Nation’s #1 Latino Pizza Brand Pioneers New Niche in Crowded Category

SAN ANTONIO — Pizza Patrón, the premier Latino pizza brand, opened their first Quick Service Pizza (QSP) outlet in San Antonio, Texas.  The restaurant is located at 3116 Nogalitos in a densely-populated and heavily Hispanic residential community in the South/Central area of the city.

The new QSP outlet shattered all previous opening sales records and became the top-selling store in the 22 year-old chain within its first week of business.  Team members scrambled to have additional product brought in over-night due to the unexpected high volume of transactions. 

The brand has a proud history of service to community and commitment to value, and now it brings the convenience of fast-food to the pizza segment.  The new QSP location is the concept’s first standalone location and features three distinct points of service for customers — a drive-thru order menu with pick-up window, a walk-up order window, and a colorful lobby strategically developed with a warm, food-centric retail environment.

“For years, we have wanted to take pizza to the next level but there were many operational and economic challenges to overcome,” said Andrew Gamm, director of Brand Development for Pizza Patrón.  “The launch of our first QSP location is truly ground-breaking — we hope to change the way people think about buying pizza.”

Pizza Patrón worked hand-in-hand with Lincoln Ovens developing a new “Fast-Bake” technology that could be added to any of the company’s existing impinger-style ovens.  The new system allows for custom-made pizzas to be baked in just over three minutes, dramatically reducing traditional cook times.

“QSP is the first really new element of our industry in decades, and we are committed to perfecting it,” said Antonio Swad, founder of Pizza Patrón Inc.  “We will look back on this as a redefining event.”

The company hopes to add more QSP units in multiple markets soon, and has developed executions for both custom-build projects and existing pad-site remodels.  This new paradigm broadens the chain’s real estate options substantially and creates an effective option for heightened brand visibility in the marketplace.

About Pizza Patrón – Pizza Patrón was founded by Antonio Swad in 1986.  Since franchising began in March 2003, the brand has grown from four locations in Dallas to 82 locations in six states, with more than 40 additional stores under development. Pizza Patrón features festive, Latin-influenced pizza stores that are community-based in Spanish-speaking or predominately Hispanic neighborhoods.  Since 2006, Pizza Patrón has expanded its menu to include new items such as Patrón Dippers™, Fiesta Wings™, BreadStix™, QuesoStix™ and ChurroStix™.  Additionally, they successfully rolled-out their LISTA-NOW READY™ pizza program nationally. The carry-out pizza chain also features a variety of different store models including DINE-IN,  RAPIDITO™ (airports/malls), TIENDITA™ (portable mini-store extension) and their LISTA DRIVE-THRU™ concept.  All pizza dough is made fresh throughout the evening; no preservatives are added or needed. The sauce is prepared fresh in the stores from crushed Roma tomatoes and marinated with a secret blend of herbs and spices.  Only 100% mozzarella cheese is used on all pizzas.  X-Large pizzas are offered at prices as low as $6 for cheese and one topping and $4 for the same medium AMIGO PIZZA™.  An X-Large ‘La Patrona’ deluxe pizza with everything is priced as low as $8.

For more information, visit  http://www.pizzapatron.com/.