Mazzio’s Pizza was founded in 1961 by Ken Selby, a school teacher.  The first location, simply called The Pizza Parlor, opened in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was very popular right from the beginning.  He would teach all day and run his pizza shop by himself at night.  Four years later in 1965 he decided to make the pizza shop his full time job and he opened a second location as well.  It was more successful than the first one and the name was changed to Ken’s Pizza at this point.  By 1975 there were more than 100 company and franchise locations inside and outside of Oklahoma.  Mazzio’s Pizza was born in the late 1970s and was a larger restaurant with a full salad bar and a larger menu.  There were 150 locations within 10 years and currently there are 165 restaurants in the Mazzio’s Pizza chain.

The original concept of Mazzio’s Pizza when it was Ken’s Pizza was a special pizza sauce and a thin crust.  When the company became Mazzio’s Pizza it expanded to thick crust pizza and a salad bar as well.  They now offer 4 sizes of pizza with many specialty pizzas in either thin crust or thick crust.  They also serve a variety of appetizers, hoagies, calzones, pastas, salads, and more.  They offer lunch, dinner, and catering outside of the actual location as well.

Mazzio’s Pizza offers franchising opportunities for those that have prior restaurant experience and is willing to go through an eight week training program as well.  It takes between 12 and 20 weeks to get a location ready to be opened and you will have support through the entire process.  They will charge a franchise fee and they also ask for a percentage towards the advertising co-op that you will be involved in with the company.  The location need to be from 2,400 to 3,500 square feet and the on-site parking has to accommodate at least 35 vehicles.