Pizza places populate Franklin

Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Small, large, circle, square, thin crust, stuffed crust or with extra toppings. 

Pizza is a college student’s best friend. Whether you are grabbing a bite to eat after a late night out or are simply too lazy to cook, pizza will always be there to save the day. Thankfully, Franklin Street — with its eight pizzerias — doesn’t disappoint. 

Recently, the occupant of the eighth pizzeria has changed. Old Chicago served its last pizzas on July 23, and Lotsa Pizza will open where Jasmin Mediterranean was.  

Ashley Conn, general manager at Mellow Mushroom, said the amount of pizzerias on Franklin hasn't changed. 

“Since we have been here, it has been one up, one down so it's been pretty consistent,” she said. 

Store owner Angelo Marrone of Italian Pizzeria III said the pizza market is over-saturated in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. 

“If you start from Carrboro and go all the way down the street, you will find a pizza place," Marrone said. "The competition is so high, and we are here because we are the best.”

Marrone said that more pizzerias have popped up over the years, but that his store has managed to remain open for 37 years because of their homemade pizza dough, sauce and flour. 

“They keep opening up, so thank God that we are still here,” he said. “Since we have been open for so long, we must be doing something right.” 

Benny Cappella's' general manager Chase Sessoms said that although rent is expensive on Franklin, the location justifies the price tag because Benny's is near bars and the only pizza place open until 3 a.m.

“We are the best pizza in Chapel Hill and the only place that sells pizza slices this large,” Sessoms said. 

Sophomore business major Salihah Siddiqui said that she chooses to get her pizza from Artisan Pizza Kitchen because of their range of food choices and moderate prices.

“I normally get my pizza from Artisan Pizza Kitchen because it is halal and has several different options,” she said. “Also, the prices are really fair.” 

Siddiqui said the abundance of pizzerias in Chapel Hill isn’t really an issue because there are still other food choices within close proximity. 

“I never realized that there are too many pizza places because I am able to get anything that I am in the mood for,” she said. “There is already a good variety of food places including Desi, Mexican and Chinese.” 

Sophomore Rachael Head said that I Love NY Pizza is her favorite.

“I get my pizza from I Heart NY Pizza because it's good New York style pizza, and to be honest, most people go there after a night out,” Head said. 

She said there are never too many pizza places.

“I love pizza so I'm not sure how other people feel,” she said. “Everyone I've talked to about the new pizza place, Lotsa, is really excited about it so I hope it's good.” 

And while Franklin Street may seem over-saturated with pizza places, it's only the tip of the iceberg for students' options. 

Brenz Pizza Co. is a relatively new pizzeria located on Environ Way. One of its employees, Kyle Rosch, represented the U.S. Pizza Team for the World Pizza Championship in Parma, Italy. 

“I would say that our pizza comes from scratch, we use fresh produce and ingredients daily," general store manager Frank Sanders said. "We brag about our dough because it is so excellent."

He said that the competitive pizza market in Chapel Hill does not affect them.

“We don’t worry about competition because we have so much confidence in our pizza and dough that we know one slice will get our customers hooked and they’ll come right back."

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