If you have lived in Arizona, then you’ve likely heard of Spinato’s Pizza. Spinato’s recently just celebrated its 48th birthday here in the valley, and their story is that of growth from humble beginnings as a small pizzeria. Word-of-mouth has fueled their expansion to five, soon to be six, valley-wide locations. One of their latest endeavors will be in Gilbert’s Epicenter complex, adding to their list of accolades, including becoming the official pizza sponsor of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury. Spinato’s history is a true tale of what I call A Rise to Greatness. I can remember being a wide-eyed college student back in the early 2000s and visiting their Tempe location, which was a small, less than 10-seats, BYOB pizzeria tucked away in an industrial park. To see this family, fueled by passion, go from a neighborhood joint to the face of Arizona pizza, is truly the embodiment of the American dream.
The Start of Spinato’s Pizzeria
It was in 1974 when Ken and Elaine Spinato opened their first pizzeria in Phoenix after moving from Chicago. Ever since, the family has been cooking together, challenging each other’s dishes, and constantly experimenting and innovating. The philosophy is to not just pass down recipes from the last generation but rather each generation improving them. Spinato’s takes pride in not only their pizza, but also in building a communal and family environment for its employees and customers alike.
If you’ve ever been to a Spinato’s location, you already know that every guest is treated like a member of the family. You’ll be greeted with a warm welcome and served by friendly, knowledgeable members of the Spinato’s staff. In the conversations I have had with Anthony Spinato—the son of Ken and Elaine—he beams with pride when he tells me how proud he is of the low staff turnover rate the company experiences throughout the business from top to bottom. The strength of the company is the people, not the pizza. By focusing on his employees and making them feel like a true part of the Spinato’s family, it gives them a great model of how to welcome guests into the restaurant and provide the food and the ambiance that inspired this family legacy.
The Next Evolution
It is the company’s philosophy that has propelled them to where they are now, as I call them, “the face of Arizona pizza,” and has led them to be the official pizza of the Phoenix Suns. I had the pleasure of working alongside Spinato’s earlier this year when I had a conversation with Anthony as soon as they landed the sponsorship with the Suns and Mercury.
As I was congratulating him, I said how awesome it must be to be able to get your product in front of essentially 20,000 people 3 to 4 times a week. He agreed and let me in on how stressful of a situation that was getting all the pieces into place to make it work. He told me that if they were going to enter this agreement with such a large venue, that they had to do it the right way. What he meant by that was, it was extremely important to him to make sure that when cooking pizza for such a high volume of people, they had to make sure the product was not compromised. If you’ve been paying attention, you’d know exactly how the Spinato’s family makes sure things get done the right way; it’s with the right people.
Written by Steven Larson
Photography by Luke Irvin