Our Story & Mission

Before you make a single pizza, take five minutes to know whose name is on the box. Cassano’s isn’t a brand someone bought — it’s a family business that’s been in the same Ohio community since 1953, and the way the company operates today is shaped by that history.

How it started

In June 1953, Vic Cassano Sr. and his mother-in-law “Mom” Donisi opened a 20-by-15-foot pizza shop attached to a grocery store on Schantz Avenue in Kettering, Ohio. They sold 400 pizzas their first day. Within five years there were twelve Cassano’s Pizza Kings; by the mid-1970s, Cassano’s was one of the top four pizza chains in America. Corporate headquarters moved to 1700 East Stroop Road in Kettering in 1968 — and that’s still where the corporate office, Call Center, and Dough Production Facility live today.

How it stayed family-owned

Vic Sr. sold the company to Greyhound Food Management in 1986. Three years later — November 23, 1989 — his son Vic Cassano Jr. bought it back. In March 2000, Cassano’s became exclusively family-owned again. After Vic Jr. passed away in May 2010, leadership passed to his sons Vic III (“Chip”) and Chris Cassano, with other family members involved in daily operations.

The mission

Read that again — the order matters. People create the experience. The experience drives the company. That’s why training exists, and that’s why how you show up to a shift is treated as seriously as how the pizza comes out of the oven.

The non-negotiables

These are the principles the Cassano family has said are not up for debate:

• We lead by example.
• We live with integrity, honesty, morality, and humility.
• Relationships are critical to us — we are fiercely loyal.
• We intentionally develop people.
• Quality will not be compromised.

The three ingredients

Everything in this training comes back to three words the company has used since the beginning: Quality, Cleanliness, and Service. Italian motto attached: “La prova è nel gusto” — the proof is in the taste.