Aurelio’s Pizza Franchise History

Join the Aurelio’s family today! With their quality food, fresh ingredients, and friendly service, Aurelio’s provides to the busy families in your community. Aurelio’s Pizza was established in 1959 as a family pizzeria and the franchise continues to expand.

Aurelio’s Pizza Franchise Timeline

●      The franchise journey began in 1959, when Joe Aurelio opened the first Aurelio’s Pizza in Homewood, Illinois. The new small store consisted of four tables and one pizza oven. With trial and error, Joe was able to recreate recipes into the perfect formula. Some changes to the dough and fresher ingredients slowly built the restaurant's reputation, and it began to expand.

●      Aurelio’s continued to grow in popularity. By 1962, Joe was expanding the restaurant by building more tables, a new kitchen, and a bar. The restaurant started to have a family gathering-type theme. Picnic tables, a jukebox, and checker-top walls made Aurelio’s Pizza the place to go. No matter the occasion, Joe would be present in the restaurant, making the community feel more welcome. Everybody felt they personally knew Joe and that’s where the slogan, “Tell ’em Joe Sent Me” originated from.

●      Finally, in 1974 Aurelio’s Pizza became the first Chicago pizzeria to franchince its concept, becoming the 5th pizza franchise in the United States! A new location was built in Joliet, Illinois and then a corporate store was opened in the Scottsdale, Arizona. In 1976, an old warehouse as purchase and quickly became a one of a kind pizzeria. Chicago artifacts and antiques covered the restaurant, matching the vintage stained glass ceiling.

●      By the 1980’s the franchise was booming with 10 locations and three new added states. A long with the new locations, a new menu item called, The 6” Lil Pie, was created to cater to the lunch menu, schools, and sporting events. The customers could by 5 Lil Pies and get the 6th one free!

●      The 1990’s was only more growth for Aurelio’s. 11 new locations meant it was time for new menu items. Stuffed Pizza, Taco, BBQ Chicken, Tomato, spinach, mushroom, and Hawaiian Pizza were all added to the menu.

●      The 2000’s brought a sad date. On December 18, 2001 the founder, Joe Aurelio passed away after decades of heart trouble. His legacy will carry out as an entrepreneur who built a pizza empire. His hard work and constant kindness is what created this establishment, helping it become the quality restaurant it is today. Joe created quality products, with the freshest ingredients through trial and error, eventually creating the perfect recipes. Joe’s son soon took over to run the family business. The 50th anniversary of Aurelio’s was back in 2008. To celebrate, all the menu items were priced as they would be back in 1959 when the store opened.

●      Finally, that brings us to this decade, 2010. With the increase of social networking, this decade has been about brand consistency and franchise growth. Customer service continues to be improved. Aurelio’s Pizza has over 28,000 fans on Facebook. These new technologies created the idea of the new, “Joe Sent Me Rewards,” an app that was created back in 2013.

Stop by Aurelio’s Pizza today for fresh food and quality service! Enjoy the family pizzeria and the years of tradition that come with it! For more information visit our website at www.aureliospizza.com.