Operations

The College of Paisan’s: How one family is carrying on a 40-year dough dynasty

Over 40 years, the Fejzuloski family has transformed Paisan’s Pizza from a humble Cicero storefront into an eight-location Chicagoland empire by blending high-octane atmosphere with a strict, hands-on commitment to consistency and leadership.

Photo: Paisan's Pizzeria

April 16, 2026 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Connect Media

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In the humid, flour-moted air of a small pizzeria storefront in Cicero, Illinois, the blueprints for a dynasty weren't drawn on paper, but kneaded into dough. What began in 1985 as Pete Fejzuloski's humble neighborhood dream has evolved into a high-octane culinary landmark, where the roar of custom motorcycles meets the quiet, steadfast tradition of a perfectly aged sauce.

For the Fejzuloski family, Paisan's Pizzeria is more than a business — it's a living inheritance, proving that while the dining rooms may grow and the menus expand, the heart of the legacy remains firmly rooted in the simple, sacred act of feeding the community like one of their own.

At the original Cicero location, "he sold pizza, candy, chips, cigarettes — anything to make a couple of dollars to pay the rent," said Jimmy Fejzuloski, who's now carrying on the brand's legacy with his brother Domenic and Petey, in a phone interview.

A second location was opened in 1991 in Brookfield, Illinois, and weighed in at just 850 square feet. Pizzas were baked in Blodgett deck ovens.

Pete Fejzuloski ran the two stores from 1985 to 2011, before finding a property in Berwyn, Illinois. That unit? 20,000 square feet. It turned into a full-service flagship restaurant with a bar. It wasn't something Pete Fejzuloski was familiar with because the original two Paisan's were old-school pizzerias with pizza, hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches. At Berwyn, the family brought in an executive chef to cultivate a menu of pizzas, pastas, burgers and salads, Jimmy Fejzuloski said.

Why expand the menu at Berwyn? Jimmy Fejzuloski said it's because the original menu didn't match the vibe of the building. They were able to upcharge, say, a gourmet Italian beef sandwich by selling it for $12 or $13 to help offset the costs of the building.

The family are big car and motorcycle enthusiasts, and the Berwyn location has vehicles hanging from the rafters, including drag motorcycles, a race car and an airplane.

A fourth location opened in Lisle, Illinois, and a fifth near Morton College in 2015. They took a five-year break before opening a sixth in West Lawn, a suburb of Chicago, right in the crux of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequent restaurants were open in Belmont, Cragin and Oak Lawn, Illinois, for a total of eight units.

Jimmy Fejzuloski said the family knew they were ready to expand by listening to the customers. "People from all over the country still come and visit us," he said. "There're people that have been coming to us, they brought their kids, now those kids are bringing their kids, and it's just generational. And this year we celebrated 40 years. It's a big milestone for Paisan's and the family."

Photo: Paisan's Pizzeria

On the menu

The pizza has a thin crust. Paisan's is known for their good amount of sauce and cheese, and the healthy amount of toppings the brand uses makes the pizza a fan favorite.

A supreme is the top seller, followed by sausage and pepperoni, and then a cheese pizza.

They do offer a tavern pie popular in the region that is extra thin and easy on the sauce and cheese.

"People like variety and it's something that's been on the menu since '85," Jimmy Fejzuloski said. "That's what grandpa put on there and it's one of those things where it's hard for us to pull it off. We still sell a lot of them. It's a Chicago favorite, but we are known for our (regular) thin crust."

Dough and sauce are made in-house and cheese is shredded daily. Paisan's does operate out of a commissary in Berwyn, which helps with consistency across the brand as it grows.

"We're big on consistency (and) quality, and if we could make everything all in one house, we know that the product going out is 100%. Where if each store is making their own dough and this person forgets a little bit of yeast and then this one forgets this in the sauce, it'll be inconsistent," Jimmy Fejzuloski said. "Our customers know us as being consistent whether you go to Cicero, Berwyn, Oak Lawn, the pizza — whether you get it here or there — you're getting the same pizza."

The area Paisan's operates in is heavy on competition. To set themselves apart, the Fejzuloskis offer guests an experience when they come in.

"When you look at our restaurants, they speak for themselves," he said. They're big, they're beautiful, they're spotless. You're walking in, the ambience is on fire, the staff, they're all smiling, they're all greeting you, there are people walking past with this beautiful food and everyone's having fun when they're here."

Photo: Paisan's Pizzeria

Operations

Jimmy Fejzuloski said the biggest challenge the brand has had has been finding the right people to lead teams and keeping the brand's name a premium company in the Chicagoland area. All it takes is one bad employee to ruin a reputation, Jimmy Fejzuloski said.

Dominic Fejzuloski agreed with his brother, adding that one leader could ruin the whole team.

"We look for leaders," he said. "We don't look for great people. You could come in and be a nice person and be friendly, but you also have to be a leader and be able to lead the business and lead our customers and lead our team and it's really a big deal."

Jimmy Fejzuloski said it's important to treat each other with respect. As owners, they stay involved in their business, working seven days a week. The owners will jump in and wash dishes, serve as busboys, make pizzas or work the counter, because teamwork is critical for success.

Dominic Fejzuloski said his dad, Pete, serves as the "head honcho," and his mother, Julie, runs the back office. Petey Fejzuloski runs PR. Dominic Fejzuloski heads up back-of-the-house operations and HR, while Jimmy Fejzuloski takes care of operations. They're careful not to step on each other's toes, but they do work closely and will help each other when needed. Sister Juliana, the first in the family to go to college, joined the family in their business a year ago in the HR department.

"Dominic, Petey and I did not go to college," Jimmy Fejzuloski said. "We went to College of Paisan's, and we started literally from the bottom. Our dad started us with scrubbing the toilets, as crazy as it sounds, to learning how to mop, how to sweep and then moving up to the kitchen, the pizza kitchen. If you're going to lead a team one day, you have to learn from the bottom, because if you don't know how to do it, you can't tell someone how to do it."

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the Pizzamarketplace.com and QSRweb.com editor for Connect Media. An award-winning journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places. 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, yes, she can tell you where to find the best pizza slices in the country.

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