When Fernanda Collins and her husband, Austin, lived in The Woodlands, Texas—a suburb of Houston—their favorite date night spot was a local pizzeria: Crust Pizza Co. They loved the Chicago Tavern-style pizza, the atmosphere and the energy of the restaurant. And they really, really loved the Warm Brownie Sundae.
“They would bring it to the table and the chocolate syrup from the brownie was still sizzling in the pan,” Collins remembered. “It was just so delicious.”
When the couple got relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for work, they found themselves disappointed with the local pizza options. Through happenstance, Collins learned that Crust Pizza Co. had started franchising. She joked with her husband that they should open a location and they laughed it off together. At some point, they mentioned this to Austin’s father, who happened to know the founders of Crust Pizza Co., Clint Price and Mark Raspberry. Talks escalated, and suddenly, Collins was looking for real estate to open up her own Crust Pizza Co. store.
Though Collins didn’t have restaurant experience, entrepreneurship runs in her DNA. In her home country of Brazil, her grandmother owned a restaurant that served pizza, in addition to other Italian food. Her parents owned an unrelated business together, too, so in many ways she was exposed to the mettle it would require to run her own business.
“One of the reasons we felt really confident moving forward with Crust despite not having [restaurant] experience, was just because it’s a franchise, and they gave us all the support,” Collins said. “They told us what steps we need to take, what we need to do, what we need to buy, who we need to hire. They even helped with the real estate selection. That was really helpful, having them in the background guiding us every step of the way.”
Collins’ first Crust Pizza Co. location has been open for over a year now. Business has been so good that she’s already eyeing a second location—growth that matches up with Crust Pizza Co.’s systemwide growth over the past few years. The brand has 27 locations open and many more in the franchising pipeline.
Crust has gotten here by serving craveable Chicago Tavern-style pizza and offering up a strong dine-in experience that’s meant to be reminiscent of 1990’s Pizza Hut. It’s the experience that first attracted Collins and her husband. It’s something Collins has connected with as a franchisee owner, too. Now a mother of three young children, Collins loves that her store serves as a place where families can gather in the Baton Rouge area and enjoy some great food—not to mention a Tuesday promotion where kids eat free.
“We have a patio outside with a turf area and games,” Collins said. So families love to come here because they have a little space where their families can run around. It’s all fenced in. And we also have a lot of older diners who come in for lunch, and, as I said, it’s also a place for date nights. So we feel like there’s something for so many different audiences and we can accommodate all of them because it’s a very inviting place.”
To think, it all started with a Warm Brownie Sundae.
