Carbone's Pizzeria

What Carbone's Pizzeria does

Carbone's Pizzeria is a privately held, family-founded pizza restaurant chain established in 1954 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The company operates 31+ locations across three states — primarily the Twin Cities metro and greater Minnesota, plus Western Wisconsin and a single Montana outpost in Billings — under sub-brand formats that include Carbone's Pizzeria, Carbone's Kitchen & Pub, and Carbone's Pizzeria Bar & Grill. Its core offering is thin-crust pizza prepared with brick-oven baking and a signature 'Nana's Housemade Italian Red Sauce' that has been in use since founding, supplemented by an Italian-American menu of hoagies, pasta, salads, wings, calzones, appetizers, and (at select locations) burgers, broasted chicken, and a full bar. Differentiated SKUs include the Pizza Sandwich (a folded calzone-style item served open-faced in Wisconsin), the Pizza Bowl (a keto/gluten-friendly crustless option), and cauliflower crust pizzas.

The business operates on a franchise model with revenue generated primarily through dine-in, takeout, delivery, and event catering, supplemented by a frozen pizza retail line sold direct-to-consumer through carbonesfrozen.com and via wholesale distribution. Pricing is unit-based with build-your-own pizzas starting at $7 (7" mini) and scaling to $15 (14" large), lunch specials at $9, and family meal deals from $32; gluten-free and cauliflower crust are offered at premium upcharges. GTM is direct-to-consumer across physical locations, with digital channels including the company's website (online ordering, coupons, gift cards), DoorDash for third-party delivery, and Toast Tab for online ordering at multiple locations. Customer segments span families and individual consumers, event/party catering hosts, bar/pub patrons at full-service locations, and health-conscious consumers seeking dietary-restricted crust options.

The company is privately held with no disclosed PE, VC, or institutional investors and no publicly disclosed revenue. Distribution and operations are entirely company-affiliated (no third-party reseller channel beyond DoorDash), and the technology stack is conventional — traditional food preparation, standard restaurant e-commerce integrations, and print-on-demand merchandise (carbones.printful.me). There is no evidence of AI/ML capabilities, proprietary software development, or research activity; strategic differentiation rests on brand heritage, recipe consistency, regional geographic density, and diversified menu breadth.

Name

Carbone's Pizzeria

Legal name

Carbone's Pizzeria

Website

https://carbones.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1954

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Carbone's Pizzeria is a privately held, family-founded pizza chain operating 31+ dine-in, takeout, delivery, and catering locations across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Montana, with a frozen pizza retail line and a 70-year heritage built on thin-crust pizza and signature housemade Italian red sauce.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pizza Restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251), Caterers (722320), Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing (3118)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Pizza Fast Casual (THAFABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pizza QSR (THAFAAAB), Frozen Pizza & Flatbreads (CRADADAB), Full-Service Catering (Off-Premise) (HSACAGAA)

Keywords

• Pizza restaurant chain
• Thin crust pizza
• Italian-American dining
• Event catering services
• Frozen pizza retail

Headquarters

HQ city

Bloomington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices34 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Restaurant Sales: Traditional dine-in service at most locations, with full bar options at select locations featuring beer, wine, and full bar service. Revenue generated through table service and in-restaurant dining experience.
2. Takeout and Delivery: Carry-out and delivery orders placed via phone or online through proprietary website ordering and DoorDash integration. Core revenue stream with multiple size options and build-your-own pizza customization.
3. Catering Services: Event catering for parties and gatherings of various sizes. Menu includes pizza, pasta, hoagies, salads and more. Promoted as fast, fresh and easy catering for football parties, birthdays, team parties, reunions, weddings, graduation events.
4. Frozen Pizza Retail: Frozen pizza products sold for at-home preparation including cheese, pepperoni, sausage, sausage + pepperoni, sausage & mushroom, Hawaiian, 5-top, chicken alfredo, meaty varieties and pizza fry products. Sold through carbonesfrozen.com and at retail locations.
5. Gift Cards and Merchandise: Gift cards sold in-store and online. Merchandise available through print-on-demand storefront at carbones.printful.me.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Carbone's Pizzeria operates a chain of family pizza restaurants serving thin crust pizza, hot hoagies, pasta, salads, wings, and Italian-American specialties for dine-in, takeout, and delivery across 31+ locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Montana. The company also offers event catering services, frozen pizzas for retail purchase, and gift cards, with signature items including Wisconsin-style Pizza Sandwiches, Pizza Bowls, and cauliflower crust pizzas built on Nana's housemade Italian red sauce recipes dating to 1954.

