An affiliate of Craveworthy Brands has signed a definitive agreement to acquire New England Authentic Eats LLC (NEAE), the Massachusetts-based parent company of Papa Gino's Pizzeria, in a deal expected to close by Dec. 31, 2026. The transaction adds more than 160 restaurants and approximately $160 million in annual revenue to Craveworthy's platform, pushing its total portfolio to nearly 500 locations.
The Co-Brand Play
The strategic logic goes beyond a straight acquisition. Craveworthy plans to introduce its Wing It On! brand at every Papa Gino's location across New England, a rollout that would grow Wing It On! from 45 restaurants to more than 145—more than tripling its footprint without building a single traditional ground-up unit. For multi-unit operators and franchisees watching the casual and fast-casual restaurant expansion landscape, the move is a pointed example of how co-branding can compress the timeline and capital requirements of network growth.
Papa Gino's, founded in East Boston in 1961 and long billed as the "Official Pizza of New Englanders," will retain its name, menu, and brand identity under new ownership. Wing It On!, a Connecticut-born concept established in 2011, is built around buffalo wings and house-made dips; its Medium Buffalo sauce has taken first-place honors at the National Buffalo Wing Festival for multiple consecutive years.
Scale and Infrastructure
Craveworthy enters the deal with more than $300 million in systemwide sales and a shared-services platform spanning purchasing, technology, training, and franchise support. CEO and founder Gregg Majewski framed the acquisition as both a cultural preservation and a growth vehicle. "Papa Gino's is a New England institution. People grew up on this pizza, and we're going to honor that," Majewski said. "We protect what makes a brand special, then put our full platform behind it."
For franchisees and restaurant operators already in the Papa Gino's system, the practical upside is access to Craveworthy's combined purchasing power and integrated technology stack—factors that directly affect food costs and labor efficiency. That infrastructure argument has become central to multi-brand restaurant platform strategies across the industry, as consolidators compete to offer operators more than just a name change.
What Comes Next
Craveworthy has signaled this deal is a template, not a one-off. The company says it plans to pursue additional acquisitions of comparable scale on a six-to-nine-month cadence, with each transaction designed to expand both its operational capabilities and its development pipeline. With its portfolio approaching 500 locations post-close, the platform is building the kind of density that attracts supplier partnerships and national media buying leverage—competitive advantages that individual regional brands rarely access on their own.
Keel Merchant Bank and Keel Advisory served as exclusive financial advisor and Akerman LLP as legal counsel to Craveworthy. Harrington Park Advisors served as exclusive financial advisor and Vedder as legal counsel to NEAE.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
