Greenville Avenue Pizza Company. (Photo by Danny Fulgencio)
Sammy Mandell may have proved one truth about the recent recession: pizza is pretty much bulletproof. Despite opening his restaurant in 2007 just before the economy tanked, Greenville Avenue Pizza Company, or as we locals know it, GAP Co., flourished.
It’s since done so well, Fortune magazine just named it No. 34 on its list of the “100 Fastest Growing Inner-City Businesses.”
That’s not to say Mandell didn’t face hard times. The article notes, “In 2010, however, he had to rethink his business strategy as the entire area was slated for redevelopment with construction literally reaching his restaurant’s driveway. Mandell persevered through this setback and the concurrent recession by refocusing on his delivery service.”
It’s one of the few places in the neighborhood that delivers late-night (hence why we featured it in our February Night Shift story). According to Fortune, the pizza joint’s business has grown 324 percent in the past five years, and in 2015 it had a revenue of $1.89 million.
In addition to GAP Co.’s namesake location at 1923 Greenville, the restaurant will open a second location at 1145 Peavy later this year.
