What Is Marco’s?

One of the fastest-growing pizza delivery franchises in the U.S., thanks to our high-quality ingredients

Fed up with the lack of good-quality pizza delivery franchises, Italian-born Marco’s founder Pat Giammarco sought to create an authentic Italian pizza — an artisan pie created with the fresh dough and the highest quality ingredients delivered swiftly to your home.

Delivery pizza is a highly competitive industry, and he believed if people could get a better-tasting pizza for the same price they usually pay, they would keep coming back. More than 40 years and 900 locations later, Marco’s has become one of the top pizza delivery franchises and is giving the bigger brands a serious run for their money.

What makes Marco’s unique is the dedication to producing the best delivery pizza money can buy. Customers may order a delivery or takeout pizza because it is inexpensive and convenient, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want great taste. At Marco’s, we believe a delivery pizza can be as good as an artisan pizza from a gourmet pizza shop and still be convenient and affordable.

For instance, dough is made fresh daily in every store using our specially formulated flour. Our sauce is made from tomatoes developed and grown especially for Marco’s. The 100% real cheese that blankets every pizza is always fresh, never frozen. And you’ll find our team members prepping fresh vegetables and using only premium meats (no fillers) for toppings.

Marco’s is an affordable luxury. The difference? While other national chains deeply discount and compete over price point, Marco’s competes on quality and authenticity.

The other pizza chains do business similarly to McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s, appealing to a more price-sensitive customer. Marco’s more closely resembles Five Guys Burgers and Fries – still offering a fast and inexpensive meal but one that is much higher quality. We may charge a little bit more, but like a Five Guys burger, our pizza is worth it.

If you’re passionate about quality and want to join a well established and rapidly growing brand, Marco’s may be right for you.

Our philosophy

Consistency, authenticity and quality. These aren’t just buzzwords in the company’s mission statement but the lifeblood of the brand that pumps through the veins of each franchisee in the system. They are the keys to our success.

And we place our message of quality and authenticity front and center in everything we do, from our “Hello Primo” marketing to the sleek, inviting designs of our dining room. Attention to detail is what made our pizza best in the business, and it’s how we’re making our business the best in the industry.

Founder Pasquale “Pat” Giammarco was born in Italy and came to America with his family as a young boy. His father ran restaurants, and it’s something Pat gravitated toward as a young man in Toledo, Ohio. He wanted to make the kind of fresh, artisan pizza he remembered from his childhood, and to serve a pizza he could be proud of. That meant creating every pizza with the freshest ingredients available. In 1978, Marco’s authentic Italian pizzas quickly became a hit, and he grew his restaurant into a chain serving communities throughout Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

In the mid-2000s, it was CEO Jack Butorac who saw the opportunity to take Marco’s to the next level as a high-quality pizza delivery franchise. He felt pizza lovers deserved something better and he knew Marco’s Pizza was what the market was missing. He became a consultant for Marco’s in 2003, and he purchased the franchise rights in 2004.

With three decades overseeing the national expansion of restaurant chains with Chi-Chi’s, Fuddruckers and Tumbleweed, Jack had the vision and the know-how to take Marco’s from a regional favorite to one of the fastest-growing restaurant franchises in the country.

Marco’s wouldn’t dream of selling a second-class product. Some Marco’s franchisees started as managers or executives with other national pizza delivery franchises. But when it came time to invest their own money in a product they believed in, they chose Marco’s. If you were to attend one of our many franchisee conferences, you would hear their passionate commitment to product quality and the total customer experience.

Learn more about Marco’s Pizza and start a conversation

For in-depth details about our pizza delivery franchise, download our free franchise report. You can also learn more by exploring our research pages.