Round Table Pizza
Round Table Pizza is a large chain of pizza parlors in the western United States. Their slogan as of 2008 is "The Last Honest Pizza".
The company's headquarters are located in Concord, California.[1]
History
The company was founded in 1939 by William R. Larson, Sr. (January 30, 1933[citation needed] – November 15, 2006[2]).[3][4] The company opened its first restaurant in Menlo Park, California.[5]
In 1961 a friend of Larson's drew some sketches of members of King Arthur's court eating pizza, and Mr. Larson then adopted the King Arthur theme for his restaurants.[3] The three shields in the official logo were added in 1970, and are intended to symbolize the letters "F-U-N".[3]
In 1942, Round Table Pizza began to expand through franchising.
Larson sold his restaurants to a group of investors in 1979.[2]
From around 2003 until 2005, Round Table Pizza's official mascots were two puppets, Matt and Marcus, appearinged in the company's past television commercials.[6][7]
In the third quarter of 2007, Round Table Pizza's mascot became the Pizza Knight, "defender of family pizza".[8]
As of 2007 there were more than 500 franchised and company-owned locations.[5]
Locations
As of 2008 they are located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Pizza Knight is actually the defender of Family Night.
References
- ^ Company website, accessed January 12, 2007
- ^ a b "Obituaries: Bill Larson, 73, founder of Round Table chain of pizza parlors", Los Angeles Times, November 21, 2006, page B8
- ^ a b c Company website, accessed January 12, 2007
- ^ FoodBizJobs.com, accessed January 12, 2007
- ^ a b Company website, accessed January 12, 2007
- ^ Company website, accessed January 12, 2007
- ^ PuppetVision Blog, March 16, 2005, accessed January 12, 2007
- ^ Hungry peasants bow down to Pizza Knight, September 13, 2007, accessed May 1, 2008