Remember the folks online several years ago who repeatedly chanted, “Don’t California my Texas?” The message clearly hasn’t taken because another California restaurant chain is planting a flag in the Lone Star State.
The 100th location of Pizza Guys, and its first in Texas, opened over the weekend in Plano. According to the company’s announcement, the location at 9613 Coit Rd. is a franchise spot owned by a local Dallas-Fort Worth area family.
Shahpour Nejad opened the first Pizza Guys in 1986 in Sacramento, Calif. From the outside it’s hard to tell what actually separates Pizza Guys from every other fast-casual pizza place in the U.S. The announcement did however say their shops chop mozzarella and veggies in-house, which might be advantageous compared to other chains that may get product pre-prepped.
As far as franchises go, Pizza Guys boasts a $1.2 million average unit volume (AUV). The Austin Business Journal reported in 2023 that the company had plans to open 150 locations in Texas, including in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The 100 locations Pizza Guys does have are in California, Nevada, and now Texas.
An aerial view of Plano’s downtown area. (Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images)
Pizza Guys’ expansion efforts are coming while Domino’s, a competitor, updates its look after an impressive performance for the fiscal year. CNN reported Domino’s has been outperforming its rivals and has grown same-store sales by 3.4 percent.
As for the little guy, one of the more successful, or at least notable, California pizza operations in Texas that has generated buzz is Pizzana in Houston. Chron had high praise for the restaurant when it arrived a year ago.
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This article originally published at ‘Don’t California my Texas?’ Too late. Pizza Guys just opened..