Chicago Franchise Systems, Inc., operates Italian-based Chicago-style restaurants in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

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, and

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which specialize in Chicago-style cuisine. They have operated since 1990, when they took over the popular Nancy's Pizza chain of pizzerias. Nancy's itself was started in 1974 by Nancy and Rocco Palese. CFS, Inc. operates as a franchisor for Nancy's Pizzerias and Doughocracy Pizza and Brews. CFS, Inc. launched Doughocracy Pizza + Brews in 2015, a fast casual pizza place that gives customers the "Freedom to Choose" their own toppings on a hand stretched pizza crust that can be paired with local craft beers. There is one Doughocracy restaurant, in Geneva, Illinois.

Nancy's Pizza

The first Nancy's Pizza restaurant was opened by

Italian Americans Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

Nancy (born Annunziata Scarano) and her husband Rocco Palese in 1974. The Palese family opened and later sold multiple restaurants with different names between 1971 and 1973, before eventually settling on Nancy's Pizza on W. Lawrence Ave. A journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times claims Nancy's Pizza invented the

Chicago-style stuffed pizza Chicago-style pizza is pizza prepared according to one of several styles developed in Chicago. It can refer to both the well-known deep-dish or stuffed pizzas and the lesser-known thin-crust "tavern-style" pizzas. The pan used to bake deep-dis ...

, but this is disputed. Nancy and Rocco Palese, both hailing from

Potenza Potenza (, ; ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one of ...

Basilicata Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometr ...

, had lived most of their adult lives in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, before immigrating with their three children to the United States in 1969. After 18 months in

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, Nancy and Rocco opened their first pizza parlor, ''Guy's Pizza'', featuring a popular thin crust pizza. In 1971 friends tried to get the Paleses to experiment with

pan pizza Pan pizza is a pizza baked in a deep dish pan or sheet pan. Turin-style pizza, Italian tomato pie, Sicilian pizza, Greek pizza, Chicago-style pizza, and Detroit-style pizza may be considered forms of pan pizza. Pan pizza also refers to the t ...

. Rather than imitate others, Rocco decided to invent his own pizza, modeled after his family’s recipe for "scarciedda," an

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specialty cake from his native region,

, and called his new invention Stuffed Pizza. In 1974, Rocco and Nancy opened the first Nancy's location in

Harwood Heights, Illinois Harwood Heights is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,065 at the 2020 census. Harwood Heights and its neighbor Norridge form an enclave surrounded by the city of Chicago. Geography Harwood Heights is located a ...

, which could seat only 35 people. Three years later, they opened the first location in Chicago. In 1990, the Palese family sold the name Nancy’s Pizza and all development rights to Dave Howey, the president of Chicago Franchise Systems, Inc., who had been a licensee of the Paleses since 1977. Today, there are 20 Nancy's locations in

, as well as six in the

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, area, one in

O'Fallon, Missouri O'Fallon ( ) is a city in St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area, located along Interstates 64 and 70 between Lake St. Louis and St. Peters. As of the 2020 census, O'Fallon ha ...

, and one in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

Al's Beef

In 1938, Al Ferreri opened Al's #1 Italian Beef, a beef sandwich stand on the sidewalk of Harrison and Laflin streets in Chicago. The shop claims that Al's father, Tony Ferreri, invented the

Italian beef An Italian beef is a sandwich of American origin, originating in Chicago, made from thin slices of roast beef simmered and served with a thin gravy on French bread. Common toppings are a choice between spicy giardiniera (called "hot") or mild ...

sandwich to serve at weddings. However, the true origin of the sandwich is disputed. The beef stand gradually grew and moved to its present location at 1079 W. Taylor Street, still in Chicago’s "Little Italy." In 1999, Chicago Franchise Systems bought the rights to Al's #1 Italian Beef Restaurants. The first Al's franchised location opened in 2001 in

Tinley Park, Illinois Tinley Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 55,971 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a suburb in the Chicago metropolitan ar ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Nancy's Pizza WebsiteAl's Beef WebsiteDoughocracy Pizza and Brews Website
Restaurants established in 1971 Regional restaurant chains in the United States Pizza chains of the United States Italian restaurants in the United States