Since its Arizona debut in 2013, Buddyz A Chicago Pizzeria has been making what many diners consider the best deep-dish pizza in the Valley.
Now the owners are planning to roll out additional locations – across the Valley and beyond – but they won’t be Buddyz pizzerias.
Confused? Here’s what’s happening and why:
As the concept prepared to offer franchises, Joe Scarnato, a Chicago native who brought Buddyz from the Windy City to Arizona, ran into trademark issues involving a longtime Detroit chain called Buddy’s Pizza.
So on Jan. 1, Scarnato says his pizzeria, the Valley’s original Buddyz in Queen Creek, will debut a new name: Vero Chicago Pizza. (In Italian, vero means ‘‘true.’’)
About a month later, the first Vero Chicago Pizza franchise will open in the recently vacated Barro’s Pizza space on the southwest corner of Val Vista and Williams Field in Gilbert.
At 3,200 square feet, it’ll be larger than any of four current Buddyz locations in the East Valley.
About the same time, around Feb. 1, the current Buddyz at Val Vista and Baseline in Gilbert will move to Sossaman and Guadalupe in southeast Mesa.
Not all Buddyz are changing their name
Potentially confusing what Scarnato says will be a gradual rebranding, the other current locations will not be changing their names.
The soon-to-move Gilbert location, operated by Randy Wallace, and the Ahwatukee one, run by Scarnato’s brother, Tim, will remain Buddyz.
So, too, will the newest Buddyz in San Tan Valley – a licensed location, thus not owned by Scarnato and his partners – and a couple of recently opened licensed locations in Florida.
Rather than continuing to license future locations, Scarnato and his partners are switching to franchising. They expect to announce as many as a half-dozen new franchisees by the end of this year.
Those franchisees are looking at bringing Vero Chicago Pizza to Chandler, Tempe, the West Valley, and elsewhere.
‘‘We’re not looking at grand expectations of hundreds and thousands of locations,’’ Scarnato says. ‘‘If we can get 25 to 50 around the country, I’d be as happy as a clam.’’
More focus on carryout & delivery
As part of its franchising plan, Vero will open some full-fledged restaurants with large bars, while others will be smaller, focusing on delivery and carryout with maybe just a few tables and a small bar.
This hub-and-satellites strategy – large locations surrounded by smaller delivery/carryout-focused locations – caters to diners’ increasing demand for convenient to-go options.
That demand, which has been growing for years, has exploded during the coronavirus pandemic.
‘‘We started in the carryout and delivery business 30 years ago,’’ Scarnato says. ‘‘So we’re going back to our roots.’’
Despite the challenges associated with covid-19, Scarnato says Buddyz is enjoying a banner year.
The newest location, which opened in San Tan Valley just this summer, already is the highest-grossing Buddyz without cannibalizing sales at the nearby Queen Creek one, he says.
Other changes also are in the works
The concept will enter the retail market in 2021, selling its signature giardiniera, an Italian relish of pickled vegetables, in delis and stores under yet another new name, Chicago Imported.
Eventually, the pizzerias’ rope sausage and Italian beef also will be available.
Scarnato and his partners will quarterback all these moves from a new company headquarters in downtown Gilbert.
All this, he hopes, will help introduce Buddyz to even more pizza lovers.
‘‘If we had to rely on just people from Chicago, we never could have done this,’’ Scarnato says. ‘‘We’ve brought Chicago pizza to a different audience.’’
