Last Updated on July 25, 2012 by DeanR
East of Chicago Pizza Company Franchise
East of Chicago Pizza Company is a franchise for a pizza restaurant. It was founded in 1982 by L. Scott Granneman. The first restaurant was opened in Greenwich, Ohio as the Greenwich Pizza Barn.
When L. Scott Granneman was thinking of a name for the second restaurant in Willard, Ohio, he remembered someone saying that he has “the best pizza east of Chicago”. They started franchising in 1990 and now, they have over 120 locations nationwide including Vienna, West Virginia and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
What’s on the menu at East of Chicago Pizza?
Their specialty is the Authentic Chicago Style Pizza. It’s a pie crust that has been seasoned and filled with toppings of your choice, cheeses, original or Chicago style pizza sauce, and grated parmesan. Other specialty pizzas are BBQ Chicken, Hawaiian, Beef or Chicken Taco, The Tower that has 10 kinds of toppings, 7 Layer Veggie, Buffalo Chicken, Chicken Bacon Ranch, and Chicago Melt. They also have subs like Chicken Breast, Ham & Cheese, American, BLT, Meatball, Italian, Pizza, 7 Layer Veggie, Spicy Steak, and Buffalo Chicken. Wings are available in regular or boneless.
Their loaded nachos has tortilla chips layered with nacho cheese, sour cream, and taco meat then topped with tomato, lettuce, black olives, onions, jalapeno peppers and a cup of salsa. Other menu options are taco salad, side salad, Grilled Chicken Salad, Chef Salad, and Buffalo Chicken Salad. On the side, you can have CheezyStix, Garlic Pizza Bread, Breadsticks, ParmesanPOPs, Garlic Cheese Bread, Meaty Foldover, Two-Topper Foldover, and Double Stuff Pepperoni Foldover. For dessert, there’s PB&J Pizza made with Jif peanut butter and Smuckers Strawberry preserves, Dutch Crunch, Stuffed Apple Foldover, Brownies Bites, and CinnaPOPs that are hot pops made from their signature dough and baked to golden brown then covered with caramelized cinnamon sugar and served with icing.
Costs and Requirements Associated with Running an East of Chicago Pizza Company Franchise
You need to have a net worth of $250,000 and a total liquid asset of at least $50,000. Expect to be investing $141,000 to $428,000. Franchise fee is $20,000 with an on-going royalty fee of 5%. This is for a renewable 10 year term agreement. Absentee ownership is allowed although 100% currently operates their own restaurants and 26% of them own more than one unit. You will need about 20 employees to run a location.
What’s included in the East of Chicago Pizza Company franchise package?
There will be 3 weeks training at the headquarters and 2 weeks at your location. You will have protection in your territory. You will also receive assistance in selecting a site and negotiating the lease if needed. For marketing, 3% of your gross revenue will be deposited to an escrow that will support a system-wide marketing and advertising. This includes co-op advertising, ad slicks, regional marketing, national media, and quarterly POS campaigns. There will be on-going support through email, phone, and occasional field evaluations. You will also gain access to the East of Chicago Pizza Company support website.
Contact Details
You May Reach Them At:
Address: 121 W. High St., #12 Lima, Ohio 45801
Phone: (419)935-3033 or (419) 225-7116
Email Address: franchise@eastofchicago.com