Donatos Pizza

Donatos Pizza is a pizza delivery restaurant chain headquartered in Gahanna, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. It has nearly 200 locations in seven states, with the majority of locations in Ohio. Donatos is also served at several venue outlets including Ohio Stadium and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

History

In 1963, Ohio State sophomore Jim Grote purchased a small pizzeria on the south side of Columbus, Ohio for $1,300. From the beginning, Grote built Donatos on three fundamentals: creating a superior product, hiring great people, and to "treat others the way I would like to be treated". Today, these fundamentals still define Donatos as it promises “To serve the best pizza and make your day a little better.”

In 1999, Donatos was purchased by McDonald's in an attempt to enter the pizza industry. However, a majority interest in Donatos was repurchased by Jim Grote and daughter Jane Abell in 2003 as McDonald's sought to refocus on its core business. During this period Donatos also had operations in Munich, Germany.