You would not think that a Detroit-style pizzeria — with its thick, square crust and red sauce on top of the cheese — would find much success in Brooklyn, but the seven-unit casual-dining pizzeria Emmy Squared has. With locations in New York, Tennessee and Philadelphia, founders Emily Hyland, chef Matt Hyland and CEO Howard Greenstone are looking to expand to new markets.
Emmy Squared will be opening another location soon in Washington, D.C., with further plans for Boston, and Louisville, Ky., as well as other potential markets on the East Coast, thanks in part to funding raised by a private group of investors.
The pizza chain is well known for its creative pies — divided on the menu into red and white pies — with unusual toppings like the Hot Chicken with Nashville hot chicken, white sauce, and chopped pickles.
“Some of our new locations are a natural progression for our expansion, like Philly and D.C., being along the Amtrak line from NYC, but also encompass great communities that we're excited to be a part of,” CEO Howard Greenstone said. “We don't consider ourselves to be a chain and therefore look for smaller, more localized locations for us to immerse ourselves."
When choosing to branch out into new markets, Greenstone and his team wants to cluster their restaurants in cities and keep their markets relatively close together.
The average check at Emmy Squared is $32 in New York and average restaurant size is 70-80 seats.