Glass Nickel Pizza

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Revision as of 03:37, 22 October 2026 by Jacques (talk | contribs) (Add the 2005–2009 years from the newspaper research recorded in the database; earlier text kept)

Glass Nickel Pizza Co. has been serving pizza to Madison since November 1997[1]. It was founded by Brian Glassel and Tim Nicholson, and the name is a combination of their last names[2]. All of its restaurants are in Wisconsin and are owned and run by former employees[2].

History

Glassel and Nicholson met while working at Pizza Extreme. Glassel had owned Royal Pizza in Scranton, Pennsylvania, before moving to Madison about 1996. Between them they had worked in 25 pizza places[1].

They opened on Tuesday, November 4, 1997, at 2049 Atwood Ave., for takeout and delivery only[1]. They had been turned down for several other spaces; the developer Joe Krupp "was the only person who would agree to lease to a startup local pizza place at the time"[2]. In August 1999 readers of Isthmus voted it the best pizza and the best delivery in Madison. It then had 36 workers[3].

A second store, on the west side at Whitney Way and University Avenue, was due to open on October 1, 1999. It was owned by Tim Archer and Neil Spath, who had both worked at Glass Nickel since it opened. "Franchises are not awarded to strangers", Glassel said[3]. A store in Fitchburg was open by July 2001[4]. The company dates its Sun Prairie restaurant to 2004[5].

The original store moved a mile east to 2916 Atwood Ave. in 2001, at first for carryout and delivery only[2]. A dining room with a waiter and two bars opened there about September 2002, in what had been a saloon "for as long as anyone can remember"[6]. In January 2024 the restaurant expanded into the former laundromat next door; the building is also the headquarters for the nine franchises[2].

By September 2005 there were five locations, and the trade magazine Pizza Today counted the Atwood Avenue store among the busiest in the country: it had 20 drivers, 12 to 15 of them out on a Saturday night, and had been robbed three times in eight years[7]. On Super Bowl Sunday 2005 Tim Nicholson delivered in his Mini Cooper, with the drivers raised from 10 to 12 for 55 to 60 deliveries an hour at the peak; Packer weekends, Rhythm and Booms and December 23 were bigger days[8]. In September 2008 the company, then with seven restaurants and Nicholson as president, raised prices 5 percent rather than buy cheaper ingredients, and put a $21,000 solar water heater and LED lighting into the main store[9]; by 2009 its delivery trucks ran partly on used vegetable oil[10].

The downtown Sun Prairie restaurant, at 101 W. Main St., was destroyed in the gas explosion of July 10, 2018[11]. It reopened in a temporary location at 815 W. Main St.[12] and is now at 410 E. Main St.[5] The franchisee, Adam Bougie, ran the temporary store for carryout and delivery only for three years; he put off the new building at first because of COVID-19, and said the temporary store "was set up to withstand the pandemic". The new "Bougie Building" has room for about 150 diners and nine apartments above[13]. In the first weeks of the 2020 shutdown Glass Nickel's delivery volume held about level; it stopped taking cash and set rules for no-contact delivery[14].

In August 2026 the west side store announced that it would move to Allen Boulevard in Middleton, probably in 2027, because its building is part of an apartment redevelopment[15].

Pizza

  • At the opening there were 30 toppings and five specialty pizzas, among them the Feta-licious (spinach, red onion, tomato, mushroom, feta and three other cheeses) and La Fiesta (salsa and refried bean sauce with red peppers, corn, bacon, red onions and cheddar). The dough was made in the store, with a new variety tried each week[1].
  • By 2002 there were more than 40 toppings. The reviewer described the crust as "middling thick, not a meager wafer nor a doughy sponge"[6].
  • The Feta-Licious was the best seller of the 16 specialty pizzas in 2005[7]. A student guide in 2009 named the Fetalicious, the all-meat Cardiac Arrest and the spicy Border-to-Border as the signatures, with Nickel Nuggets (fried pizza dough with Parmesan and marinara) to start[10]. The Cheesasaurus was the pizza a Capital Times reviewer said she would take over a correct Neapolitan "any day" in 2007[16].
  • The Fetalicious was still "one of the franchise's most popular pies" in 2016. The cheese is a house blend: mostly mozzarella, a little provolone and less cheddar[17].
  • The Phoenix (chipotle alfredo sauce, blackened chicken, roasted red peppers, banana peppers and roasted garlic) was created by co-owner Katie Bracey for the reopening of the west side store after its fire[17].

Pizza (seasonal)

  • Glass Nickel's Thanksgiving-season pizza is the Green Gobbler[18].

Trivia

  • The Fetalicious won the Capital Times' poll for the area's best pizza in November 2013, with 24 percent of 2,716 votes[19][20].
  • In 2014 the Atwood Avenue flagship sold about 600 pizzas a day; the chain then had nine locations, and had 16 drivers out on Super Bowl Sunday[21]. The Monkey Business Institute improv troupe performed weekly at the Atwood store in the early 2010s[22].
  • The partners had written down 900 possible names when a relative, Glassel's aunt, suggested Glass Nickel[1][2].
  • In August 1999 Glass Nickel took over the former Rozino's pizza truck, which sold pizza on Langdon Street late at night. An employee owned the truck and bought the pizza from Glass Nickel to resell[3].
  • The basement bar at 2916 Atwood Ave. was called the Dime Store[6].
  • A fire on February 12, 2016, did about half a million dollars of damage to the west side store. It was probably started by greasy kitchen rags in a dryer. The store reopened on June 1, 2016, with the staff in phoenix T-shirts[17][23]. Its insurance claim came to about $700,000; the store had been there since 1999[24].
  • There was an attempted armed robbery at the Fitchburg store on July 3, 2001[4], and an employee leaving it was robbed at gunpoint on July 19, 2007[25].
  • Bad checks cost the company about $2,000 a month in 2005[7].
  • Three days after opening in 1997, the founders hired their first employee, who in 2024 was one of the two general managers of the east side restaurant[2].

