Nancy's Pizzeria vs Johnnie's Pizza Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Nancy's Pizzeria vs Johnnie's Pizza including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Company Overviews

About Nancy's Pizzeria

It has often been said that the American success story is based on inventing and introducing a product for which the public has been waiting... Stuffed Pizza, the invention of Nancy and Rocco Palese, is how Nancy's Pizza was born. Nancy and Rocco had lived most of their adult lives in Turin, Italy, making pizzas, before immigrating with their three children to the United States. After 18 months in Chicago, they opened their first pizza parlor, Guy's Pizza, featuring the then popular thin crust pizza. Business had its ups and downs, and friends tried to get the Palese's to experiment with pan pizza. Rather than imitate, in 1971, Rocco decided to look to his mother's recipes and introduce his own pizza, known as "scarciedda," an Easter specialty cake. The Stuffed Pizza was born! Rocco continued experimenting with his new pizza, trying to perfect its marketability. He went into a solo business, then a partnership, then again tried it on his own before the right combination of circumstances brought to him, to Nancy's Pizza and to stuffed pizza, fabulous success. AND TODAY.Nancy's Pizza has dozens of locations in the Chicago area and other states. It's grown into a streamlined operation, developed and refined over time to render consistent, award winning quality. Any way you slice it, Nancy's Pizza offers you an opportunity to bring Italian tradition and a truly authentic taste of Chicago to your local restaurant market!!!

About Johnnie's Pizza

At 16 years old, Bruce Jackson was flipping pizza at the original Johnny’s Pizza in Manlius, New York. He loved the business: serving piping hot pizza - always made with fresh, authentic ingredients - to happy customers, sitting down with the locals on a Friday night for a slice, or feeding the high school football team after a win. He saw opportunity. And he wanted to build his own. Most of our franchise operators are familiar with the feeling.

In three short years, Bruce opened a Johnny’s Pizza just off the Syracuse University campus with Johnny’s younger brother Rosario. After six years of success there, Bruce and a new business partner, Scott Allen, were ready for a move to warmer weather! Atlanta, Georgia is where they landed.

In 1977, Bruce and Scott wrote "Now Open” on a pizza box, stuck it in the front window of their storefront in Atlanta, and started selling pizza. One year later, they opened a second store. As entrepreneurs, they saw bigger potential in the brand and the business model they’d so carefully fine-tuned. In 1994, they officially began to franchise. In 2003, we needed a unique name to operate on a national level. So we gave Johnny a last name, and Johnny Brusco’s Pizza was born!

Now a new generation of leadership is guiding Johnny’s Pizza into the future. Bruce’s son, Luke, is expanding the business across the southeast and focusing on growth in dine-in, delivery and online ordering segments. We’re also focusing on ways to increase individual store volume growth, including new seasonal menu offerings and an expanded craft beer selection.