# Lou Malnati's Pizzeria

> Lou Malnati's Pizzeria is a privately held Chicago restaurant company built around handmade deep-dish pizza and a family recipe first served under its own name in 1971. Its business now spans full-service restaurants, carryout and delivery kitchens, catering and events, a digital rewards program, fundraising, merchandise, and nationwide frozen-food shipping through Tastes of Chicago. The brand differentiates itself through a thin, flaky Buttercrust, long supplier relationships, a tomato-forward build, and an unusually durable association with Chicago itself.

- **Founded:** 1971
- **Headquarters:** Buffalo Grove, United States
- **Founders:** Lou Malnati (Co-founder), Jean Malnati (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** More than 3,500 employees according to the company's history page; the supplied company dataset lists approximately 3,800.
- **Products:** Deep Dish and Thin Crust Pizza, Dine-in, Carryout and Local Delivery, Catering and Private Events, Tastes of Chicago Nationwide Shipping, Lou's Rewards and Mobile App
- **Notable:** Opened the original Lincolnwood restaurant on March 17, 1971 and grew the concept beyond Illinois., Developed an early carryout-and-delivery-only format in Wilmette in 1981; the company later said most of its pizzerias use that model., Built Tastes of Chicago in 2000 with other Chicago food brands to ship regional specialties nationwide.

## Products & services

- **Deep Dish and Thin Crust Pizza** — Handmade pizzas led by the Malnati Chicago Classic, The Lou and vegetarian options, offered on deep-dish, thin, gluten-free and crustless formats.
- **Dine-in, Carryout and Local Delivery** — A mixed restaurant network ranging from full-service dining rooms and bars to smaller carryout-and-delivery kitchens.
- **Catering and Private Events** — Celebration catering, individual meals, staffed events and private dining at selected locations.
- **Tastes of Chicago Nationwide Shipping** — Frozen Lou Malnati's pizzas and other Chicago food brands shipped to customers across the United States through an ecommerce cold chain.
- **Lou's Rewards and Mobile App** — A direct loyalty channel offering points, member promotions, mobile ordering and app-only offers.
- **Fundraising Programs** — Restaurant fundraiser nights can return up to 20% of eligible group sales; nonprofit groups can also sell frozen-pizza coupons.
- **Gift Cards and Merchandise** — Stored-value cards and branded apparel, kitchen goods and gifts extend the restaurant brand beyond meals.

## Achievements

- Opened the original Lincolnwood restaurant on March 17, 1971 and grew the concept beyond Illinois.
- Developed an early carryout-and-delivery-only format in Wilmette in 1981; the company later said most of its pizzerias use that model.
- Built Tastes of Chicago in 2000 with other Chicago food brands to ship regional specialties nationwide.
- The annual cancer-research benefit has raised more than $5 million in the last 15 years, according to the company.
- Named a Chicago Tribune Top Workplace for 16 consecutive years, according to the company's About page.
- Named a 2026 USA Today National Top Workplace for a sixth consecutive year, according to the company's LinkedIn announcement.
- Ranked first in Yelp's 2025 list of U.S. pizza chains with 60 or more locations, based on Yelp ratings and reviews.
- The 2026 St. Charles lease was announced as the company's 61st Chicagoland location.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — The company announced that the Italian Combo Beef-Za collaboration with Jeff Mauro would become available for nationwide shipping through Tastes of Chicago.
- **2026-07** — Lou Malnati's launched a limited-time Maxwell Polish Sausage Deep Dish Pizza tied to its Chicago Fire FC partnership.
- **2026-07** — The first Lou's Rewards Fest offered a week of daily loyalty-member promotions.
- **2026-07** — The company completed a Buffalo Grove restaurant renovation and announced construction at its planned St. Charles location.
- **2026-06** — Lou Malnati's introduced a limited-time BBQ Chicken Pizza.
- **2026-05** — The South Loop restaurant completed a roughly 2,400-square-foot expansion with a bar, more seating and private-event capacity for up to 50 guests.
- **2025-06** — Julie Younglove-Webb became chief executive officer and the company launched a five-item Signature Pizza menu led by the new Margherita Pesto Pizza.
- **2025-03** — Lou Malnati's became the official deep-dish pizza partner of Chicago Fire FC.

## Links

- Website: https://www.loumalnatis.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lou-malnati-s
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/loumalnatis
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@loumalnatis
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loumalnatis/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loumalnatis/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@loumalnatis

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Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-12