LaRosa's

What LaRosa's does

LaRosa's is a privately held, family-owned pizzeria chain founded in 1954 by Buddy LaRosa in Cincinnati, Ohio, operating primarily across the Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky tri-state market through a hybrid of company-owned and franchise locations. The menu centers on Italian family recipes — pizza, calzones, hoagys, pasta, wings, soups, salads, and desserts — sold via dine-in, carryout, and delivery. The company began franchising in 1967 and now operates dozens of neighborhood pizzerias supported by a centralized Guest Service Center ("One Number") that routes phone and online orders across the network.

The underlying technology stack is operationally focused rather than technologically differentiated. It includes the proprietary SLICE point-of-sale and reporting system (Serving LaRosa's Ideal Customer Experience), native mobile ordering apps for iOS and Android, a web ordering platform at order.larosas.com, and the MyLaRosa's digital loyalty program. LaRosa's also extends its reach through a dedicated catering service, a retail/grocery line of family-recipe products sold in Cincinnati-area supermarkets and shipped nationwide via CincyFavorites.com, and sub-brand experiments such as LaRosa's Taphouse Mt. Washington, a craft-beer taproom concept launched in partnership with Big Ash Brewery.

Revenue is generated through multiple streams: dine-in and off-premise restaurant sales, franchise fees (a $35,000 initial fee per location), an ongoing 4% royalty and 4% advertising fee on franchise net sales, gift cards and branded merchandise, grocery and mail-order retail items, catering, and the Buddy Cards fundraising program (sold at $20 each, with $15 per card benefiting the selling organization or the LaRosa Family Foundation). The customer base is dominated by local families and individual consumers, augmented by community-driven demand from schools, youth organizations, and K-8 educators through PizzAchievement.

Name

LaRosa's

Legal name

LaRosa's, Inc.

Website

https://larosas.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1954

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

LaRosa's is a family-owned regional pizzeria chain founded in 1954, operating franchised and company locations across Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky with dine-in, carryout, delivery, catering, grocery, and digital loyalty revenue streams serving local families and community organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pizza Restaurant Chain

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Pizza QSR (THAFAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Family-Style Restaurants (THAFACAC), Ethnic & Regional Cuisine Restaurants (THAFACAD), Mediterranean/Greek/Italian/Spanish Grocery Stores (CRAHAFAJ)

Keywords

• Pizzeria chain
• Italian restaurant
• Pizza delivery
• Franchise restaurant
• Casual dining

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices13 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Restaurant Operations: Revenue from dine-in, pickup, and delivery sales at company-owned and franchise pizzeria locations. Menu includes pizzas, wings, hoagys, pasta, calzones, salads, and desserts.
2. Franchise Fees and Royalties: Initial franchise fee of $35,000 per location, plus 4% royalty fee on net sales and 4% advertising fee. Also includes transaction fees for orders processed through the Guest Service Center.
3. Gift Cards and Merchandise: Sale of gift cards (physical and electronic), T-shirts, and other branded merchandise through the website and pizzerias.
4. Grocery/Retail Items: Sale of LaRosa's family recipe products at local grocery stores throughout greater Cincinnati area, including pizzas, pasta, and Italian dinner items.
5. Buddy Cards Fundraising Program: Sale of Buddy Cards ($20 each) to organizations for fundraising. Groups keep $15 per card sold, with LaRosa's receiving $5 per card.
6. Catering Services: Catering menu for events and parties, with dedicated catering website and ordering system.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

LaRosa's operates a regional pizzeria chain selling made-from-scratch Italian family recipes including pizzas, calzones, hoagys, pasta meals, wings, soups, salads, starters, and desserts. Offerings are sold through dine-in, carryout, delivery, and catering channels at company-owned and franchised locations across Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, supported by a centralized Guest Service Center and digital ordering platforms (website and mobile apps).

Product overview

LaRosa's is a family pizzeria chain founded in 1954, operating primarily in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky with a unified product portfolio centered on its core pizzeria offering. The primary products include pizza, starters, wings, calzones, hoagys, pasta meals, and desserts, supported by digital ordering capabilities through a web-based online ordering system and native mobile apps for iOS and Android. The company extends its core offering through several add-on modules including a loyalty program (MyLaRosa's Rewards), a fundraising card system (Buddy Cards), a classroom rewards program (PizzAchievement), and catering services. LaRosa's has also expanded into taproom concepts with brewery collaborations. The franchise operation includes a proprietary point of sale system (SLICE) for franchisees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LaRosa's Taphouse: A taproom concept offering beer on tap alongside LaRosa's pizza menu.
• MyLaRosa's
• Buddy Cards
• PizzAchievement

Products and services

• Pizza and Italian Menu Items

Quantifiable outcome

• Buddy Cards provide approximately $200 in savings for a $20 purchase
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Big Ash BreweryminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 March 2026Cross-industry collaboration between LaRosa's Taphouse and Big Ash Brewery at the East Side location. This represents a tap house concept extension combining pizza with craft beer offerings.
• Cincinnati RedscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Strikeouts for Slices promotion partnership where when Reds pitchers combine for 11 or more strikeouts during any home game, every fan in attendance receives a free small one-topping pizza from LaRosa's. This promotion has been running for multiple years and creates significant brand exposure during MLB games at Great American Ball Park.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Blaze Pizza: Fast-casual build-your-own pizza concept with strong digital ordering and millennial-targeted branding. Represents the emerging format pressuring traditional regional chains like LaRosa's for younger customer occasions.

Broad incumbents

• Domino's Pizza: Largest U.S. pizza chain by system sales with industry-leading digital ordering and delivery infrastructure. Sets the competitive benchmark for delivery speed and app-based loyalty that regional chains like LaRosa's must match.
• Pizza Hut: National dine-in, carryout, and delivery pizza chain under Yum! Brands. Direct competitor across Tri-State markets with broader menu and stronger brand awareness.
• Papa John's: National pizza chain competing directly in LaRosa's Tri-State territory with a substantially larger franchise system, stronger digital infrastructure, and significant marketing budget.

Direct peers

• Marco's Pizza: Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Marco's is a multi-state franchised pizza chain with comparable menu breadth (pizzas, subs, salads) and similar franchise-driven growth strategy targeting Midwest and Sun Belt markets.
• Godfather's Pizza: Omaha-based franchised pizza chain with dine-in, delivery, and a thick-crust/toppings-heavy menu similar to LaRosa's. Comparable franchise system scale and family-casual positioning.
• Cicis Pizza: Texas-based franchised pizza buffet chain targeting families and group occasions. Comparable family-focused positioning and franchise-driven operating model with smaller per-store economics.
• Jet's Pizza: Michigan-based regional deep-dish and Detroit-style pizza franchise with similar dine-in, carryout, and delivery operations. Comparable AUV profile and Midwest regional focus.
• Donatos Pizza: Ohio-based regional pizza chain with comparable dine-in, delivery, and franchised model. Closest direct competitor to LaRosa's given overlapping Columbus/Cincinnati footprint and similar community-focused brand positioning.
• Mountain Mike's Pizza: California-headquartered regional pizza franchise with dine-in, carryout, and delivery operations. Similar family-friendly casual dining model and franchise-led growth strategy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/larosaspizza
• Facebookfacebook.com/LaRosasPizzeria
• Instagraminstagram.com/larosaspizzeria
• TikToktiktok.com/@larosas_pizza?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 LaRosa's