Aurelio's Pizza

Infobox_Company
company_name = Aurelio's Pizza Inc.
company_
company_type = Franchised
foundation = 1959 in Chicago, Illinois
location = Illinois, USA
industry = Restaurants, Pizza

Aurelio's Pizza is an Illinois restaurant chain which centers its business around the thin crust variety of Chicago-style pizza. Aurelio's locations are mostly franchised, with only the two original stores in Homewood, Illinois and Richton Park, Illinois being owned by the Aurelio family. In total, Aurelio's boasts 43 pizzerias in six states, most of which are located in Illinois and Indiana, as well as single locations in Naples, Florida, Las Vegas, Denver, and Roseville, Minnesota.

History

Aurelio's Pizza was founded in 1959 by Joe Aurelio, Jr. who, at age 26, opened a small, 4 table restaurant on Ridge Rd. in Homewood. By 1977, Aurelio's had grown so popular that they opened the world's largest pizzeria near its original store in what was formerly a 12,000 square foot industrial warehouse. The company's slogan is "Aurelio's "is" Pizza!" The chain's main competition is Rosati's Pizza and Home Run Inn, as well as many smaller family-owned establishments.

Menu

The chain's specialties are its pizza and calzones. They are not particularly known for traditional Chicago deep dish, though one is on the menu [ [http://chicago.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=9117&neighborhoodid=101&cuisineid=0] ] . In addition, a variety of other menu items are available, including Italian beef and meatball sandwiches. All of the locations offer delivery and carry out [ [http://restaurants.wikia.com/index.php?title=Aurelio's_Pizza] ] (with the exception of the Naples location) and about half of them offer dining rooms and alcoholic beverages. The featured menu item at most Aurelio's locations is their Spinach Calzone.

Awards

*Consistently ranked "Excellent" by the Zagat Survey, the popular guide to restaurants worldwide.
*Two-time winner of the renowned Silver Platter Award, as being selected by fellow Chicagoland restaurateurs as a favorite place to dine (awarded by Food Industry News)
*Best Pizza 2007 Chicago Sun-Times

References

External links

* [http://www.aureliospizza.com/ Aurelio's website]
* [http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=slv2-msgr&ei=UTF-8&p=aurelio%27s%20pizza%20chicago%20il Locations]