East Side Mario's is a Canadian chain of

casual dining Restaurants fall into several industry classifications, based upon menu style, preparation methods and pricing, as well as the means by which the food is served to the customer. This article mainly describes the situation in the USA, while catego ...

restaurants, managed by its parent holding company Recipe Unlimited. The restaurant specializes in

Italian-American cuisine Italian-American cuisine is a style of Italian cuisine adapted throughout the United States. Italian-American food has been shaped throughout history by various waves of immigrants and their descendants, called Italian Americans. As immigrants ...

. Individual locations aim to recreate the historic ambience found at the corner of Canal Street and Mulberry Street in Lower Manhattan. The brand is marketed as "A taste of little Italy". It is best recognized by its original logo featuring the Statue of Liberty holding a large

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

in place of a torch, as well as the jingle containing the catch phrase "Hey, budda boom budda bing". It has over 85 locations, all in Canada.

History

East Side Mario's was developed through the merger between several restaurant chains and began as a subsidiary of Yesac Creative Foods (later,

Prime Restaurants Prime Restaurants Inc. (formerly Prime Restaurant Royalty Income Fund) is a Canadian holding company, which operates the restaurant chains East Side Mario's, Tir Nan Og, Paddy Flaherty's, D'Arcy McGee's, Fionn MacCool's and Bier Markt. Founded i ...

). In February 1980, Sudbury,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, entrepreneurs Nick Perpick, Ralph Roy and Gary Ceppetelli, opened the first Casey's restaurant. The restaurant's success prompted the opening of a second location in Elliot Lake, Ontario. The company moved to Burlington, Ontario, and introduced a fourth partner. The Casey's brand was developed by the original parent company, Yesac Creative Foods. In 1982, the first Pat & Mario's Restaurant was opened in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

, Ontario. The objective was to establish a takeout pizza and pasta business. The venture was successful and the Pat & Mario's chain expanded into the Toronto area, as well as into the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The first East Side Mario's restaurant was developed and built in Aventura Mall in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Florida. To expand the business on both sides of the border, it was necessary for Yesac to raise capital. To do so, the collective brands of Casey's, East Side Mario's, and Pat & Mario's merged with the Lime Rickey's brand from Toronto to become Prime Restaurant Holdings Incorporated in August 1989. Prime Restaurants has become a major force in the current Canadian restaurant industry largely in part from this acquisition. By 1993, Prime Restaurants had expanded East Side Mario's throughout the United States through an American subsidiary. Because of the high potential of this restaurant chain, the American subsidiary was later purchased by PepsiCo's

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 a ...

division (eventually sold ESM to Marie Callendar's 1997), and Prime Restaurants retained exclusive rights to the Canadian

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

s. As of February 2000, Prime Restaurants had re-acquired global trademark rights to East Side Mario's Restaurants Inc. On July 22, 2002, the parent company made an

initial public offer An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

for the Prime Restaurant Royalty Income Fund, allowing for public investing into the brand. As of 2010, three members of senior management retained 18% ownership under Prime Restaurants, with the other 82% belonging to Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. In October 2013, Fairfax exchanged ownership in the Prime Restaurants brand, by selling to

Cara Operations Recipe Unlimited Corporation is a Canadian company that operates several restaurant chains such as Swiss Chalet, Harvey's and The Keg, and food distribution for large operations. The company was originated in 1883 as Canada Railway News Comp ...

with a warrant and cash deal. In October 2013, Fairfax bought a minority interest in Cara Operations. Cara in turn bought, and assumed debt from, Prime Restaurants. Fairfax also contributed $100 Million in secondary warrants, declaring a loss of approximately $50 Million in the process. East Side Mario's closed its last United States location, in Livonia, Michigan, in May 2020.

Franchise

The menu primarily offers Italian-American style food, with an emphasis on pasta, as well as classic entrees, such as pizza and chicken dishes. The interior design is styled after New York Italian eateries of the mid-20th century. In 2008, East Side Mario's revamped their franchise design and menu. The new menu had a healthier focus, promising that no artificial

trans fat Trans fat, also called trans-unsaturated fatty acids, or trans fatty acids, is a type of unsaturated fat that naturally occurs in small amounts in meat and milk fat. It became widely produced as an unintentional byproduct in the industrial pr ...

s and fresher ingredients were to be used. Their restaurants received an updated look, mixing styles from the Old World

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

with the more contemporary North American

Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are ...

. The logo also changed; a red tomato replaced the established figure of the Statue of Liberty. In some tourist venues, such as

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

s and

ONroute ONroute LP is a Canadian service company which has the 50-year concession to operate highway rest areas along Highway 400 and Highway 401 in the province of Ontario until 2060.Hunter, Douglas (2012). ''Double Double: How Tim Hortons Became a Can ...

service centres, the chain also operates smaller East Side Mario's Pronto! locations, offering a scaled-down fast food version of the East Side Mario's menu.

Posters

Loyalty program

East Side Mario's began a partnership with Scene in February 2015.

Advertising & marketing

East Side Mario's has produced a variety of both chain-wide and regional promotional offers. These have included local radio contests and giveaways in association with communities. Similar to other restaurant chains, East Side Mario's has a longstanding promotion that offers free meals for young children, marketed for families. The franchise has also engaged in advertising partnerships with other companies such as

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...

. In 2010, East Side Mario's took advantage of the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

and launched a campaign, declaring itself as the "soccer headquarters". In January 2010, East Side Mario's launched one of the largest 3 month long contests in Canadian casual dining history, the "Budda Boom Budda Ching" campaign. The contest totaled up to $10 million in prizes, and was created with support from East Side Mario's marketing partners Endeavour Marketing, Endo Marketing, Ron Christie Communications and Cowan & Company. This campaign was launched in conjunction with an ongoing social media strategy in which East Side Mario's uses its presence on Facebook in an effort to raise awareness of promotions among consumers. People are most familiar with the restaurant's long running jingle featuring the catch phrase: "Hey, budda boom budda bing".

Charitable work

East Side Mario's has been a corporate sponsor of the

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation was a charitable organization which raised money to advance research, education, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Established in 1986 by Nancy Tsai (then known as Nancy Paul), it worked to fund, suppor ...

in the past. In early May 2010, it was the national family restaurant sponsor of the 2010 Canadian Breast Foundation CIBC "Run for the Cure" fundraising event. The partnership included in-house promotions to help raise awareness about

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

. East Side Mario's has also provided corporate sponsorship of Camp Oochigeas, a volunteer-run and privately funded organization working out of Toronto, Ontario which provides a summer camp experience for children with cancer.

Achievements/Awards

East Side Mario's has been recognized for its success in the past. It has appeared on Canada's 50 Best Managed Private Companies consistently since 2000.

References

External links

East Side Mario's Web site (in English and French)Prime Pubs of Canada
{{Recipe Unlimited Recipe Unlimited Restaurants established in 1987 Restaurant chains in Canada Regional restaurant chains in the United States Companies based in Mississauga 1987 establishments in Ontario Italian restaurants in the United States Former PepsiCo subsidiaries