&pizza (originally called H&pizza) was founded by Michael Lastoria and Steve Salis, with the first shop opening in July 2012 on H Street in Northeast, Washington, D.C.[7] Salis was CEO from inception until 2015. Currently, Lastoria is CEO and creative director.[3] In 2016, the restaurant received a $25 million investment from AVALT, to expand into New York City,[4] opening its first location there in June 2017.[8] In July 2017, &pizza and the bakery Milk Bar announced a joint venture, to open in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[9] In October 2017, &pizza announced funding from RSE Ventures.[10][11]
The restaurant has advocated in Congress for a $15 minimum wage by 2023.[3][4][12]
Reception
The Washington Post called the restaurant "the pizza shop for the 21st century", describing it as "Chipotle for pizza".[7] It was named best pizza in the Washington City Paper Best of D.C. in 2017;[13] was #12 on the Restaurant Business 2017 Future 50 list of fastest-growing small concept restaurants;[14] and was on the Fast Company World's Most Innovative Companies 2018 list.[15]
Marketing
Since 2015, the restaurant has held an annual Pi Day tradition, where they hold weddings in their pizza shops, offering free pizza, cake, alcohol, officiants and photography.[16][17] In 2018, &pizza hosted over a dozen weddings at locations in DC, Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia.[17] For employees who want it, the restaurant pays for them to get a tattoo of its ampersand logo.[16][18][19] The advocacy group Our Harvard Square has criticized &pizza for encouraging tattoos of its logo on employees and for referring to employees as "tribe members".[20] Also on this day, pizza pies will be discounted to $3.14 for all loyalty members.[21]
The restaurant chain filed a trademark dispute against @pizza, a UK-based chain. In 2020, the claim for trespassing and copyright infringement was dismissed after a three year court battle involving the District Court and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.[22]