Product overview

Carbone's Pizzeria is a family pizza restaurant chain founded in 1954, operating across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Montana. The company offers a unified restaurant product with pizza as the core offering supplemented by an extensive menu of Italian-American foods. The product portfolio includes build-your-own and specialty pizzas (thin crust, deep dish, pan style, cauliflower crust), signature items like Pizza Sandwiches (calzone-style) and Pizza Bowls (keto/gluten-friendly), pasta dishes, hoagies, salads, wings, and appetizers. Retail offerings include frozen pizzas for take-home preparation. Additional services include event catering, kids meals, and alcoholic beverages at select locations. Multiple locations also offer ice cream products. The company operates both dine-in restaurants and delivery/takeout services through integrations with DoorDash and Toast Tab online ordering platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Frozen Pizza: Pre-packaged frozen pizzas available for retail purchase including Cheese, Pepperoni, Sausage, Sausage & Pepperoni, Sausage & Mushroom, Hawaiian, 5-Top, Chicken Alfredo, Meaty, Pizza Fry, and Cauliflower Crust varieties
• Nana's Housemade Italian Red Sauce
• Pizza Sandwich

Products and services

• Pizza (Dine-In, Delivery, Takeout)
• Specialty Pizzas
• Pizza Sandwich
• Pizza Bowl
• Cauliflower Crust Pizza
• Hoagies and Wraps
• Pasta Dishes
• Salads
• Chicken Wings
• Catering Services
• Calzones
• Frozen Pizza (Retail)
• Take and Bake Pizza
• Burgers
• Broasted Chicken
• Deep Dish Pizza
• Soups
• Appetizers
• Kids Menu
• Meal Deals
• Pizza Fry
• Beer and Wine
• Ice Cream
• Desserts

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• DoorDashminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDoorDash partnership enables third-party delivery services at select Carbone's locations. Customers can order through DoorDash for pizza delivery, expanding delivery reach and convenience for consumers.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Domino's Pizza: Largest pizza chain in the US by global retail sales with 20,000+ stores and a dominant delivery/digital infrastructure. Operates broadly in the same category as Carbone's across dine-in-adjacent occasions (delivery/takeout), competing for the same upper Midwest pizza customers but with vastly superior scale, marketing, and proprietary technology.

Direct peers

• Mountain Mike's Pizza: California-based regional pizza chain with 250+ locations, family-friendly dine-in plus takeout/delivery. Comparable as a multi-state regional pizza chain with a family casual positioning and growth via franchising, similar to Carbone's footprint and brand emphasis.
• Godfather's Pizza: Omaha-based regional pizza chain with 400+ locations across the Midwest and beyond. Comparable as a long-standing Midwestern pizza chain with dine-in, takeout, delivery, and a family-style value proposition similar to Carbone's positioning.
• Donatos Pizza: Ohio-based regional pizza chain with 170+ locations, family-owned with consistent thin crust product. Comparable as a regional pizza chain with strong brand heritage, dine-in/pub atmosphere, and emphasis on signature recipes, paralleling Carbone's positioning.
• Imo's Pizza: St. Louis-based regional pizza chain known for distinctive thin crust Provel cheese pizza with 80+ locations. Comparable as a regional pizza chain with strong brand identity tied to a local style of pizza, similar to Carbone's regional thin-crust heritage in the upper Midwest.
• Marco's Pizza: Toledo, Ohio-based regional pizza franchise with 1,000+ locations, known for fresh-made dough and Italian-style pizza. Comparable as a growing regional pizza franchise competing for similar middle-American family dining occasions with dine-in, delivery, and catering.
• Pizza Ranch: Iowa-based regional pizza chain with 200+ locations across the Midwest, offering pizza, chicken, and a buffet/sports bar concept. Directly comparable to Carbone's as a long-standing Midwestern pizza chain targeting families and small-town/suburban markets with dine-in and catering.
• Happy Joe's Pizza & Ice Cream: Midwest-based pizza chain (Iowa roots, 50+ years old) offering pizza alongside ice cream, similar to Carbone's ice cream offerings at Wisconsin locations. Comparable heritage pizza + dessert concept targeting families in small communities.
• Jet's Pizza: Michigan-based regional pizza chain specializing in deep dish Detroit-style pizza with 400+ locations. Comparable as a regional pizza chain with deep dish and specialty crust options (similar to Carbone's deep dish and cauliflower crust offerings) and dine-in/takeout/delivery model.
• Papa Murphy's: Take-and-bake pizza franchise with 1,000+ locations, headquartered in the Pacific Northwest. Comparable as a retail pizza concept; both companies sell take-and-bake frozen pizzas for home preparation (Carbone's via carbonesfrozen.com), competing for the same at-home pizza occasion.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CarbonesPizza

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Carbone's Pizzeria