Capriotti's Sandwich Shop, Inc. (also called Capriotti's) is a Nevada-based

fast casual restaurant A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate concep ...

chain located in the United States. The restaurant chain was founded in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

in 1976. Capriotti's has 112 company-owned and

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

locations in 27 states.

History

Capriotti's was founded in

Little Italy, Wilmington Little Italy is a neighborhood on the west side of Wilmington, Delaware. Little Italy is bounded roughly by 4th Street to the south, Union Street to the west, Clayton Street to the east, and Pennsylvania Avenue to the north. Like other neighborhoo ...

, Delaware in 1976. The restaurant is named after the founders' grandfather, Philip Capriotti. In 1988, the second restaurant location opened in

New Castle, Delaware New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 5,285. History New Castl ...

. In 1991, Capriotti's began franchising their restaurants. Interior and counter area, Capriotti's, Rosslyn, Virginia

In 1993, the first restaurant location in Las Vegas, Nevada was opened on Sahara Avenue, near

Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas Boulevard is a major road in Clark County, Nevada, United States, best known for the Las Vegas Strip portion of the road and its casinos. Formerly carrying U.S. Route 91 (US 91), which had been the main highway between Los Angel ...

. In 2004, Ashley Morris and Jason Smylie opened a franchise in Las Vegas. At the time, Morris was the youngest financial adviser at

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

. Smylie was a software engineer at Bechtel Nevada. Morris and Smylie were also investors in the housing market and made the decision to invest in a franchise after learning that the return on investment was higher than anything they were looking at investing in. In 2007, Morris and Smylie put the company in escrow. In the following year Morris, Smylie and a group of investors consisting of 95% Las Vegans bought Capriotti's. Capriotti's had 44 restaurant locations by the end of 2008. Morris is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the company. In 2008 and 2009 the chain was the official sandwich sponsor of the

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

in Las Vegas. Capriotti's was ranked in ''Entrepreneur'' magazine's top 500 franchise list in 2010 and remained ranked through 2014. Joe Biden at opening of Capriotti's in DC

Joe Biden at opening of Capriotti's in DC

Capriotti's starred on Food Network's ''

Unwrapped ''Unwrapped'', also known as ''Unwrapped with Marc Summers'', is an American television program on Food Network that reveals the origins of sponsored foods. It first aired in June 2001 and is hosted by Marc Summers. The show leads viewers on tou ...

'' in December 2011. In November 2013, Capriotti's expanded its presence on the East Coast by opening its first location in Washington DC. Joe Biden was the first customer served at the store's grand opening. That year, Capriotti's brought in over $58 million in revenue and experienced a 48% growth over the previous three years. In 2014, the company was named one of the "Top 10 Best Food Franchises for Your Buck" and one of "America's Best Franchises" by ''Forbes'' magazine. The Sandelman & Associates Quick Track Study on the Top 10 Quick Service Restaurant Concepts ranked Capriotti's among the top ten in overall satisfaction and won the award for highest quality and taste in the 2014 study.

Business operations

Capriotti's is based in Las Vegas, Nevada and has its largest concentration of shops there. The restaurant chain has 112 locations in 27 states including: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington State and Wisconsin. In 2014, it ranked #293 in ''Entrepreneur's'' Franchise 500. In 2016, Capriotti's was ranked #264 in ''Entrepreneur's'' Franchise 500.

Products

Capriotti's specializes in cold, grilled, and vegetarian

hoagie A submarine sandwich, commonly known as a sub, hoagie (Philadelphia metropolitan area and Western Pennsylvania English), hero (New York City English), Italian ( Maine English), grinder (New England English), wedge (Westchester, NY), or a spuckie ...

s or submarine sandwiches. Each restaurant roasts whole turkeys for 12 hours nightly, hand pulls meats, and makes their own meatballs and coleslaw. In November 2009, the Bobbie, one of Capriotti's signature sandwiches, was voted "The Greatest Sandwich in America" by

AOL.com AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

. The sandwich is made with pulled turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and mayonnaise. The Margolets named it after their aunt. In 2012,

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

named Capriotti's one of the "10 Great Places for a Surprising Sandwich."

Technology

Capriotti has utilized

Google Glass Google Glass, or simply Glass, is a brand of smart glasses developed and sold by Google. It was developed by X (previously Google X), with the mission of producing an ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information to the wearer using ...

to re-record employee training videos in a first person view. Management trainees also wear Google Glass during rush hour periods and review the footage for constructive visual feedback. Capriotti's uses an app-based loyalty program.

References

External links

* {{Fast-food chains of the United States Submarine sandwich restaurants Companies based in Spring Valley, Nevada American companies established in 1976 Privately held companies based in the Las Vegas Valley Fast casual restaurants Restaurants established in 1976 1976 establishments in Delaware