Noble Roman's

What Noble Roman's does

Noble Roman's Inc. is a publicly traded pizza and Italian-food franchisor headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, founded in 1972 on the Indiana University campus. The company operates an asset-light franchise and licensing model spanning four go-to-market formats: branded pizza food-service systems in venues such as convenience stores, hospitals, airports, entertainment facilities, bowling centers, universities, and military bases; a grocery deli-based Take-N-Bake pizza program; its flagship Craft Pizza & Pub full-service restaurant concept featuring scratch-made dough, over 40 toppings, and craft beer and wine; and the Tuscano's Italian Style Sub sub-brand. Underlying the offerings is a proprietary technology stack centered on recipes and ingredient specifications refined over 50+ years — including a specially milled high-protein flour crust, a fresh-packed secret-spice un-condensed sauce, a 100% real Mozzarella/Muenster cheese blend, and no-filler meats.

The company monetizes through initial franchise fees, ongoing royalties, food-service licensing fees, and, in some cases, direct restaurant revenue. Customer segments are highly fragmented: individual franchisees (SMB), mid-market venue operators, and grocery retail partners. Noble Roman's listed at $16.5M in 2025 revenue (+8.7% YoY), turned a 2024 net loss into a 2025 pre-tax profit of $1.59M, and reported Q1 2026 revenue of $3.904M (+3.8% YoY) with pre-tax income up 77%. In June 2026, the company refinanced its debt with a $6.9M five-year senior secured term loan from Lake Forest Bank & Trust, replacing its prior Corbel Capital facility and eliminating warrants.

The unit-level growth signals — roughly 60 new franchised units in 2025, 12.7% G&A reduction, and 2.3% same-store sales growth at Craft Pizza & Pub — point to a rebuilding franchise system rather than a saturated one, though the underlying market remains the domestic U.S. only and the company carries a sub-$10M market capitalization on OTCMKTS under ticker NROM.

Name

Noble Roman's

Legal name

Noble Roman's Inc.

Website

https://nobleromans.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Noble Roman's is an Indianapolis-based publicly traded pizza franchisor (OTC: NROM) founded in 1972, licensing proprietary pizza, sub, and Craft Pizza & Pub food-service systems to individual franchisees, c-stores, grocery delis, and institutional venues across the U.S.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pizza Restaurant Franchising

NAICS

Restaurants and Other Eating Places (7225)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Pizza Fast Casual (THAFABAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Pizza QSR (THAFAAAB)

Keywords

• Pizza franchising
• Food service systems
• Convenience store foodservice
• Restaurant franchise programs
• Take-n-bake pizza

Headquarters

HQ city

Indianapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Franchise Fees and Royalties: Revenue from franchised Noble Roman's Pizza locations and Craft Pizza & Pub units, including initial franchise fees and ongoing royalty payments
2. Food Service Systems Licensing: Licensing fees from providing branded pizza and sub food service systems to convenience stores, hospitals, airports, entertainment facilities, bowling centers, universities, and military bases
3. Grocery Take-N-Bake Program: Partnership with quality grocery stores providing a deli-based take-n-bake pizza program
4. Craft Pizza & Pub Restaurant Sales: Revenue from company-operated and franchised full-service Craft Pizza & Pub locations featuring scratch-made crusts, over 40 pizza toppings and craft beer & wine

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Noble Roman's is a pizza and Italian-food restaurant franchisor that licenses branded food service systems to operators across convenience stores, entertainment facilities, hospitals, airports, bowling centers, universities, military bases, and grocery delis. The company also operates the Craft Pizza & Pub full-service pizzeria concept featuring scratch-made dough, 40+ pizza toppings, and craft beer and wine, and sells through a grocery take-n-bake program. Revenue comes from franchise fees, royalties, food service system licensing, and direct/company-operated restaurant sales.

