Franchising Authentic Italian
Pizzeria Venti goes to great lengths to bring an authentic Italian dining experience to the U.S.
Jaime Lackey

Pizzeria Venti is a growing franchise concept founded on food that is truly Italian.

Pizzeria Venti sends each franchisee to Italy for the hands on experience needed to make menu items.

Recipes for the restaurants’ pizzas and baked pastas came from the hill towns of Tuscany, says Joseph Gallina, vice president of operations with franchise company Venti Corporation, which is based in Boca Raton, Florida. Gallina recently returned from Italy where he’d even accompanied a franchisee training class.

All franchisees attend a 7-day culinary arts program in Italy, and they visit the restaurants where the recipes originated. “They’ll taste the lasagna in the restaurant where we got the recipe. That night, we’ll duplicate the recipe at the farmhouse where we stay while in Italy. This way, they can bring the food back to their restaurants and their towns, certain of its authenticity,” Gallina says.

Pizzeria Venti founders spent more than 12 years perfecting the recipes and the concept. During the mid-1990s, there were numerous trips to Italy to find the best recipes and to learn to recreate the foods and the Italian dining experience in the U.S.

The Pizzeria Venti training facility, called Olivello di Murlo, is located just south of Siena in Tuscany.

“They were trying to figure out why the food in Italy is so wonderful. It was a quest to translate the incredible Italian experience to our restaurants,” Gallina says. “They didn’t want to open a restaurant until they got it right.”

And they didn’t overlook any detail. Not even the water. To get the truest Italian flavor, each restaurant uses imported Italian water in its pizza crusts.

Each location offers a daily selection of 20 different pizzas by the slice as well as full pan pizzas, baked pastas and premium salads. It is a quick-casual concept that allows the restaurants to be as busy at lunchtime as at night.

“Someone can get quality pizza without a 30-minute wait,” Gallina says.

The company opened a prototype restaurant in Galena, Illinois, in December 2000. After making sure the concept was right, the company began franchising in 2003. The prototype restaurant was converted to a training center, as the overall Pizzeria Venti plan for growth does not involve any company-owned locations.

Pizzeria Venti is beginning to sell its authentic Italian to big-city investors, exemplified with the franchise’s Detroit location.

The company has since signed agreements for 32 franchise locations. A typical location is 2,400 square feet to 2,800 square feet and seats approximately 60 people. Restaurants have opened in Barrington, sssssss; Bluffton/Hilton Head, South Carolina; Midland, Texas; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Vonore, Tennessee; Detroit, Michigan; Hoover, Alabama; Johns Island, South Carolina; Mountain View, California; Prosser, Washington; Northridge, California; and Lakeside, Arizona. And restaurants are currently under construction in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Lafayette, Louisiana, Washington, D.C. and Burbank, California. The company has also signed agreements for 15 area development stores.

When a franchisee signs on for more than one store, these additional stores are called “area developments.” A franchisee that plans to open multiple stores is required to open a new store within 18 months of the previous store opening.

The company has moved its U.S. training center to Cheyenne, Wyoming. As Gallina says, “We’re trying to create the feeling of a small Italian town with our restaurants, and Cheyenne gives our franchisees the opportunity to continue their American training in a small-town atmosphere.”

Pizzeria Venti is focused on its franchisees. Gallina says the company’s executives felt it was important to choose between the restaurant business and the franchise business. He adds, “Unless you focus completely on the franchisee, you’re wearing too many hats.”

Initial franchise fees are $22,500. This includes the culinary training program and travel to Italy; additional training in the company’s Cheyenne facility; training manuals; lease negotiation services, and build-out services.

The interior of each Pizzeria Venti has authentic, understated Italian design.

Each location is uniquely designed for the franchisee. “They all have a very Tuscan look, but the look is unique to that store,” Gallina says. “Our build-outs are simple and our restaurants are beautiful, with a touch of the real Italy in each location.”

Venti Corporation also provides on-going training to franchisees as well as a phone support line, which is on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Franchise royalties are 5 percent of net sales (after taxes). But the company has a unique structure that provides a “royalty-free zone.” This means that when net sales reach a certain amount each week, the franchisee does not pay royalties above that amount.

Although Venti Corporation will sell individual stores, the company plans to open 1,000 restaurants with about 100 franchisees. If the company continues to grow, it will keep the same ratio of one franchisee to 10 restaurants in order to maintain its focus on its franchisees.

“If we help our franchisees properly, they will want to open a second, third or tenth store — or more,” Gallina explains.

As the company looks to grow, it seeks franchisees who are excited about what Pizzeria Venti is doing and passionate about recreating the Italian dining experience. Restaurant experience is not a prerequisite.

The Bluffton, Illinois, Pizzeria Venti stays true to the company’s aim at small town dining, just like eateries in Italy.

The company is also seeking sites in downtowns and in attractive strip centers located in upper-middle class areas. Population doesn’t matter so much to the company. “We have successful locations in towns with 15,000 people and in cities with 150,000 people,” Gallina says.

The company does have one advantage over some restaurants in terms of site selection. Because the restaurants don’t use fryers, there are no open flames in the kitchen. “We can go in historical buildings and in other locations where the building code or the landlord won’t permit restaurants [that use fryers],” Gallina says.

That’s just another advantage offered by the Pizzeria Venti experience.