Sam & Louie’s founder Greg Nolan serves up pizza. There were 54 attendees at the event. 

by Amber Schmitz, Sumner Newscow — Greg Nolan, founder of Sam & Louie’s Pizzeria, and some of his staff, held a food tasting in Wellington to give residents a better idea of what his company’s cuisine tastes like.

“We hold these tastings to reach out to people in the community,” said Nolan. “We may get a franchisee, we may not, but that way people get to try our food. We also keep in touch with the local Economic Development.”

Nolan founded Sam & Louie’s Pizzeria in Omaha, Neb. in April of 1994. He named the business for two important men in his life, his father, Sam, and his father-in-law, Louie, both of whom had no direct involvement in the restaurant. Wanting to keep in line with the family operated business idea, Nolan chose a name with real family meaning.

The first Sam & Louie’s in Kansas is located in Iola, and has been there for about a year now.

“It’s one of our highest producing stores,” Nolan said.

A store is in the works for Augusta, and will be open soon.

“We plan on opening another dozen in Kansas,” Nolan said. “It has the ideal sized towns, about 5,000-15,000 population.”

Stacy Davis, Sumner County Economic Development Director, said there were 54 people in attendance. In the original version of this story it was stated that 30 attended the event.

Davis said those in attendance varied from just being curious to a couple of individuals who are interested in possibly becoming a franchisee.

Davis stated:

In speaking with Michael Nolan (the son) following the tasting he was very pleased with the turnout. He stated that Sam & Louie’s understands that this is a slow process, but slow does not mean unsuccessful. I visited with several of those who attended. They were not only impressed with the food, but the business plan as well. The fact that the owners are very actively involved and that this is a family run business also seemed to impress those in attendance.

One of our Sumner Newscow readers wrote a review of what he tasted. Here is what John Monro had to say:

For anyone who goes to Wichita and dines out, and remembers the old Angelo’s Italian restaurant and the current DeFazzio’s, this is a real close match, taste wise, as what Sam and Louis is offering.  In other words, I consider it to be quite good.  Their sampling was a house salad, some cheese bread appetizers, Italian sandwich samples, meatballs and lasagna.  If they can get one of their restaurants going here in town, and keep prices in line with what the current competition, even though it’s in Wichita offers, I think they would be a huge success.  They didn’t have a full menu to look at, but while talking to one of the reps he said that a family of four could order one of their larger pizzas, salads and drinks for about $40.  This is a price range the average family can afford on occasion.  It’s getting to the point where you can’t get fast food for much less than that.

Some menu items include loaded waffle fries, salads, hoagies, burgers, a variety of pasta, stromboli, chicken sandwiches, calzones, and New York Style specialty pizzas. For more information, visit www.samandlouiesnyp.com.

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