Who's Your Papa?

By Rachelle Bowden in Food on May 28, 2004 12:34PM

Chicagoist hasn't actually eaten Papa John's pizza for about 5 years, but still found it interesting that franchise owner Antoin "Tony" Rezko basically flipped Papa John's the bird and renamed his 30 stores in Chicagoland after himself - Papa Tony's. Rezko has long battled with Papa John's and this move reduces the number of Chicago-area Papa John's stores to just 6. The fight is apparently over the pricing of pizza ingredients and the licensing of nearby rival Papa John's restaurants. It all came to a head when Papa John's terminated Rezko's franchise license in early May and filed a lawsuit against Rezko .. so Rezko said "screw off", started sourcing products from new suppliers, developed a new marketing plan, and covered the Papa John's signs with vinyl tarps bearing the name Papa Tony's. Papa John's is planning to add stores back to the Chicago market, which is the nation's second largest pizza market, after New York.

Interesting side notes: Rezko is the recipient of the "Entrepreneur of the Decade" award from the Arab-American Business and Professional Association. He also has made many political contributions to both Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn and Gov. Rod Blagojevich. These have allowed him to sit in on job interviews for top statewide appointments. There's also rumor that Rezko holds option on land next to the proposed site of a casino in Rosemont. Sources say that this land will "magically sprout" into a hotel if the Rosemont Casino is approved.