Giordano's facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Restaurant |
| Founded | February 1974 |
| Founder | Efren Boglio Joseph Boglio |
| Headquarters |
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United States
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Number of locations
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58 |
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Area served
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Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada, and Wisconsin |
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Key people
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Giordano's is a well-known American pizzeria chain. It is famous for its special Chicago-style stuffed deep-dish pizza. Two brothers, Efren and Joseph Boglio, started Giordano's in 1974 in Chicago, Illinois. Since then, the pizzeria has grown a lot. It now has over 65 locations in many states, including Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada, and Wisconsin. Giordano's also offers catering and ships its frozen pizzas across the United States.
Contents
The Story of Giordano's Pizza
How It All Started
Brothers Efren and Joseph Boglio were born in a small town near Turin, Italy. Their mother was famous for her delicious recipes, especially her Easter pizza pies. The brothers later moved to Argentina and then, separately, to the U.S.
When Efren arrived in America, he started working at a pizza place in Chicago. But he wasn't happy with the pizzas he tasted. He decided to open his own restaurant called Roma. When Joseph came to Chicago, the brothers decided to open a new restaurant together. They used their mother's special recipe and spent months trying to perfect a new kind of pizza. In 1974, they finally opened Giordano's, introducing their unique stuffed pizza.
A Similar Pizza Story
Interestingly, another pizza chain called Nancy's Pizza also started making stuffed pizza around the same time. Both Giordano's and Nancy's Pizza say their stuffed pizza was inspired by an old family recipe for scarciedda. This is an Easter dish from two regions in Italy, Basilicata and Apulia. Some people wonder if the founders of these two pizza chains knew each other because their stories are so similar.
New Owners Take Over
In 1988, John Apostolou, who was from Greece, and his wife Eva bought Giordano's. They had big plans to open many more locations across the U.S. and even in other countries. While they didn't open as many as they hoped, Giordano's did start to expand. In 1995, they opened a restaurant in Milwaukee, though it later closed. The first big expansion outside of Illinois happened in 2005 when Giordano's opened new restaurants in Florida.
Facing Challenges and a Fresh Start
In 2011, the company faced some financial difficulties. This was mainly because of problems with their real estate properties, not because people stopped buying their pizza. To get through this tough time, Giordano's had to go through a legal process to reorganize its finances.
During this time, four Giordano's restaurants closed. Eventually, John and Eva Apostolou sold the business for $52 million. A group of investment firms bought Giordano's in November 2011 for $61.6 million. This group included Victory Park, Origin Capital, Atria Group, and even John and Eva's sons, George and Bill Apostolou. This new ownership helped Giordano's get back on track and continue serving its famous pizzas.
Giordano's Locations
Before its financial challenges, Giordano's had many restaurants in Chicago and the surrounding area. The company started opening locations outside of Illinois in 2005, beginning in northern and central Florida. Early Florida locations included Lake Buena Vista and Kissimmee. By 2007, they had opened stores in Port Richey, Brandon, and Tampa.
Giordano's continued to grow. In February 2015, a new restaurant opened in Indianapolis, which was its second location in Indiana. In July 2015, Giordano's entered the Minnesota market, opening a restaurant in Minneapolis. In April 2018, they announced plans for a restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska.
Today, there are about 40 Giordano's restaurants in the Chicago area and many more in other states. Some of the Florida locations are owned by local business partners. As of early 2020, Giordano's had restaurants in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada, and Wisconsin.
Pizza Rivals
Giordano's is one of the most famous pizzerias in Chicago. It has several major competitors in the Chicago-style deep-dish pizza world. These include Pizzeria Uno, Nancy's, Gino's East, Pizano's, and Lou Malnati's. For its thin-crust pizza, Giordano's mainly competes with Home Run Inn, Connie's, Aurelio's, and Rosati's. Along with Uno and Gino's, Giordano's is often called one of Chicago's "main pizza triumvirate," meaning one of the three most important pizza places.
What's on the Menu
Giordano's stuffed pizza has a top and bottom crust with lots of cheese stuffed in between. You can also add other toppings inside, like pepperoni, Italian sausage, and spinach. On top of the crust, they add sauce and parmesan cheese.
The pizza crust at Giordano's is made from a special dough that takes several days to prepare. People describe the crust as soft and flaky, and it has the traditional Chicago-style shape.
