Aurelio’s Pizza, the well-loved, iconic family pizzeria chain synonymous with Chicago-style thin crust pizza with that signature sauce is celebrating its 55th anniversary August 20, 2014.
What began as the pride and joy of Joseph A. Aurelio, Jr. who decided to give it a go as a restaurateur at the age of 26 in 1959 with a small four-top restaurant on Ridge Road in Homewood, IL is today 41 stores strong across six states and growing.
With its legendary “old oven” dating back to 1959 in its Homewood location, Aurelio’s is the oldest Chicago pizza chain and was one of the pioneers in the concept of the family pizzeria in the United States. Aurelio’s helped to launch pizza into the American lexicon and has since become one of Chicagoland’s true claims to fame. In fact, Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actress Jane Lynch recently had Aurelio’s pizza flown in for her private birthday party.
“This marks a big year for us,” said Joe Aurelio, president and CEO, Aurelio’s Pizza. “We have a lot to celebrate. We‘ve been working hard to take Aurelio’s Pizza to the next level for the past several years. And, it’s happening. We are launching an exciting new App. This year, we’ll experience a 10% growth in our number of locations. And, we have some new markets including Peoria, IL and Fishers, IN. The most exciting news is we’ve started construction on our Downtown Chicago location at 1212 S. Michigan Avenue.”