble.
GILROY — Garlic City Billiards Owner Bob Tapella knows how important it is to have a place for young people to hang out to keep them out of trouble.
After all, he once was a young troublemaker himself.
“When I was a kid I was running around, starting to drink,” Tapella said. “But then I went to the pool hall. The old timers taught me a little respect.”
Tapella fell in love with the game, and now he is passing on the lessons he learned years ago from the oldtimers.
“This gives the kids something to do,” said Tapella, who has been running Garlic City Billiards at 7500 Monterey since 1994. “They come in and learn a little about pool.”
Take Isaac Agliotis and Victor Barrios, for instance, who have been coming in to Tapella’s pool hall for four years now.
“We’ve been coming here since our freshman year,” Agliotis said. “Besides work, what else is there to do?
“We’re here quite a bit. We don’t see many people here more often as us.”
Agliotis, 19, and Barrios, 18, are Gilroy High School graduates who spend up to five hours a night four or five times a week at Garlic City Billiards shooting eight ball.
“It’s fun to learn new stuff,” Agliotis said. “Whenever one of us has questions, (Tapella) will come and show us.”
On this night Tapella stopped over at their table to show them how to hit the ball softer so they could have more control over where the cue ball would go after the shot. Sometimes, he’ll go over and show the two a trick shot.
“They come all the time,” said Tapella, who has regulars come from as far away as Watsonville each night to play.
Agliotis and Barrios bought their own pool sticks from Tapella, and they said he doesn’t charge them for the table while he’s giving them lessons. Agliotis said his game is slowly improving.
“It’s above average, but nothing spectacular yet,” he said. “But emphasize the yet.”
In the last four months, Tapella spent nearly $40,000 remodeling. The pool hall now has new paint, new carpets and linoleum floors, new blinds, a refurbished private parking lot for customers in the back and two new, three-cushion billiard tables.
In all, Garlic City Billiards has 15 regulation-size pool tables, eight arcade games, a jukebox with a powerful stereo system, a snack bar and the ability to do stick repair and sales. And by putting his money right back into the pool hall, Tapella’s work seems to be paying off.
“January was the best month I’ve have in the eight years I’ve been here,” he said. “Friday and Saturday nights this place is becoming a hub. This town’s growing.”
With a coffee shop, restaurants, bowling and the Gaslighter all nearby, Tapella is excited about the prospects of the growth in nightlife on the weekends in Gilroy.
“On weekends this place is packed,” he said. “There is always a wait.”
Tapella estimates that about 150 people come into the pool hall every Friday and Saturday, and visitors include people coming from Station 55, Chevys, and even Gilroy City councilmembers.
“Were getting all walks,” Tapella said. “I mean, everyone is here.
“We run a real clean place. We have a lot of ladies come here. It’s a lot of fun because everyone can come here.”
Agliotis agreed.
“It’s a nice place to come to,” he said. “You don’t feel threatened here. We’ve been here four years and there’s never been a problem.”
Tapella credits the Gilroy Police Department for helping keep not only the pool hall, but the downtown area, a safe place to be.
“The police have worked real hard to make this town safer,”he said. “When I first came down here there was a lot of crime and a lot of transients. It’s a lot better.”
Tapella also helps make sure there aren’t any problems in his pool hall.
“(Eight years ago)There was almost not a night when I didn’t have to throw someone out,” he said. “Now I can’t remember the last time I’ve thrown anyone out of here.”
Meanwhile, people like Agliotis and barrios will continue to come into the pool hall instead of being idle on the street.
“It’s a totally different game every time you play it,” said Agliotis, who never seems to get bored playing pool.
And what if Barrios didn’t have a place to go during his free time like Garlic City Billiards?
“Oh God, probably more work, overtime,” Barrios said. “(Gilroy) wouldn’t be as fun a place to be.”
Garlic City Billiards is open from 4 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and until 2 a.m. on weekends. Tables cost $6 per hour for one player and $10 per hour for two or more.
