DINO'S PIZZA SHOP, INC.

What DINO'S PIZZA SHOP, INC. does

Dino's Pizza Shop, Inc. is a family-owned and operated independent pizzeria based in Newport News, Virginia, founded in 1972 by Gaspare Merendino (Dino), an Italian immigrant from Carini, Sicily who learned pizza-making from his grandmother. The company operates a single retail location at 14357 Warwick Boulevard in the Denbigh area of Newport News, serving dine-in, takeout, and delivery customers on a Tuesday–Saturday schedule (11:30 AM – 8:00 PM). The business is currently led by a second-generation husband-and-wife ownership team that assumed operations in 1998, with their twins Anthony and LeAnn positioned as the third generation of ownership.

The core product portfolio centers on handcrafted Italian-American pizza (signature varieties such as Combo Special, Meat Lovers, Margherita, Pizza Bianca, Vegetarian, and Hawaiian, plus build-your-own), complemented by oven-baked subs, pasta dinners (lasagna, spaghetti, baked ziti, manicotti), appetizers, salads, desserts (cannoli, cheesecake), and a kids menu. Beyond food service, the company generates revenue from catering for events (birthday parties, corporate events, weddings), private party hosting, and table reservations. Technology is limited to standard restaurant SaaS: ToastTab for online takeout ordering and SpotHopper for website, social media, and email marketing. Online ordering is the primary digital channel; no proprietary technology, app, or AI/ML capabilities are in place.

The business model is straightforward transactional retail: per-unit menu pricing with no subscriptions, membership tiers, or licensing. Revenue is generated one transaction at a time across dine-in, takeout, delivery, catering, and private events. The customer base is overwhelmingly local — multi-generational Newport News families and community organizations (e.g., a local PE teacher citing regular catering for school events). With only 5 employees and no disclosed revenue, the company operates as a small, stable, cash-generative local business with concentrated dependency on a single physical location and a community-driven customer base.

Name

DINO'S PIZZA SHOP, INC.

Legal name

Dino's Pizza Shop, Inc.

Website

https://dinospizzashop.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Family-owned pizzeria founded in 1972 in Newport News, Virginia, serving a single location with dine-in, takeout, delivery, and catering. Targets local families and community organizations with handcrafted Italian pizza, subs, and pasta.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pizza Restaurant / Italian Casual Dining

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Family-Style Restaurants (THAFACAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Pizza QSR (THAFAAAB)

Keywords

• Pizza restaurant services
• Italian cuisine dining
• Pizza catering services
• Casual Italian dining
• Takeout and delivery pizza

Headquarters

HQ city

Newport News

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Sales: Revenue from customers dining at the restaurant, including full menu items and beverages.
2. Takeout and Delivery: Revenue from food ordered for off-premise consumption, with delivery available Tue-Sat 3PM-7:30PM.
3. Catering Services: Customized catering packages for events including birthday parties, holiday parties, corporate events, and wedding festivities.
4. Private Events and Parties: Revenue from hosting private parties and group reservations at the restaurant.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Dino's Pizza Shop is a family-owned Italian pizzeria operating since 1972 in Newport News, Virginia. The restaurant sells handcrafted pizzas (signature varieties and build-your-own), calzones, subs, pasta, appetizers, salads, desserts, and beverages, offered through dine-in, takeout, and delivery. It also provides event catering and private party hosting services.

