By: Cindi Avila
Where can you go in Coral Gables that is fun for the whole family and allows each and every guest the option to customize their own pizza? PizzaRev! It’s a fun new concept on Miracle Mile. The owner of the Florida-based restaurant group Surfside Pizza, Chris Mellgren, brought this concept to our neck of the woods. We got a chance to talk to him about PizzaRev and about the other franchise he owns (one you’ve definitely heard of and no doubt visited):
How did you decide to bring PizzaRev to Coral Gables?
I’ve been in the franchising space for about 14 years now, largely in a different concept, but I was looking to do something different. I love pizza, everyone does and I wanted to do something a little more healthy. I looked around at a bunch of different concepts and ended up finding PizzaRev. What drew me to them was really the fact that they have gluten-free and vegan options, it’s a very healthy, locally sourced, higher end product set. Their restaurant finishes are really nice. It seemed to fit naturally into a place like Coral Gables. The idea of craft your own pizza, being able to bring your family, everyone gets what they want, you can have a glass of wine, was really compelling too.
How is PizzaRev different from other restaurants in South Florida?
There certainly isn’t another healthy, craft your own pizza concept in South Florida. There are a couple other competitors that do it, but I think that ours is a better product. I know we are locally s
ourced, generally speaking, and I don’t think our competitors are. Certainly in Miami there is nothing like this where you have the ability to choose your own toppings, get as much oras little as you want and be able to do it quickly. So you are in and out in about 8 or 9 minutes and you have your own hand-crafted pizza, made to your taste.
What are your future plans for PizzaRev?
We signed an agreement to build 45 locations in South Florida. Our next one is going to be on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. We are working on locations in Doral, Pembroke Pines, sort of all over the place. So the goal is to build 4 to 5 of these a year over the next 6 to 7 years and then sort of see where we go from there.
You also own several Dunkin Donuts franchises. What’s next for those?
We have 70 of those locations across South Florida, both on the East and West coast of Florida and just continue to develop and grow. We still believe Miami has a big opportunity for growth, a lot of neighborhoods are coming into their own, like Cutler Bay. It was just named the 7th fastest growing suburb in America. So there are a lot of pockets in Miami that are underserved and it’s a unique opportunity for us to step in and serve those communities.