Nearly eight decades after establishing Chicago's tavern-style pizza tradition, Home Run Inn is extending that heritage into new frozen territory with the debut of its first-ever Pan Pizza — a thicker-crust riff on its signature thin-crust recipe, now available in Chicagoland Jewel stores and Tony's Fresh Market locations.
The 9-inch frozen Pan Pizza launches in five varieties: Cheese, Sausage, Sausage Pepperoni, Meat Lovers, and Pepperoni. Home Run Inn describes the product as built on the same all-natural ingredient foundation as its original tavern-style pie — freshly sliced mozzarella, a family-recipe tomato sauce — just with a notably thicker crust. For a brand that ranks among the top 10 frozen pizza labels sold nationally and holds the number-one position in the Chicagoland market, the new SKUs represent a meaningful portfolio expansion into the pan-pizza segment.
The Operator Tie-In
Home Run Inn is pairing the retail launch with an in-restaurant activation designed to put the frozen product directly in customers' hands. Throughout November, all six of its Chicagoland pizzerias will run "Free Pizza Fridays": any dine-in or carryout purchase of an extra-large cheese or sausage pizza includes one free frozen Pan Pizza, limit one per order. It's a straightforward strategy — using high-traffic restaurant visits to seed trial of the new retail product and reinforce brand loyalty across both channels.
"Made from scratch just like our original tavern-style pizza, with all-natural ingredients, our new Pan Pizza offers customers another delicious way to enjoy the Home Run Inn flavor they know and love, now with a thicker crust," said Dan Costello, CEO and fourth-generation family member.
Why It Matters for Operators
The dual-channel play — simultaneous retail expansion and restaurant-level promotion — reflects a wider trend in foodservice brand strategy where regional icons leverage their brick-and-mortar footprint to accelerate frozen and packaged goods growth. For independent and regional pizza operators watching category dynamics, Home Run Inn's move underscores how strong local brand equity can open grocery shelf space that national chains and private-label products typically dominate.
The frozen pizza category remains intensely competitive, and pan-style crust has gained consumer traction as an alternative to both thin-crust and deep-dish formats. Home Run Inn's entry positions it to capture shoppers who want a familiar Chicago-style brand but prefer a thicker bite. The brand already holds prominent retail and foodservice placement — including at Chicago's Midway and O'Hare international airports and as the Official Pizza of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field — giving the new Pan Pizza a built-in distribution and awareness advantage.
For more on how regional food brands are navigating frozen food and retail channel expansion, RHFNews continues to track developments across the packaged foods and foodservice sectors. Industry coverage is also available through Food & Beverage Magazine, a sister publication tracking CPG and foodservice trends nationwide.
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.
