Since 1947, Home Run Inn has been making fresh and frozen pizzas with a very special feature — every part of the pie is handmade. From the sauce to the sausage (freshly ground in their Illinois factory), Home Run Inn is frozen pizza you can actually feel good about eating. So obviously, Chicago is immensely proud of the Perrino family and their contribution to the great world of pizza.
Vice President of Marketing Gina Bolger, granddaughter of late founder Nick Perrino, says the best part about working for Home Run Inn is that it is still very much a family business.
“We care about our employees and our customers and the most important part to us is that our product is made with the highest quality ingredients possible,” Bolger says. “We don’t vary any of our production methods to cheapen the product.”
Where larger companies have to worry about profit margins and production costs, Home Run Inn never varies the way they put together a slice.
“We are okay if it’s not a great quarter,” Bolger says. “We want to make the best product possible.”
And the product itself is certainly special — with options ranging from ultra-thin to Chicago style deep dish, the pizzas are available in more than 20 states across the country.
What sets Home Run Inn apart from the myriad frozen pizzas in grocery stores everywhere is the extra mile — the pizzas are all made completely from scratch.
“We make all our own dough, make our own sauce, shred our own cheese, grind our own sausage, make our own pizza — assemble it, cook it and then flash freeze it,” Bolger says. “That locks in all of the flavor as well as makes it the highest-quality process you could use to make the product.”
Their “Classic” Chicago pizza is actually thin crust — which, surprisingly, isn’t blasphemous.
“In Chicago, we have the reputation as a deep dish city, but most Chicagoans eat thin crust pizza,” Bolger says. “Not that they don’t eat deep dish, but thin crust sales are actually higher.”
With some employees who have been at Home Run Inn for more than 50 years, Bolger says the best part about being a family-owned company is that absolutely everyone feels like a part of it — even if their last name isn’t Perrino.
“We’re still a family business at heart; it’s not the corporate world,” Bolger says. “It’s just really special.”
Still hungry? Here are 6 more Chicago-based eats that have swept the nation:
This Skokie-based popcorn company initially started out as Wells Street Popcorn — a lighter version of the undeniably gluttonous (but horribly delicious) Garrett’s. Founded by Chicago entrepreneurs Pam Netzky and Andrew Friedman, the GMO-free snack is now available in 47,000 retail locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Kefir, a trendy probiotic yogurt drink, has long been popular in the Middle East. Russian immigrant Michael Smolyansky started making his own kefir in his Skokie home in 1986 and took the company public two years later. Today, Lifeway Kefir is run by Smolyansky’s children and has the number one market share in probiotic dairy products.
Located at Tangley Oaks Estate in Lake Bluff, Terlato Wines started out as just a small liquor store. Until just last year, Terlato was best known for importing (and bringing to prominence) Santa Margherita wines, which would become their flagship wine brand. Today, Terlato still sells more than 70 brands, including David Bruce, Chimney Rock, Lapostolle and Flor de Campo. The company is still family-owned, from chairman Anthony Terlato (whose father-in-law started the Chicago grocery store in the 1930s that would spawn the entire enterprise) to CEO William, Anthony’s son, to marketing analyst Josephine, William’s daughter.
We bet you didn’t know a company that started in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago makes your favorite tortillas. Originally founded in 1969 as Azteca Corn Products Corporation by Art Velasquez and nine other Mexican-American businessmen, the company was sold to Pillsbury in 1984, which helped it grow immensely, thanks to increased production power. Five years later, Velasquez and his wife bought back the assets of the business from Pillsbury and changed the name to Azteca Foods, Inc. Today, Azteca products are sold in grocery stores across America, but the factory is still family-owned and located on Chicago’s southwest side.
Since 1962, the Turano family has been baking Italian-style breads and rolls. It’s not uncommon to see Turano trucks distributing freshly baked wares to restaurants and stores across the Chicagoland area and now into Indianapolis as well. Fresh-frozen products are available across the United States through food distributors and a number of national restaurant chains.
No list of Chicago foods would be complete without a mention of Vienna Beef. The first store opened on Chicago’s near west side in 1894 after Vienna Beef gained traction at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Founded by Austrian-Hungarian immigrants Emil Reichel and Sam Ladany, the factory is now headquartered on the north side on North Damen Avenue. In 2006, Vienna Beef opened the hotdog hall of fame — and the dogs are available for purchase across the country … for eating without ketchup, of course.
