Lou Malnati's Pizzeria

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria is an American Chicago-style pizza restaurant chain headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois.[3] It was founded by the son of Rudy Malnati, who was instrumental in developing the recipe for Chicago-style pizza, and it has become one of the Chicago area's best-known local lines of pizza restaurants.[4] Lou Malnati's operates a division of its company called Lou Malnati's Presents Tastes of Chicago, a partnership with Portillo's Restaurants and Eli's Cheesecake, which ships Chicago-style cuisine nationally.[5]

Lou Malnati's
TypePrivate
IndustryPizzeria
HeadquartersNorthbrook, Illinois, USA
Number of locations
57 Chicago Area,[1] 4 Phoenix, Arizona, [2] 2 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2 Indiana (2020)
Key people
Lou Malnati, Founder
Websitewww.loumalnatis.com

History

Lou Malnati began working with his father, Rudy, in the 1940s making deep-dish pizza. In the 1950s they co-managed Pizzeria Uno.[6] Lou and his wife Jean opened the first Lou Malnati's Pizzeria on March 17, 1971, in Lincolnwood, Illinois.[7]

The Lincolnwood restaurant was successful, and the family subsequently opened another restaurant in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. After an initial rocky start, the second restaurant proved profitable and the company continued to grow. As of April 2016, Lou Malnati's owns and operates 45 restaurants in the Chicago metropolitan area.[8] The company participates in the Taste of Chicago and has been active in local charities.[4] It has also been a decades-long sponsor of WGN Radio's programming, and its pizza is offered in multiple station contests as a prize.

On July 4, 2011, Lou Malnati's opened their biggest pizzeria in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago.[9]

After Lou Malnati died of cancer in 1978, his wife and sons Marc and Rick took over the business. Its main competitors include Pizzeria Uno, Giordano's Pizza and Gino's East.

Lou Malnati's began opening restaurants in the Phoenix, Arizona, area, with the first location opening at Uptown Plaza in central Phoenix on May 12, 2016.[10] As of late 2020, Lou Malnati’s operates four restaurants in Arizona.

On July 15, 2019, Lou Malnati's opened their first restaurant in Schererville, Indiana. This location is a carryout, delivery & catering location only and offers no dine in. This was followed on December 11, 2019, with their first restaurant in Wisconsin in the Milwaukee suburb of Fox Point. Lou Malnati’s has since opened another location in each state, with a third in each state planned to open in 2021.

Pizza style

Lou Malnati's is a prototypical Chicago style pizza, and its deep dish pizza is generally referred to as a "pie." A thin crust of pizza dough is laid in a seasoned deep-dish pizza pan and raised up on the sides.[11] The ingredients are placed on a Chicago style deep-dish pizza in the opposite order of a thin crust pizza. The first ingredient is thick slices of mozzarella cheese that are placed directly on the dough. Then additional ingredients like mushrooms, onions and sausage are spread on top of the cheese. The pizza is then topped with a tomato sauce made with whole chunks of tomatoes. A "Lou-Mal" pie uses a "sausage patty," a single patty of Italian sausage below the layer of tomato chunks or sauce, as opposed to the more traditional crumbled sausage.[12]

Philanthropy

Since 1971 the Malnati family has hosted an annual one-day charity event.[13] Lou and Jean Malnati started the event as a scholarship fund for local athletes to Wake Forest University in the name of Brian Piccolo, and after Lou died of cancer in 1978, Jean carried on the annual tradition in Lou's name and the focus was changed to raising money for cancer research.[14]

In 1995, Lou Malnati's opened a restaurant in Chicago's west side neighborhood of Lawndale with the goal being to give all profits back to the community to benefit children's educational and recreational programs. [15] While partnering with the Lawndale Community Church, Lou Malnati's has also created a job-training program for residents of the church's recovery home, Hope House, to get them back in the working world.[16]

See also

References
  1. "Chicagoland Lou Malnati's Locations Near You". www.loumalnatis.com. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  2. "Arizona Lou Malnati's Locations Near You". www.loumalnatis.com.
  3. Lou Malnati's Pizzeria, LouMalnatis.com, accessed 2010-08-06
  4. Walkup, Carolyn (1995-01-02). "Malnati's gives back to ghetto neighborhood - builds new restaurant in Chicago's Lawndale area". Nation's Restaurant News. BNet. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  5. "Portillo's Italian Beef Kit & 2 Lou's Pizzas". Tastes of Chicago.
  6. Leonard, Will (1955-08-14). "On the Town with Will Leonard". Chicago Daily Tribune. Tribune Company. p. E-10.
  7. Boykin, Ames "Celebrating Schaumberg: Marking the Village's 50 Years", Daily Herald, August 12, 2006.
  8. Bong, Bob. "Business Comings & Goings: Lou Malnati Opens Thursday on 95th Street". Oak Lawn, IL Patch. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  9. Eck, Meggie. "Gold Coast Pizzeria Highlights – Lou Malnati's 40th Anniversary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-24. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
  10. Saria, Lauren (12 May 2016). "Lou Malnati's at Uptown Plaza in Phoenix Opens on Monday — Here's A Look Inside". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  11. Smith, Kathie (May 1, 2007). "Chicago's Food History". Toledo Blade.
  12. Olmsted, Larry (2011-12-08). "Great American Bites: Deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's in Chicago". USA Today.
  13. "Lou Malnati's Annual Cancer Research Benefit". Lou Malnati's.
  14. Jacobs, Jodie (November 1, 1992). "Bearing Down on Cancer". Chicago Tribune.
  15. "Chicago Style Pizza Restaurant in Lawndale | Lou Malnati's". www.loumalnatis.com. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  16. "Community Involvement".
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