Pizza Patrón
Pizza Patrón Inc. is a United States pizza chain headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1986 by Antonio Swad and Bernadette Fiaschetti. Swad sold Pizza Patrón in 2016 to Charles Loflin, the new CEO. It was formerly headquartered in Dallas.
Pizza Patrón operates locations in Arizona, California, Illinois, and Texas. Pizza Patrón withdrew operations in Colorado. The chain primarily opens locations in neighborhoods with a high proportion of Latino residents. In addition to the franchise's 100 locations across the southwest United States, 40 more are currently under development.
Logo and slogan
The franchise's logo features the face of a man wearing a fedora hat. Their former logo was of the fedora hat alone. The chain's original slogan was "A Good Deal" from 1986 to 2001, and then it was ultimately changed to Más Pizza. Menos Dinero when the company started its franchising opportunities.. In 2017, when the company was sold, the company ultimately changed the slogan to "Pizza Like A Boss", and abandoned the "Más Pizza. Menos Dinero" slogan that was with the company for 16 years.Founding
Pizza Patrón was founded in 1986 by Antonio Swad, of Lebanese and Italian descent. Swad is also known for founding the Wingstop brand, which was sold in 2003 to focus on growing the Pizza Patrón brand. The brand has since been sold, and Swad is now working on other restaurant ventures. Pizza Patron was also founded by Bernadette Fiaschetti, who is of Italian and Irish descent. Fiaschetti is also known for founding Wingstop. She has since moved on from restaurants, and now hosts a nationally syndicated radio show on iHeartMedia called One Life Radio.Our Dough Story
Pizza patron has been making hand crafted pizzas for almost 35 years now. So, what makes Pizza Patron pizza special? The fresh ingredients and the care put into making each pizza for our guests. We take great pride in each pizza we serve to our guest because to us they are more than just a customer. They are like familia and we take the time to make sure we treat each guest like we would our own family member.We start with making our dough from high quality flour which is made every day by our Dough Masters. Simply put, tested ingredients go into our dough which is then slow proofed to maximize flavor and texture; the result is a tender, golden crust full of the classic flavor that leaves you yearning for more with every bite.
Our signature sauces are made from scratch in house, along with our marinara sauce. The Mariana Sauce is made from freshly packed California tomatoes, picked at the peak of ripeness and bursting with flavor. No added preservatives in our tomatoes either. Taste the sweetness in our sauce? It’s not from sugar, we don’t add any, so that sweet profile is all natural. In fact, our Marinara only has tomatoes, herbs, and seasonings in it. That’s all. Simple ingredients, incredible flavor.
Every day, you will always find in our restaurants that we cut fresh veggies like mushrooms, peppers, onions, and jalapenos. Fresh is best, you know it, we know it, and that’s how we like it.
From our smoked pepperoni, to our Italian sausage, to our spicy chorizo, we take pride in serving high quality meats, oh, and we’ve heard our guests like them too.
Oh. Cheese. Can’t forget that can we? Our cheese is a special blend made only for us. It has a super cheesy flavor and a fantastic stretch, we pile it on every pizza, and just like everything else it’s only available at your local Pizza Patron.
New products, promotions, and expansions
In 2006, Pizza Patrón successfully introduced new products like Patrón Dippers and Fiesta Wings, and it established its "Lista" pizza program nationally. In addition, Pizza Patrón developed a dine-in store model, the Pizza Patrón Rapidito model, the "Tiendita" and its "Lista" drive-through concept. These progressive additions to the concept were largely responsible for the 34.55% increase in business that Pizza Patrón experienced in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2006.Pizza Patron also decided to expand its online horizons by further touching base with its online presence. With the company’s online ordering becoming more prevalent, an interlacing app was released at the end of March 2020.
On March 23, 2020, Pizza Patron launched its first app ever. The app brings a whole new take to the Patron company. Along with mobile ordering now being available, “Patron Perks” a reward program that uses “Slice Points” offers customers rewards and deals following their visits and restaurants.
Brand Relaunch
In 2018 Pizza Patron went through a total brand relaunch. With intents of appealing to a younger consumer base; Pizza Patron swayed towards a more modern and youthful look. The transition included several different segments. One of the most notable changes of this process was the logo change. The once older Patron man logo was revamped into a more simplified version. Along with the visual transformation of the logo was the overall color pallet change. Away with the original red and black, the company shifted to a teal/mandarin red color scheme.Aside from the visual changes the company underwent, the company’s overall mission statement also transmuted. Since the start of the company, Pizza Patron was widely recognized as a Latin culture restaurant, relying heavily on the Latin consumer base. While the brand still celebrates its Latin roots, today Pizza Patron leans towards a much more inclusive “Flavor for All” motto.
Pizza por Pesos
In January 2007, Pizza Patrón announced its new "Pizza por Pesos" policy which enabled the chain's customers to pay for pizzas with Mexican pesos for a limited time. Though the company was not the first to implement such a policy in the United States, the move came at a time of increasingly heated debate over illegal immigration in the United States and caused the chain's Dallas headquarters to receive complaints and death threats, even the Swad/Fiaschetti's household in Sunnyvale, Texas was threatened by the KKK for associating with Latinos. It also created publicity for the chain, garnering media attention from several outlets including Fox News, The Colbert Report, MSNBC, The Tonight Show and many more. After the first week of the promotion, one owner reported that customers had paid with about 15,000 Mexican pesos, equivalent to about US$1,400, at his two southern California locations, which accounted for roughly 20% of his profits.On May 3, 2007, the company reported that sales in the first three months of 2007 were up 35% compared to sales during the first three months of 2006. The company attributed the strong growth in sales to publicity generated by news reports about the "Pizza for Pesos" campaign and said that its policy of accepting pesos, originally scheduled to last only until the end of April, was being made permanent.
Pizza por Favor
On June 6, 2012, Pizza Patrón launched its "Pizza por Favor" promotion offering a free large pepperoni pizza to any customer who ordered in Spanish, by simply saying "Pizza Por Favor".The event sparked controversy and criticism from conservative groups. The Conservative Caucus, an organization that advocates for English as the official national language of the United States, criticized “Pizza Por Favor,” and on the day in May when the promotion was announced, Pizza Patrón's email servers were maliciously hacked into. The company received international news coverage and gave away 80,000 pizzas during the one-day promotion, including 50,000 during the three-hour window it advertised plus another 30,000 in coupons for free pizzas that were given to people still waiting in line after supplies ran out and business hours had ended.