Get ready for fun and great made-to-order pizza when you enter the door of this eclectic house of pie. Greeted by a looming Tyrannosaurus Rex, you'll quickly settle into one of the cool vinyl booths showcasing tables specially built to display a zany array of pop-culture icons -- a "wall of shame" filled with articles clipped from tabloid newspapers, one table, for example, is entirely devoted to Pez dispensers.
Andre Jehan, who co-founded Schmizza with his wife, Carla Jehan, in 1993, partly to establish a fun business for themselves, and partly due to the sad lack at that time of authentic New York-style pizza on the west coast. Jehan's father disparaged the plan with a scornful "Pizza schmizza--get a real job," and the name stuck.His father, by the way, now helps run a Schmizza store.
These are the tantalizing Reasons to Get Your Own Schmizza: brand loyalty and built in customer base, low barriers to entry, solid, rapid expansion plans, funky, hot concept and store design, memorable brand name, lunch and dinner niche, comprehensive training, field assistance program and ongoing support, marketing support and programs, and it was voted Best Pizza.
