Award-winning franchiser SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza plans to add two company-owned locations in high traffic, fast growth areas in its hometown Greater Kansas City market.  The 3,800 square-foot restaurants will be located downtown in Crown Center – a complex that includes Hallmark Card’s world headquarters and attracts five million visitors annually – and in the Corbin Park retail center in the Kansas suburb of Overland Park.

These will be the seventh and eighth Kansas City area locations for SPIN! ®, which has won numerous national, regional and local awards for its food and concept and is ranked number one by Zagat among Kansas City area pizza restaurants. With recipes developed in collaboration with James Beard Award-winning Chef Michael Smith, who also was just named national Chef Innovator of the Year, SPIN! is known for its exceptional, artisan food made from fresh ingredients and inviting atmosphere that appeals to all ages.

Scheduled to open in September, the Crown Center location will be located on the first level of the Crown Center Shops with a patio situated in the development’s central square that houses the Mayor’s Christmas Tree, an outdoor ice rink, and local festivals. The Crown Center complex – which includes office buildings, hotels, a large retail complex, residential living, and Hallmark Cards’ international headquarters – recently added a SEA LIFE Aquarium and LEGOLAND® Discovery Center. The Crown Center Shops are undergoing an ambitious retail evolution, including a 60,000 square-foot Halls department store that will open at approximately the same time as the Crown Center SPIN!

“We believe that Crown Center is a great home for a downtown Kansas City SPIN!,” says Ed Brownell, a Partner in SPIN! Pizza. “Not only will SPIN! be located just inside the main entry to the Crown Center shops, but we’ll be steps away from both the office complex and hotels, allowing us to serve those who live and work in the area as well as the thousands of tourists who visit Crown Center each year.”

“We are equally enthusiastic about our Corbin Park location which will serve the booming residential and commercial development that’s taken place to the south of our original location,” Brownell says.

Corbin Park is a 1.1 million square foot retail village located in one of the country’s most affluent suburbs. SPIN! expects to open its Corbin Park location in spring 2015.

When SPIN! opened its first location in the suburb of Overland Park, Ks. in 2005, it was one of the nation’s first authentic Neapolitan pizzerias. Today, in addition to its six Greater Kansas City locations, SPIN! has franchises in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, and a location planned on the campus of the University of Central Missouri.

Named a “Breakout Brand” and “Mover and Shaker” by industry publications, SPIN! has been awarded “best pizza” by numerous publications in its home market and honored for the city’s best gluten-free menu. It was listed among the “Rest of the 101 Best Restaurants” in the nation by TheDailyMeal.com, its Margherita Pizza was crowned one of the nation’s best dishes of the year by a trade publication, and its architecture won Best of Show at the Mid America Design Awards.

SPIN!’s menu includes hand-spun, stone-fired pizzas, an eclectic selection of affordable premium wines, appetizers, soups, salads, signature Panini and Italian deli sandwiches, and gelato ice creams. SPIN!’s homemade soups and salad dressings as well as its pizza toppings and ingredients are prepared daily from fresh produce and meats.

SPIN! offers a diverse selection of both traditional Pizza Rossa (red pizzas with crushed tomato sauce) and Pizza Bianca (white pizzas with roasted garlic olive oil glaze), and many hand-grated cheeses. The pizzeria takes the unique step of boosting flavors by roasting all toppings and ingredients in its stone hearth ovens each day, including mushrooms, caramelized onions, artichokes, and even capers, pecans, pineapple, pine nuts, and pancetta.

Guests can choose from traditional thin-and-bubbly crust, rustic whole wheat crust, and gluten-free pizzas. The pizza dough is made fresh every day using several types of flour including one specially imported from Italy, and SPIN!’s gluten free crust is renowned for its flavor and texture.

SPIN! is also known for its rotating roster of premium wines priced well below traditional restaurant prices, its homemade white, red and blood orange sangrias and selection of craft beers.

In addition to its wines and artisan menu, SPIN! is recognized for its convenient hybrid service, which combines traditional fast casual ordering in the restaurant’s lobby with a robust full-service experience at the table. The premium fast casual service appeals to diners who want to control the speed of their meal without sacrificing service.

This is the second national concept created by SPIN! partners Gail and Richard Lozoff, Edwin Brownell, and Michael Kramer, who are experienced in large multi-unit expansion, franchising, and operations.

For more information about SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza, visit www.spinpizza.com.

About SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza

Award-winning SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza is known for its exceptional, artisan food made from fresh ingredients without the gourmet price and its eclectic, affordable premium wines. Named a 2013 Breakout Brand by industry authority Nation’s Restaurant News, SPIN! was named one of the “Rest of the 101 Best Restaurants” in the nation by top foodie website TheDailyMeal.com. Its Margherita Pizza was crowned one of the nation’s best dishes of the year by Restaurant Business magazine, its architecture won Best of Show at the Mid America Design Awards, and it was named a “Top 100 Movers and Shakers” by Pizza Marketplace. Ranked number one by Zagat among Kansas City pizza restaurants, it has been named best pizza by every major Greater Kansas City publication. SPIN!’s menu is created in collaboration with James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Smith. Founded in 2005, SPIN! has six locations in the Greater Kansas City area and franchises in Southern California, and the San Francisco Bay Area. This is the second national concept created by SPIN! partners Gail and Richard Lozoff, Edwin Brownell, and Michael Kramer, who are experienced in large multi-unit expansion, franchising, and operations. www.spinpizza.com.