Johnnie's Pizza vs Toppers Pizza Franchise Comparison

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

Company Overviews

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.

About Toppers Pizza

In 1991, Toppers Pizza began its quest to become the best pizza company in the world by killing it on every detail of the customer experience. Headquartered in Whitewater, Wis., Toppers Pizza takes a unique approach to the crowded pizza segment by cooking up mouthwatering specialty pizzas that start with their fresh, made-from-scratch dough, smothered in real Wisconsin cheese and finished with outrageous toppings such as French fried onions, oven-roasted tomatoes, mac 'n cheese and tater tots. Toppers Pizza's claim to fame comes in the form of Topperstix, arguably the planet's most addictively delicious cheesy breadstix. The Toppers Pizza empire encompasses over 60 restaurants across 10 states and, with its rapid expansion, is in the midst of Midwest and national domination. In 2014, Entrepreneur Magazine ranked Toppers Pizza as one of the top 500 franchises in the U.S and QSR Magazine listed the company as one of the year's Best Franchise Deals. In 2013, Nation's Restaurant News declared the Toppers Pizza brand as one of the 50 breakout chains of the year and Toppers Pizza received a No. 58 spot in Pizza Today's top 100 pizza companies.

Seeking new franchise units in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin

#69 on Franchise Rankings.com