Locations

In the Madison area:

In September 2026 the company's website also listed restaurants in Appleton, Brookfield, Green Bay, Neenah-Menasha, Waukesha and Rib Mountain (Wausau).

Former Locations

  • 2049 Atwood Ave. (November 4, 1997, to 2001).
  • 101 W. Main St., Sun Prairie (to July 10, 2018). A plan announced in January 2000 had been for a store at 1260 W. Main St.[28]
  • 815 W. Main St., Sun Prairie (temporary; open in August 2019[12]).

External links

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 (1997, November 8). Cheap Eats news: Glass Nickel Pizza Company opens. The Capital Times. p. 41. Newspapers.com image 522191880.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Kalk Derby, S. (2024, January 14). "'Quite a project' for Glass Nickel." Wisconsin State Journal. p. A3–A4. Newspapers.com images 1031340937, 1031340962.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Kalk, S. (1999, August 26). Sal's listed for sale; Glass Nickel expands to west side. Wisconsin State Journal. p. 61. Newspapers.com images 402056959, 522664495.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 (2001, July 5). Attempted armed robbery at Glass Nickel, 3191 Muir Field Rd. Wisconsin State Journal. p. 3. Newspapers.com image 407417144.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Glass Nickel Pizza Co. location page: Sun Prairie. glassnickelpizza.com. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Martell, C. (2002, October 14). "Glass Nickel opens sit-down pizza place." Wisconsin State Journal. p. 23. Newspapers.com image 407656609.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Evans, G. (2005, September 15). "Glass Nickel delivers tasty slice of life." madison.com.
  8. ↑ Kittner, G. (2005, February 7). "Super Bowl keeps him going in superdrive: the pizza delivery guy." madison.com.
  9. ↑ Michel, R. (2008, September 1). "Glass Nickel Pizza: will keep quality product." madison.com.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Luo, J. (2009, April 8). "A Bite of Madison: Glass Nickel Pizza Co." The Daily Cardinal.
  11. ↑ (2018, July 11). Sun Prairie gas explosion: fire engulfs The Barr House and Glass Nickel. Wisconsin State Journal. p. A1. Newspapers.com image 461399821.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 (2019, August 25). Glass Nickel Pizza advertisement listing 815 W. Main St., Sun Prairie. Wisconsin State Journal. p. A5. Newspapers.com image 597079708.
  13. ↑ Kalk Derby, S. (2021, November 1). "Post explosion: New Glass Nickel Pizza taking shape in Sun Prairie will be more 'bougie'." madison.com.
  14. ↑ Rickert, C. (2020, March 28). "Quintessential American delivery: Pizzerias adjust, hope to ride out COVID-19 pandemic." madison.com.
  15. ↑ (2026, August 21). "Not moving far." Wisconsin State Journal. p. A1, A5.
  16. ↑ Kalk Derby, S. (2007, August 2). "Cafe Porta Alba may be too correct for its own good." madison.com.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Christians, L. (2016, July 6). "The new Phoenix pizza celebrates west side Glass Nickel's rise from the fire." The Capital Times. p. 32. Newspapers.com image 521037659.
  18. ↑ Lay, C. (2018, November 22). "Let's Eat: Give thanks for Ian's Pizza's tasty turkey-and-stuffing stunt slice." madison.com.
  19. ↑ (2013, November 17). "Poll on Madison area's best pizza launches week's most-read items." madison.com.
  20. ↑ (2013, November 20). Best-pizza poll photo page: Porta Alba's Alpina, Greenbush Bar, Glass Nickel's Fetalicious, Grampa's Barberini, Paisan's Super Hot and Salvatore's Fig and Bacon. The Capital Times. p. 13. Newspapers.com image 520984544.
  21. ↑ Adams, B. (2014, January 31). "Local pizza also shines on Super Bowl Sunday." madison.com.
  22. ↑ (2010, December 30). Glass Nickel advertisement: "Award Winning Pizza since 1997", 2916 Atwood Ave. The Capital Times. p. 3. Newspapers.com image 522525046.
  23. ↑ Christians, L. (2016, June 27). "The new Phoenix pizza celebrates west side Glass Nickel's rise from the fire." madison.com.
  24. ↑ Christians, L. (2018, August 8). "After disaster: When a restaurant suffers a catastrophe, the road to recovery is complicated and public." madison.com.
  25. ↑ (2007, July 20). "Police looking for Glass Nickel robber." madison.com.
  26. ↑ (2026, May 26). City of Madison licence list, May 2026. Wisconsin State Journal. p. B9.
  27. ↑ Glass Nickel Pizza Co. location page: Fitchburg. glassnickelpizza.com. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
  28. ↑ (2000, January 19). Sun Prairie News: Glass Nickel plans a Sun Prairie store. Wisconsin State Journal. p. 47. Newspapers.com image 397352946.
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