Rosati’s Pizza is Heading for its Biggest Growth Year Ever

Rosati’s Pizza is heading for the biggest development year in its 62-year history, and many of the franchisees driving the expansion have spent decades with the Chicago-born chain.

The company, which has over 200 units nationwide, plans to open 11 restaurants within a 90-day stretch, helping Rosati’s set company records for annual openings and the percentage of its system operated by multi-unit franchisees.

Anthony Rosati, CEO of Rosati’s Pizza Enterprises, says the surge has been led largely by existing operators. Some have been part of the system for 30 to 40 years and are adding restaurants as they find real estate and seek opportunities outside Rosati’s crowded home market.

Chicago alone has more than 100 Rosati’s locations. The company gives operators larger territories than many restaurant chains, making available sites harder to find as the market fills in. That has encouraged some franchisees to look elsewhere.

Franchisee growth drivers

“The main driving forces are our existing franchisees. The unit economics are working for them, and it’s been a good time for them lately,” Rosati says.

The expansion didn’t appear overnight. Development timelines gave Rosati’s visibility into its 2026 pipeline during the closing months of 2025, when franchisees were already working through site searches, lease negotiations, and restaurant buildouts.

Rosati expects the momentum to continue.

“We saw at the end of ’25 starting to round out that ’26 was gonna be a good year, but we had some of that momentum in ’25 too,” he says. “So it keeps pointing towards more growth. And I would say ’27 is probably going to be busier than ’26 the way we’re looking at right now.”

Rosati’s believes its longevity has helped give franchisees confidence to keep investing. The family-owned chain traces its restaurant roots back more than a century and opened its first Rosati’s in 1964.

The company has watched restaurant trends come and go during that span. Rosati pointed to the rise and retreat of fast-casual pizza and other concepts that expanded quickly before struggling with store-level economics.

Pizza, he argues, has retained a different position with consumers as a family and community food. Rosati’s also competes in Chicago, one of the country’s deepest pizza markets. The brand won WGN Radio’s Chicago Pizza Madness tournament in 2025 and again in 2026.

Value has become another advantage as restaurant prices have climbed. Rosati says franchisees have worked to maintain labor and food-cost targets despite inflation, and pizza can feed multiple people at a price that compares favorably with other restaurant occasions.

Real estate strategy

Real estate is another piece of the growth equation.

Rosati’s prefers end caps in high-traffic shopping areas, especially properties anchored by grocery stores or other major retailers. End caps can cost more, but the company sees value in extra signage, patio space, and street visibility.

Second-generation restaurant spaces can make the economics even more attractive. Existing restaurant infrastructure such as grease traps, hoods, bathrooms, plumbing, and electrical systems can cut significant costs from a buildout.

Rosati says savings can range from $10,000 to $200,000 depending on the site, reducing the debt a franchisee must carry and helping the restaurant reach breakeven sooner.

Opening 11 stores within a short window also puts pressure on Rosati’s support infrastructure. The company tries to space openings when possible and makes sure corporate staff can be deployed once a franchisee receives the permits and certificate of occupancy needed to begin operating.

Its longtime franchisees provide an additional layer of support.

“We have a lot of guys that we work with that’ll help us, our franchisees, existing base,” Rosati says. “They’ll send a manager, they’ll come in and, and throw their hands in.”

That can put an experienced operator alongside a first-time franchisee during an opening. Rosati says the value goes past having another employee in the restaurant because veteran owners can offer guidance from someone who has faced the same challenges.

Future development plans

Future development is expected to follow population migration. Rosati pointed to the Carolinas, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee as markets benefiting from population gains. Many also attract former Chicago residents already familiar with the brand.

The East Coast has historically proven more difficult for Rosati’s, but the company is receiving interest from experienced multi-brand operators and has signed agreements that could push the chain farther into the region.

New franchisees, however, must understand the workload that comes with restaurant ownership. Rosati says the company tries to make expectations clear before an operator joins the system. First-time owners can’t simply hire a staff and walk away.

Rosati’s looks favorably on candidates with experience operating businesses and understanding financial performance. The company tells new operators to expect long weeks as they establish a restaurant and build a team capable of eventually taking on greater responsibility.

Technology adoption

Technology is also changing how those restaurants operate.

Rosati’s is evaluating equipment that can reduce kitchen labor hours and has continued adopting newer digital marketing tools. Artificial intelligence is another area under review, including technology that could reduce the amount of time employees spend answering phones.

Rosati says the primary objective is improving service and efficiency.

“There’s so many great things coming down the pipeline right now that we’re looking at,” Rosati says. “So I think we’re just on the cusp of a lot of great things from all the different things we’ve seen with AI where it could save money.”

Even as Rosati’s adopts new technology and expands farther from Chicago, the company isn’t planning to leave behind the products that built the chain.

Director of marketing Loredana Gianino says sausage, not pepperoni, is Rosati’s top pizza topping. Fresh sausage is hand-pinched onto pizzas, and many of the company’s recipes have been passed through generations of the Rosati family.

That history stretches back before the pizza chain itself. Rosati’s great-grandfather emigrated from Italy, operated an Italian restaurant in Coney Island, and later moved to Chicago, where he opened a restaurant on Taylor Street. Later generations operated restaurants and built businesses producing cheese and sausage.

Anthony’s father, Ron, and uncle Dick opened the first Rosati’s Pizza in 1964. The family’s food businesses eventually included distribution and sausage production, giving subsequent generations experience across multiple pieces of the restaurant supply chain.

To Rosati, that history still shows up in the food served across the chain today.

“Definitely the ingredients we put on sets us apart,” Rosati says. “It comes from a whole lot of knowledge over 100 years of straight family, generation to generation, being in the restaurant or distribution business.”