Fazoli's: Fast Food Italian, Wayne Gretzky, and a Roving Breadstick Bus

🍝🥖 Fazoli's: Admitting they Can't Compete with Pizza, the "Breadstick Express," and Dr. Lee Zagna 🥖🍝

This week, Sabrina Carmichael (@brina711) joins me to explore the history of Fazoli's, a restaurant that looked at the pizza wars and wisely decided, "No thanks." Instead of trying to battle the delivery giants head-on, Fazoli's carved out a niche with pasta, breadsticks, and a surprisingly unique place in the fast food landscape. Along the way, we uncover one of the strangest restaurant name changes ever and even though my guest "grew up loving Fazoli's," she'd never actually been..???

🍝 Originally "Gratzi's" (But the Public Confused it with Wayne Gretzky)
🍕 The Self-Realization that they Can't Compete with the Pizza Giants
🥖 The Legendary Breadstick Express (My New Actual Dream Car)
🩺 Dr. Lee Zagna in Fazoli's Marketing
📈 How Fazoli's Found Success as Fast Food Italian
🍽️ Customers Compare It More to Olive Garden Than McDonald's
🔥 The Heat Lamp: Sabrina's Got Buffet Strategy
💄 Yelp from Strangers: A Customer Gets Called "Old" and Takes Shots at the Cashier's Makeup

💬 COMMENT BELOW: What's your stance on salad at a buffet?

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🎤 Guest: Sabrina Carmichael | IG: @brina711

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👉 NEXT WEEK: We eat our Fazoli's to put it to the Chili's Test. 🍝🏆