Owning a Rosati’s Chicago Pizza restaurant has been Scott Butler’s mission for the past three years. But, for the 60-year-old dad, dining at the pizzeria is a lifelong tradition.

“I’ve literally been eating Rosati’s pizza and spaghetti since I was 8,” he said. “It was our go-to pizza place when I was a child.”

That’s why it only felt natural for the Chicagoan to purchase the franchise rights to Maricopa’s Rosati’s restaurant at 21423 N. John Wayne Pkwy., Suite 102, when it went up for sale in 2021.

“I was very familiar with Rosati’s, the quality of the pizza and the history of the company,” Butler said. “When the opportunity came up, I didn’t hesitate. I just immediately decided to continue the franchise in Maricopa.”

Fate, family, tradition

No matter how you slice it, Butler’s life has always been oddly intertwined with the pizzeria.
“Rosati’s opened in 1964, the same year I was born, and they started their first restaurant in Mount Prospect, Ill.,” he said. “When I was 8 years old, my family moved from Chicago out to a suburb next to Prospect.”

That move marked the start of a new family tradition: Friday pizza nights at Rosati’s.

“Back then, my family didn’t have a lot of money,” Butler said. “But Fridays were always a big friends and family night. We’d get three or four extra-large pizzas, invite the friends and neighbors over and everyone would just have a great time.”

That custom, along with hosting family celebrations at the local restaurant, solidified Butler’s association between Rosati’s pizza and the warm feeling of the company of loved ones.

Chicago pizza in the Sonoran Desert

When he moved to Arizona in 2011, Butler said one of his first missions was to find the authentic Chicago-style pizza his palette demanded.

“I lived in New York for three years and I stopped eating pizza at the time because I couldn’t find any pizza similar to what I grew up eating,” he said. “When we moved out here, Rosati’s had a very good reputation. They’re the largest, best-selling Chicago pizza restaurant in Arizona.”

Rosati’s operates a dozen pizzerias across the state, the second most outside Illinois. The opportunity to connect with his fellow Midwesterners is one of Butler’s joys in owning and operating the pizza parlor. Chicago sends the fifth-most transplants to Maricopa among American cities, the national real estate broker Redfin said in May.

“One of the most satisfying things about being a Rosati restaurant owner is all the people I meet from the Midwest,” Butler said. “The folks from that part of the country know about Rosati’s and they know about the quality of the food.”

Butler said the restaurant cooks its food from scratch with a focus on fresh ingredients and Rosati’s original recipe sauces, pizza dough and pastas. He said he hopes to see the restaurant expand with the city.

“As Maricopa grows, we’re looking to grow along with it,” he said. “At some point, we will need to add a second restaurant in town, a sit-down restaurant where you can dine in.”