Toppers Pizza is not your average pizza chain. They admit to actively breaking the corporate mold with a focus on quality ingredients and customer satisfaction. Some of their unique toppings include burger, taco meat, macaroni, and jerk chicken. Aside from pizza, they have wings and their own version of bread sticks called TopperStix.

They treat their customers like family and each restaurant has a fun, modern atmosphere. Their employees are trained to make pizza in less than a minute and they are trained to literally run to deliver orders. The restaurant has a great respect for pizza and a focus on the details to give their customers a great pizza-eating experience.

History

Scott Gittrich’s vision for a pizza chain that never sacrificed the customer experience and quality food ingredients began in 1991. Two years later, the first location of Toppers Pizza opened. Just four years later in 1997, a franchise location opens up nearby. By 2015, the restaurant had gained popularity with over 75 locations open in over 13 states.

The restaurant is not only a success with their customers but with reputable magazines as well. In 2012, QSR put Toppers Pizza as a franchise opportunity that is the “One to Watch”. The next year, NRN put them in the “Top 50 Breakout Chains of the Year”. 2014 was a good year for the restaurant with recognition from Pizza Today, QSR, and Entrepreneur magazine.

The CEO and founder has professional experience working as Director of Operations for a group of 22 Domino’s Pizza locations after working his way up from a local delivery driver. The restaurant’s first location opened in Champaign, Illinois but the company is currently headquartered in Whitewater, Wisconsin.

Not only focused on pizza, the restaurant has partnered with Feeding America for over 6 years. In that time, they have helped raise over $250,000 to serve 2 million meals in an effort to help fight hunger. They also work with local communities and organizations to fund raise for other worthy causes as well.

Review

Each pizza at Toppers Pizza is made fresh with 3 different crust options, 7 sauce options, 5 cheese options, and over 30 topping options. Their bread sticks, coined TopperStix, are considered a primary menu item accounting for a large amount of the restaurant’s sales. Each item ordered comes with one or more dipping sauces for free.

The average cost of a large, 14-inch pizza without toppings is under $15 with an order of TopperStix ranging from $8 to $9. Their signature house pizzas range from $10 to $20 depending on the size and the crust. Their smallest size is “MyZa”, a 9-inch personal pizza, and their largest size is called Party at 16 inches.

In an effort to accommodate college students, one of their largest target markets, many locations stay open until 3 am or later with most locations open from 10:30 am to 3:30 am every day. Toppers Pizza currently has 75 locations in 13 states with the most locations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

They are well-known for their very short waiting times. The average carry-out order is a mere 8 minutes with the average delivery time at 25 minutes. A majority of people order delivery or carry-out with 58% of people choosing to have their pizza delivered right to their door.