Lou Malnati's Pizzeria

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria is an American Chicago-style pizza restaurant chain, known for its deep dish pizza, currently headquartered in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. It was founded by the Lou Malnati, the son of Rudy Malnati, who was involved in developing the recipe for Chicago-style deep dish pizza, and it has become one of the best-known and oldest family names of Chicago-style pizza restaurants. Lou Malnati's operates a e-commerce shipping division of its company called Tastes of Chicago, which started in 1987 and was originally known as "Lou Malnati's Priority Pizza". Tastes of Chicago ships frozen Lou Malnati's pizzas and food from more than 30 Chicago brands nationwide including Portillo's Restaurants, Eli's Cheesecake, Garrett Popcorn, and Vienna Beef.

History

In the 1940s, Lou Malnati began working with his father, Rudy, making deep-dish pizza. In the 1950s, they co-managed Pizzeria Uno. Lou and his wife Jean opened the first Lou Malnati's Pizzeria on March 17, 1971, in Lincolnwood, Illinois.

The Lincolnwood restaurant was successful, and the family subsequently opened another restaurant in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Initially a rocky start, the second restaurant proved profitable, and the company continued to grow. As of April 2016, Lou Malnati's owns and operates 61 restaurants in the Chicago metropolitan area. The company participates in the Taste of Chicago and has been active in local charities. It has also been a decades-long sponsor of WGN Radio's programming, and its pizza is offered in multiple station contests as a prize.

After Lou Malnati died of cancer in 1978, his wife and sons Marc and Rick took over the business. Its main competitors include Pizzeria Uno, Giordano's Pizza and Gino's East.

On July 4, 2011, Lou Malnati's opened their biggest pizzeria in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago. In July 2021, Lou Malnati's announced it was moving its headquarters to Buffalo Grove, Illinois.

In 2025, Marc Malnati published an account of the pizzeria's history and his family's involvement, ''Deep Dish: Inside the First 50 Years of Lou Malnati’s Pizza.''

Expansion beyond Illinois

Lou Malnati's has opened restaurants in three other states: Arizona (8), Indiana (6), and Wisconsin (5). Lou Malnati's began opening restaurants in the Phoenix area on May 12, 2016, with the first location opening at Uptown Plaza in central Phoenix. All locations in Arizona are in the Phoenix area. Indiana has four locations in the Indianapolis area, a fifth location is in Schererville, Indiana, which opened on July 15, 2019 and was the first Indiana opening. A store opened in Greenwood, Indiana on June 6, 2022. Schererville and Greenwood locations are exclusively carryout, delivery, and catering, offering no dine-in services. Wisconsin followed Indiana, with Lou Malnati's opening its first restaurant on December 11, 2019 in the Milwaukee suburb of Fox Point. The locations in Wisconsin are within the Milwaukee area.

Philanthropy

Since 1971, the Malnati family has hosted an annual one-day charity event. Lou and Jean Malnati started the event as a scholarship fund for local athletes to Wake Forest University in the name of Brian Piccolo, and after Lou died of cancer in 1978, Jean carried on the annual tradition in Lou's name with the focus changing to raising money for cancer research.
Lou was a member of Medinah Shriners and participated in activities to support the Children's Hospital. He was a member of the Patrol marching unit.

See also

* List of pizza chains of the United States

References

External links

*
Lou Malnati's Tastes of Chicago

{{Pizza chains

1971 establishments in Illinois
Italian restaurants in the United States
Pizza chains of the United States
Regional restaurant chains in the United States
Restaurants established in 1971
Restaurants in Chicago