RedBrick Pizza Offers Healthier Alternatives to Fast Food Lunch or Dinner

Palmdale, CA – June 3, 2005 – You’ve read the headlines. As a nation, America is the heavyweight champ. That’s no compliment. From toddlers to teens, young adults to elders our bellies are bulging, our hips are heavier and our blood pressure is rising to record levels.  Recent statistics show that over 15 percent of children and one-third of all adults can be classified as obese.

Many studies point to our high fat, high calorie fast-food diet as a significant contributing factor. In our fast-paced, frantic world, it’s just too easy to drive through and pick up a burger and fries or a bucket of chicken rather than settling down and enjoying a wholesome meal.

Co-founders Jim and Lynn Minidis didn’t think that was right, so they set out to create a fast, casual dining experience that didn’t have to be chocked full of fat or crammed with empty calories. Their fast-growing chain of RedBrick Neighborhood Pizza Cafés is offering diners healthier alternatives – world famous fire-roasted gourmet pizzas, fresh “Fhazani” fire-roasted gourmet sandwiches, fresh hand tossed chopped salads and Italian gelato desserts. 

Their approach has been well received. RedBrick has become today’s fastest growing, fast casual pizza franchise with over 750 percent growth last year and more expansion slated for this year this year. Recently, RedBrick Pizza was named one of the Top 50 New Franchises by Entrepreneur Magazine.

What makes their pizza unique is the RedBrick (Italian for terra cotta) oven that sears in flavors by fire-roasting each pizza at over 1000°.

“We’ve combined old world Italian tradition with new world technology to create a delicious and nutritious fire-roasted gourmet pizza in less time than it takes to make a burger and fries,” offers James Minidis, CEO and President of the fast growing franchise. "With RedBrick, you can have a fresh fire-roasted gourmet pizza served in about six minutes.  It’s a gourmet meal in minutes, great when you only have a half hour for lunch!”

According to the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people in Italy who

regularly eat pizza are less likely to have heart attacks. The study claims that those eating one 7-ounce serving of pizza per week reduced

the likelihood of having a heart attack by 38 percent, and eating two servings of pizza per week reduced the risk by 56 percent        

The study may not be as far fetched as it seems at first glance.  RedBrick’s fire-roasted gourmet pizza is lower in carbohydrates and fat than ordinary pizza. Tomato sauce, a key ingredient in most pizza recipes is loaded with Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant thought by researchers to neutralize harmful “free radicals” within the body.  Their Qualitá Superiore mozzarella cheese is high in protein, calcium and several key minerals.  And what better way to get the kids to eat fresh veggies than piling them on a pizza? When served with a fresh chopped salad and perhaps a fresh Italian gelato (ice cream in Italian) dessert, you’ve got what they call “the perfect meal”.

With all this going for it, its easy to understand why RedBrick has become one of the fastest growing pizza franchise around with over 750 percent growth last year and more expansion slated for this year.

Most RedBrick Neighborhood Pizza Cafés are open 11am-11pm daily for dine-in or carryout service and group orders. Many offer a full selection of imported beer and wine in addition to their gourmet foods. For the address of the RedBrick Pizza Café closest to you visit www.redbrickpizza.com.

For franchise information, contact RedBrick Pizza Worldwide at (661) 722-5895.