Mountain Mike’s Pizza, LLC, a leading family-style pizza chain for more than 40 years, known for its legendary crispy, curly pepperoni, Mountain-sized pizzas, toppings to the edge, and dough made fresh daily, has been ranked #92 by Entrepreneur in the respected publication’s prestigious and highly coveted 2023 Franchise 500 List. Climbing a noteworthy 15 spots from its 2022 ranking, this year marks Mountain Mike’s well-earned debut among the top 100 franchises, a resounding testament to the brand’s impressive growth over the past year. Mountain Mike’s also proudly ranked #4 among the nation’s top pizza chains, one of the list’s most competitive sectors. The Franchise 500 List is the world’s most comprehensive franchise ranking, honoring companies for their exceptional performance in areas such as unit growth, financial strength and stability, and brand power.
“Eclipsing the 250-unit mark, adding locations in four new states and continuing to build on our record sales success over the past three years, 2022 certainly was a banner year for Mountain Mike’s across every facet of our business — and we are immensely proud to see our accomplishments recognized by Entrepreneur and so deeply appreciative to work with such a talented network of dedicated franchise partners,” says Chris Britt, Co-CEO/Owner of Mountain Mike’s Pizza.
“We continue to be blown away by the tremendous commitment our franchisees give to Mountain Mike’s, which is what secures our place on prestigious rankings such as this one – and ensures we continue to climb,” adds Ed St. Geme, Co-CEO/Owner of Mountain Mike’s Pizza.
Over the previous 36 months, Mountain Mike’s has reported an impressive 25.2% increase in same store sales, plus a 9.5% increase in total system sales in 2022. As 2022 ended, AUV topped 1.1M. The acclaimed pizza chain opened 20 restaurants last year, debuting in four new states, including Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and Texas. Mountain Mike’s also signed more than two dozen development agreements in 2022 and projects 30 new locations in 2023, including the brand’s debut in Colorado – the eighth state where the pizza chain will be open for business.
“Soon after joining the Mountain Mike’s team several years ago, I established an ambitious, but attainable, goal for the brand – to be ranked inside the top 100 on Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500, and I shared this vision with the team in 2019,” says Jim Metevier, President & COO of Mountain Mike’s Pizza. “Everyone associated with this beloved legacy brand has risen to the occasion, and our steady sales and development growth over the past three years has allowed Mountain Mike’s to see this goal realized, and I am so proud of the entire Mountain Mike’s team for the work, the hustle and the commitment that allowed us to earn this distinction.”
In Entrepreneur’s continuing effort to best understand and evaluate the ever-changing franchise marketplace, the publication’s 44-year-old ranking formula continues to evolve as well. The editorial team researches and assesses several factors that go into the evaluation, including costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. Each franchise is given a cumulative score based on an analysis of more than 150 data points, and the 500 franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500 in ranking order.
With nearly 270 restaurants in operation, Mountain Mike’s is primed to continue expansion throughout the Western U.S. by extending opportunities to new franchise partners looking to diversify their portfolios with a popular family pizza concept.
