Capriotti's was founded in Little Italy, Wilmington, Delaware in 1976.[3][4][7] The restaurant is named after the founders' grandfather, Philip Capriotti.[3][8] In 1988, the second restaurant location opened in New Castle, Delaware. In 1991, Capriotti's began franchising their restaurants.[9]
Counter area of a Capriotti's in Rosslyn, Arlington, Virginia
In 1993, the first restaurant location in Las Vegas, Nevada was opened on Sahara Avenue, near Las Vegas Boulevard.[10] In 2004, Ashley Morris and Jason Smylie opened a franchise in Las Vegas. At the time, Morris was the youngest financial adviser at Wells Fargo.[10][11][12][13] Smylie was a software engineer at Bechtel Nevada. Morris and Smylie were also investors in the housing market and made the decision to invest in a franchise after learning that the return on investment was higher than anything they were looking at investing in.[13] In 2007, Morris and Smylie put the company in escrow. In the following year Morris, Smylie and a group of investors consisting of 95% Las Vegans bought Capriotti's. Capriotti's had 44 restaurant locations by the end of 2008.[12] Morris is the CEO of the company.[12][13][14][15] In 2008 and 2009 the chain was the official sandwich sponsor of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.[16][17] Capriotti's was ranked in Entrepreneur magazine's top 500 franchise list in 2010 and remained ranked through 2014.[12]
Joe Biden at the opening of a Capriotti's in Washington, D.C in 2013.
Capriotti's starred on Food Network's Unwrapped in December 2011.[18][19] In November 2013, Capriotti's expanded its presence on the East Coast by opening its first location in Washington DC.[20][21]Joe Biden was the first customer served at the store's grand opening.[21][22][23] That year, Capriotti's brought in over $58 million in revenue and experienced a 48% growth over the previous three years.[24] In 2014, the company was named one of the "Top 10 Best Food Franchises for Your Buck" and one of "America's Best Franchises" by Forbes magazine.[25][26]
The Sandelman & Associates Quick Track Study on the Top 10 Quick Service Restaurant Concepts ranked Capriotti's among the top ten in overall satisfaction[27] and won the award for highest quality and taste in the 2014 study.[28]
Capriotti's is now based in Las Vegas, Nevada and has its largest concentration of shops there. The restaurant chain has 112 locations in 27 states including: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington State and Wisconsin.[5][6][29] In 2014, it ranked #293 in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500. In 2016, Capriotti's was ranked #264 in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500.[30]
Capriotti's specializes in cold, grilled, and vegetarian hoagies or submarine sandwiches.[6] Each restaurant roasts whole turkeys for 12 hours nightly, hand pulls meats, and makes their own meatballs and coleslaw.[5][7][9]
In November 2009, the Bobbie, one of Capriotti's signature sandwiches, was voted "The Greatest Sandwich in America" by AOL.com.[31] The sandwich is made with pulled turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and mayonnaise.[31] The Margolets named it after their aunt.[32] In 2012, USA Today named Capriotti's one of the "10 Great Places for a Surprising Sandwich."[33]
Capriotti has utilized Google Glass to re-record employee training videos in a first person view.[34] Management trainees also wear Google Glass during rush hour periods and review the footage for constructive visual feedback.[34][35] Capriotti's uses an app-based loyalty program.[36]
^ abTovin Lapan (2012-04-10). "Capriotti's Bobbie collects yet another accolade; "Encyclopedia of Sandwiches" author tells USA Today that shop's turkey sub is among her favorites". Las Vegas Sun.
^Tim O'Reiley (2011-03-21). "Heroes welcome? Well, not as envisioned". Las Vegas Business Press.
US$150 million (FEB 2021)[1]
