While we’ve continued to grow over the past few decades and reach milestone after milestone, we’ve never forgotten those who were with us from the beginning. In fact, we’re taking this opportunity to recognize a few pizza brands who have been with us for the past two decades and share their incredible stories.
Primo Pizza and Catering Provides a Classic Pizza Experience
A team that makes pizza together, stays together, at least at Primo Pizza and Catering. Even the owner himself, Tom Dioguardi, has had a foot in the business for nearly three decades. Tom fondly remembers how he became involved with Primo Pizza and Catering.
“I started working here in 1992 and I bought it in 2010,” he says. “I started as a cook making pizzas and eventually took over as a manager.”
Their humble restaurant is sandwiched in-between a Chinese restaurant and dry cleaners in a strip mall just off of Highway 14 in Illinois, where it still currently resides. And as Tom explains, much of the original staff can still be found inside of the kitchen.
Venezia’s Pizzeria is Taking Over Arizona, One Slice at a Time
If you ask owner Domenick Montanile, it feels like an eternity since he first created Venezia’s Pizzeria. “I started back in 1998 when I was right out of college after graduating from ASU,” he says.
Since then, Venezia’s Pizzeria has expanded to include five locations throughout Arizona, making it a staple of the community. Domenick isn’t going to stop there either. Before this pandemic, he was planning to expand even further.
“We had plans to open up a few more locations, but now I’m not interested in opening up any new locations,” he says. “I already have 300 employees and I don’t need to add another 70 employees and have 70 more worries. I’m going to wait until this whole thing is taken care of and then we can move forward.”
Experience Pizza in an All-New Way at Papa Joe’s
The pizza revolution is happening and what might surprise you is that it’s taking place in Illinois. As Papa Joe’s Italian Restaurant’s manager Carmen Maurella explains, “Just this year, we opened up a brand new location in Lockport. We converted it into what we’re calling a pizza pasta pub. It’s a little more family-friendly and is targeted to a younger audience. We want to introduce that to the world and expand the idea.”
While pizza may be a timeless classic, the team at Papa Joe’s still wants to help modernize how it’s presented to the world. That’s why they’re not satisfied to sit back and coast on their current success.
“We do a lot of advertising and are always creating new items,” says Carmen. “We notice what the customer wants and then make these things products of our menu.” But these changes go beyond just innovating their dine-in area and menu options.
