Boston – Boston-based pizzeria franchise, Pizzeria Uno, has celebrated several successful hotel conversions this year. It has since launched a strategic plan to find additional hotel owners across the country looking to revamp their food and beverage program by bringing a well-known brand into their establishment. The first of these hotel conversions to open is a Chicago-area hotel that held its soft launch earlier this year and a grand opening on Aug. 26.
This new Pizzeria Uno location, which was previously an unbranded restaurant, is located in Schiller Park, serving the Rosemont and O’Hare areas as part of a soon-to-be-converted Delta hotel. This marks the first time Pizzeria Uno has expanded its original Chicago deep dish recipe outside its downtown location, which opened nearly 80 years ago.
“As the first restaurant to open as part of our hotel conversion strategy, this is really our proof-of-concept and is a big moment for the Pizzeria Uno brand overall,” said Erik Frederick, CEO of Pizzeria Uno. “Even before their official grand opening, the Bravo Hospitality Group and their hotel are already seeing nearly double the food and beverage sales that they saw pre-conversion.”
Pizzeria Uno also provides franchisees with in-depth support in all aspects of the business, from planning to build-out, operations to supply chain, and marketing and finance. Additionally, since hotel operators already have most of the equipment and kitchen in place, conversion costs are minimized.
“The support provided by the Pizzeria Uno franchise has been tremendous,” said Victor Ravago of Bravo Hospitality Group. “We feel like we have a true partner in all aspects of the business, and the experience in the company is quite extraordinary. The franchise touches every aspect of the business, so we can focus on running the restaurant and the hotel.”
Since the Chicago-area hotel held its soft launch in March, two additional Pizzeria Uno hotel conversions have opened across the country, including one outside Detroit and one in northern Indiana. Others are currently being built out, and more are in the pipeline.
