Operations
Riko's Pizza combines proprietary recipes with a strong spirit
Eight-unit Riko's Pizza is the brain child of founders Rico Imbrogno and Luigi Cardillo. The Connecticut pizza concept plans to open another three to four units next year.
August 7, 2023 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
What happens when entrepreneurs with a penchant for pizza decide to open a restaurant? You get Riko's Pizza, founded in Stamford, Connecticut in 2011. The brand features signature thin-crust pizza in a casual atmosphere designed to fill a niche in the market.
Today, Riko's Pizza has eight units throughout Connecticut, Florida and New York, and expects to be closer to 12 by the end of next year, including a couple under construction in Florida. Another four to six franchisees have signed and are scouting for locations.
"We found an old recipe and just tweaked it and came up with the concept — a real casual atmosphere, some TVs, a nice bar, some salads, some wings and pizza, of course," said Rico Imbrogno, CEO and co-founder of Riko's Pizza. He partnered with his cousin, Luigi Cardillo, on the pizza concept and together, they've helped the brand grow outside Connecticut.
Though another cousin, a restaurateur, warned Imbrogno never to go into the restaurant business, Imbrogno's wanted to enter the franchise world. A carpenter by trade and entrepreneurial in spirit, Imbrogno took over a bankrupt motorcycle dealership in the early 1990s, so he had experience running a business. He had renovated a couple of buildings as a general contractor, and had an open space open that was ripe for a small restaurant concept. They added brick, warm woods and stone and used old photos of their family in Italy to create an inviting feeling for guests. "It's very casual," Imbrogno said. "It's just comfortable."
Imbrogno said he doesn't consider Riko's to be a pizzeria — the typical kind with a guy behind a counter making pies. Riko's offers full service with a full bar and TVs showcasing sports. A takeout counter sits on the site of the units.
The original name of the brand had been Rico's Pizza, but after three months as the concept gained traction, Imbrogno asked his cousin to Google "Rico's" and got hundreds of hits. If they were to franchise, they'd need a less common name. They changed it to Riko's Pizza and found it to be a perfect fit.
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On the menu
The brand serves up 13-inch thin-crust pizzas, wings and salads. You won't find meatball subs or parmesan wedges here. They focus on the basics and serve great products, Imbrogno said. Recipes are proprietary.
"I just love pizza," Imbrogno said. "Just every kind of pizza, I love. A thin crust pizza, I was crazy about, and wherever you go you find New York-style pizza, deep-dish pizza, Greek pizza — but nobody was focusing on this" thin-crust pizza.
For the first five or six years, employees made the dough in house. As the brand grew and volume picked up, Imbrogno said he knew they'd have to find another way to source dough and cheese in a way that was easier for franchisees. They found manufacturers to make ingredients to their specifications, and once a month, a Riko's representative visits the plants to make sure items are being consistently made.
"That's what keeps it consistent throughout the system," Imbrogno said, "but they're all our recipes."
The Hot Oil Pizza, which has a spicy homemade oil made with stinger peppers, is a top seller. The Nashville Hot Chicken, which features Nashville hot sauce, mozzarella, Nashville hot chicken, onions, pickle chips and a Ranch drizzle is also popular, as is a limited-time-only Cheeseburger Deluxe Pizza that is topped with American cheese, mozzarella, seasoned ground beef, red onion, mushrooms and serrano peppers.
"We have an unbelievable Margarita pizza that goes back to our Italian roots," Imbrogno added.
Riko's also offers a gluten-free pizza, and the brand took its time developing a dough that would encourage those with Celiac's Disease or gluten sensitivities to choose Riko's as a dining option.
"It tastes close to our original crust, and some people like it better," said Cardillo.
Imbrogno said he used to take pizzas to Little League teams when the brand first launched, and those children grew up eating Riko's pizza. Those same kids are now visiting the bar for pizza and beer.
Pizza accounts for 80% of sales. Riko's used to operate deck ovens, but now use conveyor ovens that can accommodate the volume the stores produce. Conveyors also create consistency of the products. Most Riko's units have three stacked conveyors.
"From Maine to Florida and Texas, the consistency of the bake should be exactly the same," Imbrogno said.
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Operations
Before Imbrogno and Cardillo began to franchise, they wanted to make sure Riko's Pizza was a profitable brand and easy to operate. "We made it so you don't have to be in the restaurant business or come from the restaurant world to be able to run a Riko's Pizza," Imbrogno said. "If you can manage people, you should be able to run it."
Imbrogno said the Riko's system is easy to learn, and they'll often get entrepreneurs interested in running a franchise. But many times, they want to change something in the Riko's system. They're looking for like-minded people with a lot of energy to consider for franchising.
Florida has been identified as a good area for growth given than people from Connecticut and New York have moved to the region. "And let's face it," Imbrogno said, "they need good pizza down there. … That's one of our missions — to save the world from lackluster pizza."
Like most restaurants, Imbrogno said Riko's struggles with hiring and retention. Still, the brand has employees who have been with the company since it opened. Training is critical for consistency as well as employee satisfaction.
Imbrogno and Cardillo opened three more units within 15 months of the first store's opening, but those were using deck ovens and antiquated systems, so they knew they'd need to sharpen operations before opening anymore or franchising, which took nearly eight years to hone. A fourth store opened in 2016.
One store, maybe two, is expected to open by the end of the year. Three or four are expected to open next year, and four more franchisees are looking for locations.
About Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.
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