Yes, you read it correctly. Gino’s East is going to grow some southern roots in the Lone Star State. The famous pizzeria—known for its deep-dish pies, is headed to Texas in partnership with Austin-based ATX Brands. Texas residents can now get a taste of this trademark deep dish pizza without having to step foot in the windy city.
Noah Himmel, who owns the Gino’s empire with his family, plans to open the first Texas location in Arlington (near Dallas) in November with the remaining 3 locations in Woodlands, San Antonio and Austin approximately every 6 weeks there-after.
Family ties appear to be a big motivating factor behind the Texas expansion, Himmel told the Dallas Morning News. “Texas, for us, has always been a special place because my mother is from Dallas,” said Himmel to Morning News reporter Robert Wilonsky. “We’ve been going to Dallas and Texas for a very long time, and there are a lot of people asking us for years to open there because there’s no great Chicago pizza there. It’s always been trying to find the right partner, and ATX seems like a great partner. That’s how this all came together this year — because half my family’s in Texas.”
While franchising Gino’s East is quite an expense–with the total investment required to open an individual Original Gino’s East Pizza franchise in a leased premises, depending on size and location, is in the estimated range of $528,000 to $2,157,750–ATX Brands and Gino’s are hoping for some big southern hospitality by offering a menu that appeals to local appetites and taste buds.
“There are a couple of things were looking to do in Texas,” he says. “We have some very strong partnerships with Chicago craft brewers, and we’re trying to get more of that available on the menu in Texas. We’re also going to be supplying our original Chicago sausage from Chicago to Texas. It’ll be the original sausage we’ve been using since the beginning. And what we like to do is try and give some menu options that fit more with the local communities we’re in, so we’ve been working on dish and thin-crust pizza that incorporates barbecue.”
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Source: Dallas Morning News
