- April 10, 2012
- 12:01 am
- khustad
A grand opening
Felice’s has been serving up Roman-style pizza to hungry Loyola students since February, but in late March they made it official.
With a ribbon-cutting ceremony, visits by the president of the University, local Aldermen, and two major news outlets, Felice’s Roman Style Pizza celebrated its official opening on Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus. Incoming President of Felice’s and junior economics and finance major Patrick Hendrickson says the event was a good culmination to the work that has gone into opening the restaurant and an even better start to the future of the restaurant.
“It was really good to see all the people who helped us succeed be there to celebrate the opening of Felice’s,” he says.
The event was emceed by incoming Loyola Limited CEO Ryan Cisler, and featured speeches by 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore, 48th Ward Alderman Harry Osterman, and Father Garanzini. Behind the scenes, outgoing Loyola Limited CEO Jonathan Ferrara and outgoing Director of Operations Vallen Tousis prepared and served a meal of pasta, salad, and pizza to event guests. Hendrickson mentions many staff members who played a hand in helping Felice’s succeed were present, as well as current and former Loyola Limited students. He says it was good to have Loyola Limited alumni there so they could see the progress made since the company was started in 2010.
“It was really nice to see a lot of former Loyola Limited employees there as well, people who put a lot of effort into creating Loyola Limited, so they could see what their effort has turned into,” he points out.
Now the celebration is over, however, what does the future for Felice’s look like? Hendrickson says the goal is to focus on improving service and bringing more options to the menu.
“We are hoping to really streamline and fine tune operations to provide Loyola students and community with a really good atmosphere and a great place go,” he says.”We will also be instituting some new recipes, pizza ideas, soups, and salads, so we can offer a variety of things in our store that may not be offered at other pizza places.”
In addition, he says they are hoping to work with non-profits and student groups to offer fundraising opportunities, as well as catering opportunities, especially to faculty and staff within the University. Upcoming, they are working with a Loyola Big Brothers Big Sisters group to provide pizza for a group of local elementary school kids spending time on campus for a field trip.
Along with the grand opening and success thus far, Felice’s has been getting a good amount of local, and even international attention for their efforts. WMAQ-TV (NBC) and WLS-TV (ABC) were present at the grand opening, and Monocle 24, a European magazine and radio station, also did a feature on the restaurant, pointing to Loyola Limited as a forerunner on the trend of hands-on undergraduate business experience. Hendrickson says the combination of students working to make campus life better for other students, is part of the reason for media attention.
“One of the reasons we are getting so much interest is that we directly affect students lives on campus,” he says. “We are trying to become a student hang out, and I think it really draws a connection from the students to the business.”
For more information on Felice’s, visit their website here.
