Oxford LaRosa’s wins ‘pizzeria of the year’

OXFORD LAROSA’S PIZZERIA

What: Restaurant serves pizza, pasta, sandwiches and salads. LaRosa's is a Cincinnati-based franchise.

Where: 21 Lynn St., Oxford

Phone: 513-347-1111

Owners: Joel and Melissa Engelhard

Website: www.larosas.com

Homegrown Cincinnati pizza chain LaRosa’s Inc. has recognized its Oxford franchise owners with the distinctive honor of LaRosa’s Pizzeria of the Year for 2013.

Oxford LaRosa’s, at 21 Lynn St., is owned by local residents Joel and Melissa Engelhard. Since buying the Oxford restaurant in the fall of 2009, they’ve cooked up a double-digit increase in sales.

But that’s not the only reason they were named the establishment’s best-run franchise last year.

LaRosa’s more than 60 franchise- and corporate-owned restaurants are evaluated monthly for their consistency in preparing high quality food; cleanliness and sanitation; and customer service, said Michael LaRosa, chief executive officer of the company.

The best operating stores are nominated for the internal company award. The awards program was in its third year in 2013.

Last year, Oxford LaRosa’s was the top vote getter by LaRosa’s corporate operations staff who conduct the evaluations, said Michael LaRosa, chief executive officer of the company.

“These are the best-in-class operational standards for LaRosa’s,” Michael LaRosa said. “This is just an indication that this pizzeria is best-in-class in terms of the performance they generate.”

There’s a lot of competition against national chains and others for pizza in a college town, and Miami University students’ tastes can be fickle, said Oxford LaRosa’s Owner Joel Engelhard. But LaRosa’s pizza, pasta and sandwiches win over customers because of the food selection, unique sauce and the family-oriented atmosphere, Engelhard said. LaRosa’s has arguably the largest dining room of any Oxford pizza restaurant, he says.

About three years ago, LaRosa’s launched a gluten-free pizza at the Oxford restaurant. Concocted in response to demand from the college students, the Engelhards studied gluten-free kitchen practices and tested multiple crust recipes with guests, Engelhard said. Not all the pizzerias offer it.

“We won those because I’m just really doing what I love to do,” said Engelhard, a Miami University graduate with 20 years of prior experience at McDonald’s. LaRosa’s is “a well known name. LaRosa’s family is known for giving back to communities. That’s what I wanted to do.”