Pasquale's Pizza & Pasta

Pasquale's Pizza & Pasta is a Hoover-based chain of Italian restaurants. The company currently operates about two dozen Pasquale's in six states, with 6 locations in metro Birmingham.

Pasquale's Pizza was founded in 1953 in Cincinnati, Ohio by Pasquale (Pat) and Vincent Gramaglia. It became the first chain pizza restaurant in the country. The company was sold in 1969 to Birmingham franchisee Neal Andrews. Andrews took the 125-restuarant chain public, hired Les Nuby, Jr as president, and nearly doubled the chain's size to a high of 244 in 1977. C. Pat Reynolds was the franchise owner for six of the restaurants during this time.

Andrews sold the company to John Labatt Ltd of London, Ontario, Canada on December 9, 1986. Andrews collected his stock payment in cash and retired from business that day. Nuby and John Sanford remained to manage the subsidiary, which remained successful for the next several years. Labatt reorganized its American holdings in 1990, consolidating its operations in Eugene, Oregon. The contents of the company's Birmingham facilities were auctioned on July 15. Labatt sold 35 Pasquale's restaurants to Millard Deason, the division's financial manager. Deason sold the company, which had shrunk to 25 locations, to Dora native Wayne Sellers and a group of investors on August 8, 2006.

Sellers, current CEO, and his partners have planned to regrow the company into a large chain, with as many as 1,200 locations under the name Pasquale's Italian Cafe. Current locations were to be renovated and franchisees sought starting in 2007. The concept also includes a six-day work week, with the restaurants being closed on Sundays.

The Pasquale's in Gardendale was owned by Bob Braswell for 37 years. In 2014, he retired and transferred management responsibilities to his niece, Patti Cardwell. Braswell and Cardwell are part of a tradition in their family of owning Pasquale’s franchises; Cardwell has a cousin, an aunt and another uncle that have all owned a restaurant bearing the Pasquale’s name.

Birmingham District locations

Pasquale's in Gardendale, June 2015

Pasquale's in Clay, January 2011

• Bessemer Super Highway, Five Points West, Birmingham
• 215 Fieldstown Road, Gardendale (opened 1970s)

Former locations

• 1733 2nd Avenue, downtown Birmingham (photo)
• 416 20th Street North, Birmingham, downtown Birmingham
• 1600 6th Avenue South, Birmingham, Medical Center, Birmingham
• 6901 1st Avenue North, East Lake, Birmingham
• 2226 Highland Avenue, Highland Plaza, Birmingham
• 3330 Clairmont Avenue, Birmingham, Forest Park, Birmingham
• Queensbury Shopping Center, northeastern Birmingham
• Eastwood Mall, Birmingham
• Roebuck Shopping Center, Birmingham (Roebuck)
• 2129 Bessemer Road, Five Points West, Birmingham
• 3150 Cahaba Heights Plaza, Cahaba Heights
• 1849 Center Point Road, Center Point
• Old Springville Road, Clay
• Forestdale Shopping Center, Forestdale
• Village Green Shopping Center, Gardendale
• 2906 18th Street South Homewood (carry-out)
• 1906 29th Avenue South, Homewood
• 800 Green Springs Highway, Homewood (Green Springs)
• Green Valley Shopping Center, Hoover
• 1550-P Montgomery Highway, Hoover
• 1551 Montgomery Highway, Hoover (opened January 1979)
• 204 Midfield, Midfield
• 216 Midfield, Midfield
• 123 Oak Street or Crestline Corners, 81 Church Street, Crestline Village, Mountain Brook
• 1121 Bethel Avenue, Tarrant
• 609 Montgomery Highway, Vestavia Hills
• High School Road, Hueytown
• Pleasant Grove

References

• Williams, Roy L. (October 12, 2006) "Pasquale's new owners plan major expansion" The Birmingham News
• Nuby, Lester Jr (2012) First: Breaking Generational Poverty. self-published/iUniverse
• Montgomery, Ben (August 10, 2014) "Pasquale's under new ownership" North Jefferson News

External links

• Pasquale Food Systems website