Changes at 2 local restaurants.

[SoonerQueen]

The Mazzio's at 69th and N May closed. The Pizza Inn at Wilshire and N May changed its name to Luigi's Pizza. Things happen when you're at home with back issues.

[boscorama]

Hmm, Mazzio's in Guthrie changed their signage to Ken's Pizza today.

[zookeeper]

The Mazzio's at 69th and N May closed. The Pizza Inn at Wilshire and N May changed its name to Luigi's Pizza. Things happen when you're at home with back issues.

That old Pizza Inn was one of the first pizza places to open in what was then FAR north OKC back in the 60's. It opened as a Pizza Inn so that's a big change.
I wonder if they changed the one on North MacArthur. Does anyone know?

[BillyOcean]

that mazzio's was absolutely disgusting....glad they are doing away with it if they were not willing to change the culture there.

[Larry OKC]

zookeeper, last weekend when I was by there it was still a Pizza Inn

By the way, the new Route 66 pizza place that opened up in an old Burger King @ 39th & Portland is essentially Pizza Inn food (same pizza, salad bar, hot food bar, dessert etc). Prices are better.

[zookeeper]

zookeeper, last weekend when I was by there it was still a Pizza Inn

By the way, the new Route 66 pizza place that opened up in an old Burger King @ 39th & Portland is essentially Pizza Inn food (same pizza, salad bar, hot food bar, dessert etc). Prices are better.

Thanks. I had wondered about that since MacArthur opened not too long after May & Wilshire. Pizza Inn still had the best thin crust pizza for my taste, I don't think it ever changed in all those years.

[Larry OKC]

zookeeper: I like the Pizza Inn's thin crust the best and it doesnt seem to have changed in years/decades. My favorite thin crust right now is CiCi's (they call it the Italiano). Squarish shaped, cracker thin crisp. Rarely have it out on the buffet but you can special order it. i usually get the all meat with onions and cheddar added. About 10 minutes later, hot fresh made to order pizza at your table! they also have a superior thick crust pizza. Crispy on the outsdie, soft on the inside (unlike Pizza Hut, it is cooked all the way thru).

[corwin1968]

If I'm not mistaken, Kens and Mazzios are the same company and they changed their pizza and re-branded from Ken's to Mazzios. At least that's how it happened in my hometown.

There was also a Luigi's pizza in my home town and I wonder if there is any connection to this new place.

For me, Pizza Hut tastes like cardboard (yet another casualty of YUM Foods) but I recently discovered that the Pizza Inn on SW 59th & May still tastes like it did in the 70's. Good stuff!

[Larry OKC]

corwin1968: something like that...Mazzio's has been advertising/selling Ken's Pizza as an option the past year or so

[ctchandler]

Corwin1968,
Ken's and Mazios' are the same company. Back in the late seventies or early eighties, they started Mazzio's. The original Ken's was started by Ken Selby.
C. T.

[boscorama]

corwin1968: something like that...Mazzio's has been advertising/selling Ken's Pizza as an option the past year or so

I've seen no local advertising linking the two since the very tall I-35 sign was changed a few weeks ago. Mazzio's coupons came my way again, but no mention of Kens' acceptance.

BTW we stopped going to the Guthrie Mazzio's when they turned it to full service (lunch buffet excepted).

[Head]

That Mazzio's on May was filthy. I gave them a couple of tries. I am not a "Foodie Prima Donna" (Hello, I'm at a freakin' Mazzio's), but when I told the staff that the tea smelled like poo, they acted like they couldn't smell anything. Good riddance. They were a bad example of an otherwise great chain.

[Larry OKC]

boscorama: interesting, the most recent Mazzio's coupons I have mention Ken's Pizza too. It was supposed to have been a limited time thing (like most are unless they really take off)...they may be pushing something else with the newest coupons but Ken's is still mentioned on the their website Menu
Mazzio's Italian Eatery - Menu - Pizzas, Starters and Sides, Salads, Italian Hoagies, Calzone Ring®, Pastas, Value Meals, Kids' Menu, Drinks, Desserts

[Joe Kimball]

boscorama: interesting, the most recent Mazzio's coupons I have mention Ken's Pizza too. It was supposed to have been a limited time thing (like most are unless they really take off)...they may be pushing something else with the newest coupons but Ken's is still mentioned on the their website Menu

I used to get over to Mazzio's quite a bit a couple of years ago and variously since, and I heard it from a manager that Ken's REALLY woke them up; I mean, it was like night and day, the change in business, so he said. He told me then that Ken's-style pizza was henceforth a permanent item, rather than the promotion it was intended to be.

So, it comes as little surprise, though nonetheless jubilant, that we have a new actual-Ken's restaurant.

[Dubya61]

I always thought that all the Kens Pizza places changed their name to Mazzios and that the current "Ken's" pizza offering from Mazzios is a nostalgic offering of the old thin crust that you used to be able to get at Ken's. I'm pretty sure that it's a lot like if Hibdon's Tires Plus offered a "Hibdon's" oil change special or if Ford were to market a car model called the Mercury.

[boscorama]

I always thought that all the Kens Pizza places changed their name to Mazzios and that the current "Ken's" pizza offering from Mazzios is a nostalgic offering of the old thin crust that you used to be able to get at Ken's. I'm pretty sure that it's a lot like if Hibdon's Tires Plus offered a "Hibdon's" oil change special or if Ford were to market a car model called the Mercury.

We always got thin crust at Mazzios, even during the Kens promotion. Was my pizza supposed to be Kens? It was no different than Mazzios I was used to.

[Larry OKC]

Supposedly, the Kens pizza has a different spicier sauce than the Mazzios version among other things.

[OKCTalker]

I had a pizza from Luigi's/Pizza Inn last week and it was no different than before. I was told that it's still owned/operated by the family who was the franchisee, but they explained that they were getting a lot of pressure from the parent to change things, and they were tired of paying franchise-related fees. I've been a franchisee in another industry, and the parent pressure combined with fees can sometimes seem overwhelming.

[Rover]

So OKCTalker, how is the pizza there?

[Larry OKC]

Noticed this last weekend, the Pizza Inn near 50th & MacArthur is a Luigi's now. Not sure when they made the switch.

[Roger S]

Noticed this last weekend, the Pizza Inn near 50th & MacArthur is a Luigi's now. Not sure when they made the switch.

My guess would be sometime around February 3rd.... I did cheat and look at the first post in this thread to make that guess.

[Larry OKC]

Naw, later than that. I hadn't been that way in a couple of weeks but it was still signed as a Pizza Inn for several weeks after my early Feb post.