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''LaRosa's Pizzeria'' is a chain of
pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta. Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then take ...
s serving neighborhoods throughout
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
,
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
, and
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. It was founded in 1954 by Donald "Buddy" LaRosa, along with partners Richard "Muzzie" Minella, Mike Soldano and Frank "Head" Serraino. Originally called Papa Gino's, LaRosa later bought out his partners, and changed the name to LaRosa's. In addition to serving guests in its pizzerias, LaRosa's is also the exclusive pizza served at the
Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and expan ...
and
Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
amusement parks, the
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is the sixth oldest zoo in the United States, founded in 1873 and officially opening in 1875. It is located in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. It originally began with in the middle of the c ...
,
Perfect North Slopes Perfect North Slopes, is an alpine skiing resort in Southeastern Indiana. It consists of 5 magic carpets, 2 rope tows, and 5 chairlifts. The area has 23 trails, 1 of which is expert, 3 of which are most difficult, 2 of which are advanced intermed ...
,
Great American Ball Park Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It served as the home stadium of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB), and opened on March 31, 2003, replacing Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium), the R ...
(home of the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
),
TQL Stadium TQL Stadium, called West End Stadium during construction, is a soccer-specific stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the home of FC Cincinnati, a Major League Soccer (MLS) team that had been temporarily playing at Nippert Stadium. The stadium is lo ...
(home of MLS's
FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The ...
), and
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) is an academic pediatric acute care children's hospital located in the Pill Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The hospital has 652 pediatric beds and is affiliated with the University of ...
.


History

Buddy LaRosa agreed to help his mother and aunts sell pizza at their church festival in the summer of 1953. Buddy is of Sicilian heritage, and pizza was familiar in his home. But it was still new to most of his German-American neighbors in Cincinnati. Their pizza was a hit and the wheels in Buddy's head began to turn. In 1954, Buddy cashed in a life insurance policy to rent his first restaurant building and pizza oven. Beginning with just one location on Boudinot Avenue in the Westwood area of Cincinnati, the family and franchise owners now operate 66 pizzerias, with total annual sales of $180 million. LaRosa's is very popular in Greater Cincinnati. It has a 25 percent share of the local pizza market and boasts one of the highest sales volumes per pizzeria in the nation. Among U.S. pizza chains, LaRosa's has average per store sales that far outpace
Domino's Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino ...
,
Donatos Pizza Donatos Pizza is a pizza delivery restaurant franchisor headquartered in Gahanna, Ohio, United States. It has nearly 200 locations in eleven states, with the majority of locations in Ohio. Donatos is also served at several venue outlets, inclu ...
,
Little Caesars Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. (doing business as Little Caesars) is an American multi-national pizza chain. Based on 2020 statistics, Little Caesars is the third-largest pizza chain by total sales in the United States, behind Pizza Hut and Do ...
,
Papa John's Papa John's International, Inc., d/b/a Papa Johns, is an American pizza restaurant chain. It is the fourth largest pizza delivery restaurant chain in the United States, with headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky and Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan ...
, and
Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert at d ...
.


Expansion

LaRosa's first franchise was sold in 1967 in Finneytown, Ohio. Following that, additional franchises were opened in Greater Cincinnati communities such as Clifton, Hyde Park, and White Oak. By 1980, LaRosa's had 25 locations. Between 2004 and 2014, LaRosa's carefully expanded further with corporately owned and franchise locations in Middletown, Liberty Township, Loveland, Mason, Colerain Township, and Oxford, among others, as well as locations in Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana. In 1991, LaRosa's invested heavily in the implementation and marketing of a single-number call center for delivery and carry out orders. Its phone number, 347-1111 is prominently featured in advertising. The creation of a One Number was a major innovation in pizza ordering. To keep LaRosa's One Number top of mind, a recognizable jingle was used to promote the number. LaRosa's One Number call center can take hundreds of calls at one time. In 2003, LaRosa's added an online ordering system to target the teenage demographic specifically. In 2015, LaRosa's introduced a mobile app for ordering carry out and delivery items.


