Giordano's is a pizza restaurant founded in 1974 and based in Chicago, Illinois specializing in Chicago-style pizza dolls.
Video Giordano's Pizzeria
Histori
Brothers Efren and Joseph Boglio were born in a small town near Turin, Italy, where their mother was known for her recipe quality. Her family likes her Easter pizza cakes. The first brothers immigrated to Argentina and then (separately) to the United States. Upon arriving in America, Efren started working at a pizza restaurant in Chicago, but he was not satisfied with the pizza he felt and decided to open his own restaurant, Rome. When Joseph came to Chicago, Efren had stated that they decided to open a restaurant using their mother's recipe and after experimenting for several months developing a pizza that had been filled. In 1974, they founded Giordano.
Maps Giordano's Pizzeria
Challenges
Some commentators have questioned restaurant claims about making pizza stuffed, nothing in common with Nancy Pizza's original story, which has introduced its own doll pizza in the same year. Both chains claim to have based pizzas from family recipes for scarciedda, a common Easter meal for Basilicata and Apulia, two regions of Italy. Because the similarity of commentators has suggested there is a relationship between the founders of two pizza chains.
New ownership, new ambition
John Apostolou, together with his wife Eva, acquired Giordano in 1988. In 1993 he told Crain's Chicago Business about their ambition to expand the chain by opening more than 100 new locations in the United States, Europe, and The middle East. However, this desired expansion did not materialize. Under Apostolou's supervision, Giordano opened a restaurant in Milwaukee in 1995 and planned for five more, but the Milwaukee location was closed in 2002. The first major expansion outside Illinois began in 2005 when the Giordano location opened in Florida.
Bankruptcy and resale
Due to the weak economic conditions, the Apostolou family faced difficulties in renting and selling their commercial real estate property. Their company, Randolph Partners LLC, finally failed in real estate loans on January 1, 2011, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 8, 2011. Owing to sharing the same primary lender, Giordano is included in a joint process with more than 30 affiliated companies. Overall, the companies listed nearly $ 50 million in combined liabilities to Fifth Third Bank and $ 2 million for two additional banks and could obtain emergency financing to keep operating. While Giordano entered bankruptcy at a time when many chain restaurants and pizzerias were forced to reorganize due to faltering sales, corporate bankruptcy lawyers, Michael Gesas, eased concerns about chain survival and stated that real estate is the reason for bankruptcy.
After filing for bankruptcy, four restaurants were closed as a result of a legal battle taking place. John and Eva Apostolou sold the business for $ 52 million to Chicago's private equity firm Victory Park Capital Advisors LLC. In the end, the company - which owed it to about $ 52 million - was auctioned in November 2011 for $ 61.6 million for the group including private equity firm Victory Park, Origin Capital and Atria Group, and George and Bill Apostolou (John's and Eva Apostolou, who had Giordano before the bankruptcy.)
Location
Before filing for bankruptcy, Giordano has 13 restaurants in Chicago and 30 other locations in the Chicago metropolitan area. The company opened its first location outside Illinois in northern and central Florida in 2005. Florida's initial location opened in Lake Buena Vista and Kissimmee. In October 2007, Giordano's had opened stores in Port Richey, Brandon, and Tampa. In February 2015, Giordano opened a new restaurant in Indianapolis. The official opening date is February 3, 2015. This is Indiana's first location for Giordano. [1] In July 2015, Giordano entered the Minnesota market, opening a restaurant in the Uptown area of ​​Minneapolis. [2] There are currently about 40 stores in the Chicago area, and some are located elsewhere. There are three locations that are franchisees, located in Florida. They plan to open new locations in Carmel, Andersonville, Navy Pier, Vernon Hills, Matteson, and Beavercreek, Ohio. On April 12, 2018, it was announced that Omaha, Nebraska would be the latest recipient of the Giordanos pizza. Omaha Nebraska won the contest held by Giordanos in November 2017 to see which city will be the next town to greet the Giordanos. Omaha beats people like Dallas, Des Moines, Cincinnati, and Houston. After much fanfare and attention from Omaha there was a controversy as it emerged that Giordanos had backed away from his promise of creating a massive attack on Omaha. This caused the Giordanos to take Omaha seriously. On April 12, 2018, the marketing manager for Giordanos announced on Twitter and Facebook "We're definitely coming". The executive team has searched for locations. [3] [4] [5]
Competition
Giordano's is one of Chicago's most famous pizzas, and its main competitors in Chicago-style dishes are Pizzeria Uno, Nancy, Gino's East, Pizano's and Lou Malnati's while its thin-crust pizza competes primarily with Home Run Inn, Connie's, Aurelio and Rosati. Together with Uno and Gino's, Giordano's has been described as one of Chicago's "main pizza triumvirate".
Rates
The Giordano's fillet pizza has an upper and lower crust with cheese filled in between and an optional topping in the middle like pepperoni, Italian sausage, and spinach, while sauce and parmesan are added on top of the crust. Giordano pizza crust is made from high-gluten dough, which takes several days to prepare. The crust has been described as soft and flaky, while lacking in many flavors, with its shape in traditional Chicago style.
Reception
Giordano doll dolls have received wide acclaim from critics, named "Best Pizza in the City" by Chicago Magazine and America's Best Pizza by NBC The Today Show . In Serious Eats, Daniel Zemans, praised the sauce used in doll pizza to have a strong tomato and spice flavor, while noting the crust as a less desirable element of pizza. Denise Du Vernay, in the reviews of several Chicago pizzerias for Patch.com, described the doll pizza in Giordano as "perfect" and superior to the pizza offered at Aurelio's Pizza. In an article for Christian Science Monitor, Giordano is ranked fourth in the pizzeria rankings in the Chicago area, with an article praising the stuffed pizza. The Rough Guide to Chicago said in 2003, "Although most pizzerias offer in-house dishes, the following places have improved: Pizzeria Uno , Lou Malnati's Giordano. "One criticism that comes up about pizza is the time it takes pizza to cook, with pizzas filled with an average preparation time of up to 45 minutes. Visitors can shorten this waiting period by ordering ahead or grabbing a half-baked pizza so they can finish baking it in their home oven. Giordano's was voted "Chicago's Best Pizza" by NBC, Chicago CBS, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Eater and Home & amp; Park Magazine. [6]
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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