Glass Nickel Pizza Company

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Glass Nickel Pizza Co.
Type Privately held company
Founded 1997
Founder Brian Glassel, Tim Nicholson
Headquarters Madison, Wisconsin, USA
No. of locations 6 restaurants (2007)
Area served Wisconsin
Industry Restaurant
Products Pizza
Website www.glassnickelpizza.com

The Glass Nickel Pizza Co. (GNPC) is a mid-sized delivery, carry-out and dine-in Italian restaurant in and around Madison, WI. The restaurant is based out of Madison, WI with 6 restaurants covering the greater Madison area as well as the Fox Valley of Wisconsin.

Contents

[edit] History

The company was founded by Brian Glassel and Tim Nicholson in 1997 on the East side of Madison, Wisconsin. Two years later an employee opened a store on Madison's Westside. Since then, two more stores have opened in the Madison area; Fitchburg and Sun Prairie as well as one in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. GN Independents, the franchising arm of Glass Nickel Pizza Company, has began franchising, with the first franchised store now open in Green Bay, Wisconsin[1]. A second franchise is planned in Brookfield, WI.

[edit] Menu

The menu serves pastas, pizzas, calzones, salads, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, desserts and beverages. Pizzas are available in a hand-tossed style, but may also be ordered thin crust, super thin crust or thick crust. Pizza sizes range from 10" to 16". The best selling pizza is the "Fetalicious," a specialty pizza topped with spinach, red onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and feta cheese. Other notable pizzas include "The Ranch," a pizza which uses Ranch Dressing instead of the traditional pizza sauce as a base, and "The Thai Pie," which uses peanut sauce as a base. Pizza toppings include the traditional and non-traditional, such as salami, corn, blue cheese and cilantro. Deli sandwiches are made with Boar's Head Deli meats, a very selective East Coast deli.

[edit] Environmentalism

A Glass Nickel "Grease Truck." Honda Hybrid behind Truck
A Glass Nickel "Grease Truck." Honda Hybrid behind Truck

The Glass Nickel is renowned in and around Madison for its commitment to environmental sustainability and responsibility. The use of Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) and hybrid vehicles is unique to delivery restaurants in Madison[2], and to most delivery systems in America. WVO vehicles are diesel vehicles which have been converted to run off of used fryer grease, or other vegetable based oils. The original Glass Nickel has a system in place to automatically convert used fryer oil into fuel for vehicles. Used oil from deep fryers is transported through the building into a filtration room in the restaurants basement. There, the oil is ran through a series of filters and placed in a holding tank until needed for fuel for the delivery fleet. On the outside of the building is a diesel pump which delivery drivers and neighbors use to fill up their vehicles[3][4]. The entire configuration is self contained within the store. The cars average 45-50 MPG on WVO, and since the oil is made from living plants, any CO2 emissions are therefore a zero-sum addition to the atmosphere, as these plants, canola, corn, soy, etc, removed the CO2 from the atmosphere they are now returning it to. The Glass Nickel also owns and operates two hybrid vehicles in their delivery fleet. New franchisees are required to own and operate at least one Alternative fuel vehicles in their delivery fleet by their third year of operation, be it a WVO Vehicle, hybrid or electric. Furthermore, the store is in the process of converting their interior lighting from fluorescent to L.E.D. light. A new pizza oven shuts off when pizzas are not currently baking, saving natural gas. Two stores currently own and operate these ovens, Fitchburg was the first to put the oven to work in it’s kitchen, and once the East side store found out about these high tech toasters, they knew how much better for the environment it would be and bought one for the Atwood location. Plans are in the works for a solar array to be constructed atop the restaurant as well.

A Glass Nickel "Grease Car." A VW Rabbit
A Glass Nickel "Grease Car." A VW Rabbit

[edit] Awards

  • Madison's Favorite Pizza - Isthmus Magazines "Annual Manual" - 9 years in a row (1999-2007)[5]
  • Best of Madison - Madison Magazine - 7 years in a row (2001-2007)[6]
  • Top 100 Independents - Pizza Today Magazine - #13 currently. 3rd year on the list[7].

[edit] References

  1. ^ New Business: Glass Nickel Pizza Co.. Green Bay Press Gazette. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  2. ^ Nick of Time. Pizza Today. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  3. ^ Down to Earth: Running on Veggie Oil. WKOW 27. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  4. ^ Pizza Company Runs Delivery Cars on Waste Vegetable Oil. Channel 3000, Madison. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  5. ^ Madison's Favorites, 2007. Isthmus Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  6. ^ Best of 2007. Madison Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  7. ^ Hot 100 Independents 2007. Pizza Today. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.

[edit] External links