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Chicago pizza chain seeks niche in market

Giordano's, known for its stuffed Chicago-style pies, is taking over three former Hops locations, the first in Port Richey.

By PHIL DAVIS
Published August 26, 2005

A hefty slice of Chicago is coming to Port Richey.

Giordano's, a pizza chain that made a name for itself in the tough Chicago pizzeria market, is taking over the old Hops Grill & Brewery at 10042 U.S. 19. The restaurant should be open by November, said Dan Hull, Giordano's director of marketing. The 31-year-old chain also plans to open branches at old Hops locations in Tampa and Brandon.

Pizza aficionados will recognize the name.

Giordano's is famous for its stuffed, double-crusted version of the Chicago-style deep dish pizza, a family recipe the company claims can be traced back two generations to a town near Torino, Italy.

The pizza is baked in a deep dish, like other Chicago-style pies, but the cheese (a pound and a half of mozzarella in a large pie) and other ingredients are separated from the sauce by a thin layer of dough. Sauce and cheese meet only when the pie is sliced.

As with any Chicago pizza, the general rule of thumb is two slices and you're stuffed.

"It's a very substantial pizza," Chicago Sun-Times food critic Pat Bruno said. "It is a bit different from other Chicago-style pizzas. Giordano's is a stuffed pizza, which is quite good, just different. It's got enough pizazz to get people to try it."

Hull said two Giordano's locations in Lake Buena Vista and Kissimmee are doing well. The chain, which has 35 locations in the Midwest, recently made a deal to buy and renovate three former Hops properties in the Tampa Bay area. In addition to the Port Richey property, Hull said Giordano's will open pizzerias at 327 N Dale Mabry in Tampa and 11310 Causeway Blvd. in Brandon.

Giordano's is not the only exporter of Chicago-style pizza. Uno's Chicago Grill is a spinoff of Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due, Chicago institutions since the 1940s. The chain, now based in Boston, has more than 200 locations across the United States, but Chicago Tribune food critic Phil Vettel said the franchise experience is nothing like the original.

"No self-respecting Chicagoan will admit to enjoying a Pizzeria pizza outside the city," Vettel said. "It's all blasphemy to us."

Chicagoans are loyal to their pizzerias. Case in point: Paul Krauter, a Chicago workers' compensation attorney.

"If I wanted seafood, I'd go to Florida," Krauter said in a telephone interview from his Chicago office. He's a weekly devotee of Lou Malnati's famous Chicago-style pizza. "If I wanted sausage, beef or pizza, I'd come to Chicago."

Vettel said Pizzeria Uno and Lou Malnati's are Chicago institutions partly because of the legendary characters who launched the businesses. He said Giordano's doesn't have that kind of lore behind it.

"It does not, to me, have that big Chicago thing, that cult of personality that the others have," Vettel said. "That may help them out when they try to translate into Florida and beyond. They're not having to re-create something."

[Last modified August 26, 2005, 01:36:21]