Capriotti's

Capriotti's Sandwich Shop, Inc. (also called Capriotti's) is a fast casual restaurant chain in the United States.[3] The restaurant chain was founded in Wilmington, Delaware in 1976.[4] As of July 2025, Capriotti's has more than 175 company-owned and franchise locations in 33 states.[5][6]

History

Capriotti's was founded in Little Italy, Wilmington, Delaware in 1976.[4][7][8] The restaurant is named after the founders' grandfather, Philip Capriotti.[4][9] In 1988, the second restaurant location opened in New Castle, Delaware. In 1991, Capriotti's began franchising their restaurants.[10]

In 1993, the first restaurant location in Las Vegas, Nevada was opened on Sahara Avenue, near Las Vegas Boulevard.[11] In 2004, Ashley Morris and Jason Smylie opened a franchise in Las Vegas. At the time, Morris was the youngest financial adviser at Wells Fargo.[11][12][13][14] Smylie was a software engineer at Bechtel Nevada. Morris and Smylie were also investors in the housing market and made the decision to invest in a franchise after learning that the return on investment was higher than anything they were looking at investing in.[14] In 2007, Morris and Smylie put the company in escrow. In the following year Morris, Smylie and a group of investors consisting of 95% Las Vegans bought Capriotti's. Capriotti's had 44 restaurant locations by the end of 2008.[13] Morris is the CEO of the company.[13][14][15][16] In 2008 and 2009 the chain was the official sandwich sponsor of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.[17][18] Capriotti's was ranked in Entrepreneur magazine's top 500 franchise list in 2010 and remained ranked through 2014.[13] Capriotti's starred on Food Network's Unwrapped in December 2011.[19][20] In November 2013, Capriotti's expanded its presence on the East Coast by opening its first location in Washington DC.[21][22] Joe Biden was the first customer served at the store's grand opening.[22][23][24] That year, Capriotti's brought in over $58 million in revenue and experienced a 48% growth over the previous three years.[25] In 2014, the company was named one of the "Top 10 Best Food Franchises for Your Buck" and one of "America's Best Franchises" by Forbes magazine.[26][27]

The Sandelman & Associates Quick Track Study on the Top 10 Quick Service Restaurant Concepts ranked Capriotti's among the top ten in overall satisfaction[28] and won the award for highest quality and taste in the 2014 study.[29]

Business operations

Capriotti's is now based in Las Vegas, Nevada and has its largest concentration of shops there. The restaurant chain has over 175 locations in 33 states including: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Utah.[30][31][32][33] In 2014, it ranked #293 in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500. In 2016, Capriotti's was ranked #264 in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500.[34] The chain expects to open 750 stores by 2032.[35]

Products

Capriotti's specializes in cold, grilled, and vegetarian hoagies or submarine sandwiches.[31] Each restaurant roasts whole turkeys for 12 hours nightly, hand pulls meats, and makes their own meatballs and coleslaw.[30][8][10]

In November 2009, the Bobbie, one of Capriotti's signature sandwiches, was voted "The Greatest Sandwich in America" by AOL.com.[36] The sandwich is a Thanksgiving sandwich made with pulled turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and mayonnaise.[36] The Margolets named it after their aunt.[37] In 2012, USA Today named Capriotti's one of the "10 Great Places for a Surprising Sandwich".[38]

Technology

Capriotti has utilized Google Glass to re-record employee training videos in a first person view.[39] Management trainees also wear Google Glass during rush hour periods and review the footage for constructive visual feedback.[39][40] Capriotti's uses an app-based loyalty program.[41]

External links