Product overview

Noble Roman's is a pizza restaurant operator and franchisor offering multiple branded food service systems. The portfolio consists of Noble Roman's Pizza (the core fast-casual pizza brand), Craft Pizza & Pub (the flagship full-service pizzeria with scratch-made crusts and craft beer/wine), and Tuscano's Italian Style Sub (Italian-style subs). The company operates franchise programs for convenience stores (C-Store Pizza Program) and grocery delis (Take-N-Bake Pizza Program), serving venues such as entertainment facilities, bowling centers, universities, and military bases.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Craft Pizza & Pub: Noble Roman's flagship, full-service pizzeria featuring scratch-made dough, over 40 pizza toppings and craft beer & wine. Renowned for its scratch-made crusts and hand-crafted pizzas.
• Noble Roman's Pizza
• Tuscano's Italian Style Sub

Products and services

• Noble Roman's Pizza The flagship pizza brand offering fast-casual pizza with specially milled high protein flour crusts, secret spice sauce made with California vine-ripened tomatoes, 100% real mozzarella and muenster cheese, and premium meats with no fillers. Licensed through franchise and food service system programs to convenience stores, entertainment facilities, hospitals, airports, universities, military bases, and other venues.
• Craft Pizza & Pub

Quantifiable outcome

• Revenue grew 8.7% to $16.5 million in 2025
• +4 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Blaze Pizza: Blaze Pizza is a fast-casual pizza concept with a build-your-own model, typically located in higher-traffic retail venues. Its fast-casual positioning overlaps directly with Craft Pizza & Pub and its venue selection overlaps with Noble Roman's preferred non-traditional locations.
• Toppers Pizza: Toppers Pizza is an emerging U.S. pizza franchisor with a smaller footprint focused on late-night delivery and craft toppings. Its size, model, and franchisee target overlap meaningfully with Noble Roman's, particularly for individual multi-unit operators.

Direct peers

• Godfather's Pizza: Godfather's Pizza is a primarily franchise-operated pizza chain specializing in traditional and deep-dish pizzas. It is comparable to Noble Roman's in size and franchise-led model, sharing a focus on non-traditional locations and value-tier pizza occasions.
• Jet's Pizza: Jet's Pizza is a regional-to-mid-sized U.S. pizza franchisor known for its Detroit-style square pizza. It operates an asset-light franchise model comparable to Noble Roman's and competes for the same franchisee demographic and venue-operator channel.
• Domino's Pizza: Domino's is the largest pizza franchisor globally, operating an asset-light delivery-focused QSR/franchise model that mirrors Noble Roman's franchise-and-licensing structure. Both serve consumers through franchised and licensed pizza units and compete for the same franchisee and venue-operator relationships.
• Papa John's: Papa John's is a publicly traded pizza franchisor that competes in the premium quality pizza segment with a comparable franchise-and-company-store model. Its emphasis on quality ingredients (no fillers) directly parallels Noble Roman's recipe positioning.
• Little Caesars: Little Caesars is one of the three largest U.S. pizza QSR brands and operates primarily through franchised units. It competes with Noble Roman's for franchisee relationships and for consumer pizza occasions, particularly within the value/priced-pizza segment.
• Pizza Hut: Pizza Hut, a Yum! Brands concept, is one of the three largest pizza franchisors in the U.S. and operates dine-in, delivery, and express venue programs that overlap directly with Noble Roman's Craft Pizza & Pub full-service model and its licensed venue food-service programs.
• Marco's Pizza: Marco's Pizza is a U.S. pizza franchisor with a similar size and franchise-led growth model. It targets franchisees seeking an established pizza brand and competes for multi-unit franchise operators in overlapping U.S. markets.

Regional players

• CEC Entertainment (Chuck E. Cheese): CEC Entertainment operates the Chuck E. Cheese entertainment-and-pizza concept and similar entertainment-venue restaurant models. While not a direct pizza competitor, its combination of entertainment venue + pizza overlap thematically with Noble Roman's entertainment-facility licensed pizza programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Noble Roman's