Menu

LaRosa's signature
pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...
is a thin crust variety made with a distinctive thick, sweet
sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French word t ...
(a family recipe created by Buddy's Aunt Dena) and topped with
provolone Provolone (, ) is an Italian cheese. It is an aged ''pasta filata'' (stretched-curd) cheese originating in Campania near Vesuvius, where it is still produced in pear, sausage, or cone shapes long. Provolone-type cheeses are also produced in othe ...
cheese. Their menu also includes "hoagys" with a variety of fillings and condiments, as well as calzones, salads, and pastas. The restaurant offers over 40 menu items and prides itself in using high-quality ingredients in its family recipes. In 2012, LaRosa's launched a gluten-free pizza to accommodate guests with specific dietary needs. While the restaurant initially limited the menu item to 8 restaurants to ensure that their staff members mastered the proper preparation and cleaning techniques involved, gluten-free options are now available at 15 pizzerias in Ohio and Kentucky, as well as Kings Island and Cincinnati Children's. In February 2022, LaRosa's introduced plant-based protein menu options to better serve their guests' growing interest in healthier eating and meat alternatives. Their Plant-Based Deluxe Pizza is made with plant-based pepperoni, plant-based Italian sausage, green peppers, onions, and vegan cheese. After testing the meat alternatives in select pizzerias, the company rolled out plant-based options to all 66 LaRosa's locations in Greater Cincinnati, Central Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana in September 2022. LaRosa's also offers its pasta and pizza sauces, salad dressings, Sweet & Spicy Diablo Sauce for dipping, and other selections from its menu at many Cincinnati grocery stores.


Leadership

In 2008, leadership of the company shifted as the founder, Buddy LaRosa, moved into the role of Chairman Emeritus. During the same year, longtime Chief Executive Officer T.D. Hughes was succeeded by Buddy's son, Michael LaRosa. Mark LaRosa, also Buddy's son, serves as President and Chief Culinary Officer. In 1999, Michael's son Nick LaRosa joined the company and today is Executive Vice President of Strategy and Business Intelligence, becoming the third generation of the LaRosa family to serve in leadership of the family-managed pizza chain.


Community Involvement

LaRosa's has always been active in the neighborhoods it serves, sponsoring local youth sports programs. LaRosa's supports community athletic programs and honors students through the Buddy LaRosa High School Sports Hall of Fame. Since founding the Hall of Fame in 1975, LaRosa's has honored nearly 300 exceptional athletes. Buddy LaRosa is also the founder of Cincinnati Golden Gloves for Youth. Through Buddy's generosity, the organization moved to a new location at the Over-the-Rhine Recreation Center in 2013, following the construction of a new boxing gym. During the Cincinnati Reds' season, LaRosa's offers a "Strikeouts for Slices" promotion. When Reds pitchers strike out at least 11 opposing batters, fans at Great American Ball Park win a free small one-topping pizza. To date, those giveaway pizzas have had a total retail value of several million dollars. During 2020, when fans were not at the stadium, due to COVID-19 restrictions, LaRosa's contributed $1,000 to the Reds Community Fund (which supports the region's baseball and softball programs), every time Reds pitchers struck out at least 11 opposing batters. In 2011, LaRosa's became the first company to receive the Family Business Hall of Fame Award from the University of Cincinnati's Goering Center. The honor recognized the business for their long-term impact through commitment to philanthropy, community service, growth of employment, and community image. In addition, founder Buddy LaRosa was named a Greatest Living Cincinnatian in 2015 and was awarded Father of the Year by Talbert House in 2016. In December 2022, Buddy was inducted into the Ohio Restaurant Association's Hall of Fame. In 2020, in celebration of Buddy's 90th birthday, the LaRosa Family Foundation was formed to ensure his legacy of community involvement. The Foundation supports programs and activities dedicated to the development of youth and adolescents through education, athletics, and life-skill development.


See also

*
List of pizza chains of the United States This is a list of pizza chains of the United States. This list is limited to pizza chain restaurants that are based, headquartered or originated in the United States. Pizza chains of the United States * &pizza *America's Incredible Pizza Company ...


References


External links

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Data file including all locations for your GPS
{{Authority control Pizza chains of the United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1954 Companies based in Cincinnati Cuisine of Cincinnati Restaurants in Cincinnati