Product overview

Dino's Pizza Shop is a traditional family-owned pizzeria operating since 1972, offering a single-location restaurant with dine-in, takeout, and catering services. The core product portfolio centers on handcrafted Italian pizzas available as signature varieties (Combo Special, Meat Lovers, Margherita, Pizza Bianca, Vegetarian, Hawaiian) or build-your-own options, complemented by oven-baked subs, pasta dinners, appetizers, salads, desserts, and beverages. Additional services include catering for events, private party hosting, table reservations, and a Kids Menu for children 10 and under. Lunch specials are offered daily with value-priced combinations. The restaurant operates with online ordering via Toast Tab and accepts reservations, positioning itself as a locals' favorite pizza destination in Newport News, VA.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pizza (Signature and Build-Your-Own) Handcrafted Italian pizzas available by slice or in Small, Medium, and Large sizes. Signature varieties include Combo Special, Meat Lovers, Margherita, Pizza Bianca, Vegetarian Pizza, and Hawaiian Pizza. Build-your-own options allow customers to select cheese and toppings. Pricing ranges from $3.49/slice for cheese pizza to $24.95 for a large Combo Special.
• Calzone Folded pizza pockets approximately 12-14 inches, filled with ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, one topping, and sauce on the side.
• Subs and Sandwiches Oven-baked subs available in multiple varieties including Dino Special, Philly Steak, Philly Chicken, Meatball, Chicken Parmesan, Canadian Special, Ham, Turkey, Vegetarian Sub, Roast Beef, Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Eggplant, Pizza Sub, Tuna Sub, Veal Parmesan, Pork BBQ Sub, Fish Sub, and BLT. Most subs are priced at $10.49 small and $12.99 large. Wheat bread available upon request.
• Pasta Dinners Italian pasta dishes including Homemade Lasagna, Spaghetti, Spaghetti with Meatballs, Spaghetti with Italian Sausage, Manicotti, and Baked Ziti. Prices range from $14.95 to $19.95. All served with side salad and homemade bread.
• Appetizers Starters including Garlic Knots with Sauce ($8.95), Calamari ($12.95), Boneless Wings, Chicken Wings with Celery ($12.95 for 6 pieces, $15.95 for 12 pieces), Chicken Tenders with Fries ($12.95), Mozzarella Sticks ($8.95), French Fries, Waffle Fries, Beer Battered Mushrooms, Onion Rings, Shrimp, and Ale Battered Tilapia Filet.
• Salads Fresh salads including House Salad, Greek Salad, and standard Salad with various dressing options. Extra toppings available for additional cost.
• Desserts Dessert offerings including Cannoli ($4.49), Cheesecake ($4.49, plus $1.00 with strawberry topping), and Coconut Cake ($6.95). Daily dessert options available upon request.
• Beverages Soft drinks including Coke, Sprite, Root Beer, Mr. Pibb, Diet Coke, Lemonade, Fanta Orange, Mello Yellow, Minute Maid Lemonade, and Apple Juice ($3.39 for 32oz with free refills). Also offers bottled water ($2.00), milk, hot chocolate, tea, coffee, iced tea, kid's soft drink ($1.50), and Dasani Water ($2.00). Coffee and iced tea served with free refills.
• Kids Menu Child-friendly menu items including Spaghetti and Bread ($6.95), Tenders and Fries ($6.95), and Grilled Cheese with French Fries ($5.95). Available for children 10 and under.
• Catering Services Event catering for birthday parties, holiday parties, corporate events, and wedding festivities. Personalized menus and exceptional service with an experienced catering team. Pricing requires inquiry.
• Private Party Hosting Event hosting services for birthday parties, office functions, and special occasions. The restaurant accommodates gatherings with full service for all fine details.
• Table Reservations Online table reservation service allowing customers to book their preferred dining time in advance to ensure a great table is available.
• Lunch Specials Daily lunch specials priced at $10.99 available 11:30 AM - 3:00 PM, featuring combinations including select subs with chip and drink, salad and slice with topping and drink, or 2 slices with toppings and drink.

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• MOD Pizza: Fast-casual custom pizza chain operating company-owned and franchised locations. Comparable as a build-your-own pizza competitor targeting similar family/casual dining occasions, though at multi-unit scale.
• Blaze Pizza: Fast-casual build-your-own pizza chain with rapid assembly and modern ordering. Competes in the same pizza category with a similar customization value proposition, though Blaze's chain model and pricing differ from Dino's traditional Italian style.
• &pizza: Fast-casual custom pizza chain with a tech-forward brand identity targeting younger consumers. Comparable as an emerging premium-pizza concept that competes for the same 'better-than-chain' customer Dino's serves, though with a different urban footprint.

Regional players

• Bertucci's: Northeast U.S. casual-dining pizza chain with brick-oven pizza heritage. Comparable as an Italian-heritage pizza operator with dine-in family orientation, though concentrated in a different geographic region than Dino's.

Broad incumbents

• Pizza Hut: Long-established national pizza chain offering dine-in, carryout, and delivery. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the same pizza category, though Pizza Hut's dine-in and buffet model competes less directly with Dino's takeout/delivery emphasis.
• Domino's Pizza: Largest U.S. pizza chain by retail sales, with nationwide delivery infrastructure and aggressive digital ordering. Comparable as the dominant pizza-delivery competitor in Dino's local market, though operating at fundamentally different scale and as a publicly traded company rather than an independent family operator.
• Papa John's Pizza: National pizza QSR chain with strong delivery and loyalty-program infrastructure. Competes with Dino's for the same pizza-and-delivery occasions in Newport News but with substantially larger marketing and technology budgets.
• California Pizza Kitchen: Casual-dining pizza-focused restaurant chain with a broader menu and full table service. Comparable to Dino's family-style dining model with table service and reservations, but operating nationally rather than as a single independent location.

Direct peers

• Marco's Pizza: Franchised pizza chain emphasizing authentic Italian recipes and dough made daily. Most directly comparable to Dino's Italian-heritage positioning and franchise-based model, though at significantly greater scale.
• Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza & Wings: Regional pizza-and-wings concept emphasizing coal-oven pizza with Italian-American heritage. Comparable to Dino's traditional Italian-cooking-method positioning and casual sit-down model, though operating regionally rather than as a single local independent.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/195769060555155
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dino's-pizza-shop-inc.

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 DINO'S PIZZA SHOP, INC.