Roger Brown - Revision history

Jacques: Add the 1992 profile from the newspaper research recorded in the database

2026-10-23T21:18:11Z

Add the 1992 profile from the newspaper research recorded in the database

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:18, 23 October 2026
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	==Trivia==		==Trivia==
			* In a 1992 profile he said he ate a slice of pizza about twice a week and, because of his cholesterol, had moved from sausage toward vegetarian and plain cheese. He wanted to add ribs to the menu: "Every pizzeria in Chicago serves ribs and I don't know why"<ref name="wsj-1992-02-27-p39" />.
	* He credits his wife, Patricia Charley, with creating Rocky Rococo's sausage<ref name="wsj-2024-12-27-pA1" />.		* He credits his wife, Patricia Charley, with creating Rocky Rococo's sausage<ref name="wsj-2024-12-27-pA1" />.
	* His son, Sam Brown, ran the Regent Street restaurant in 2018<ref name="wsj-2018-04-15-pE5">Kalk Derby, S. (2018, April 15). [https://madison.com/wsj/entertainment/dining/restaurants/rocky-rococo-leaves-east-washington-after-almost-40-years/article_e5333f46-415c-532f-92f5-01b7a3595302.html "Rocky Rococo leaves East Washington."] ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. E5. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/420480646/ 420480646].</ref>.		* His son, Sam Brown, ran the Regent Street restaurant in 2018<ref name="wsj-2018-04-15-pE5">Kalk Derby, S. (2018, April 15). [https://madison.com/wsj/entertainment/dining/restaurants/rocky-rococo-leaves-east-washington-after-almost-40-years/article_e5333f46-415c-532f-92f5-01b7a3595302.html "Rocky Rococo leaves East Washington."] ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. E5. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/420480646/ 420480646].</ref>.

Jacques: Site renamed from Pizzapedia to Madison Pizza Wiki

2026-10-20T01:37:23Z

Site renamed from Pizzapedia to Madison Pizza Wiki

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:37, 20 October 2026
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	==See also==		==See also==
	* [[Item:Q523\|Roger Brown in the ~~Pizzapedia~~ database]]		* [[Item:Q523\|Roger Brown in the Madison Pizza Wiki database]]

	==Notes==		==Notes==

Jacques: New article from the newspaper research recorded in the database

2026-09-29T22:12:55Z

New article from the newspaper research recorded in the database

New page

'''Roger Brown''' is the co-founder, with [[Wayne Mosley]], of [[Rocky Rococo]].

Brown grew up in the Chicago area. As a student at the University of Illinois he worked at Garcia's Pizza in a Pan in Champaign, which sold pizza by the slice, and the idea for Rocky Rococo came from that experience<ref name="wsj-1988-01-14-p13">Riddle, J. (1988, January 14). "Rocky Rococo founders reached their initial goal." ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. 13. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/400698893/ 400698893].</ref><ref name="wsj-2024-12-27-pA1">Kalk Derby, S. (2024, December 27). [https://madison.com/life-entertainment/local/food-drink/article_ada95988-b403-11ef-9f24-97aeb921c0f2.html "Roger Brown sells his last restaurant after co-founding the company in 1974."] ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. A1, A6. Newspapers.com images [https://www.newspapers.com/image/1153404253/ 1153404253], [https://www.newspapers.com/image/1153404263/ 1153404263].</ref>. He and Mosley opened the first restaurant at [[411 West Gilman Street|411 W. Gilman St.]] on April 4, 1974<ref name="wsj-1982-04-04-p32">Martin, C. (1982, April 4). "Through pizza's thick and thin, Rocky Rococo Corp. pans out." ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. 32. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/404415972/ 404415972].</ref>.

In January 1988 the two sold their 70 percent of the company and kept the restaurants in Madison and La Crosse<ref name="wsj-1988-01-14-p1">Riddle, J. (1988, January 14). Founders sell their stake in Rocky Rococo (front page). ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. 1. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/400698733/ 400698733].</ref>, which they ran as franchisees under the name First Madco. Brown said of the change that it "got Wayne and I back to what we do best, which is run restaurant operations"<ref name="wsj-1992-02-27-p39">Riddle, J. (1992, February 27). "A big slice of success." ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. 39–40. Newspapers.com images [https://www.newspapers.com/image/405799415/ 405799415], [https://www.newspapers.com/image/405799421/ 405799421].</ref>.

From about 2022 Brown sold his restaurants to longtime managers. He sold the last, at [[1618 West Beltline Highway|1618 W. Beltline Hwy.]], on December 20, 2024, at the age of 77<ref name="wsj-2024-12-27-pA1" />.

==Trivia==
* He credits his wife, Patricia Charley, with creating Rocky Rococo's sausage<ref name="wsj-2024-12-27-pA1" />.
* His son, Sam Brown, ran the Regent Street restaurant in 2018<ref name="wsj-2018-04-15-pE5">Kalk Derby, S. (2018, April 15). [https://madison.com/wsj/entertainment/dining/restaurants/rocky-rococo-leaves-east-washington-after-almost-40-years/article_e5333f46-415c-532f-92f5-01b7a3595302.html "Rocky Rococo leaves East Washington."] ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. E5. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/420480646/ 420480646].</ref>.
* He was no relation to the Browns of Brown's Restaurant, whose building became the first Rocky Rococo<ref name="ct-1974-03-16-p9">LaBrasca, R. (1974, March 16). "Brown's Restaurant to Close Doors On 36 Years of Good Home Cookin'." ''The Capital Times''. p. 9. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/521389573/ 521389573].</ref>.
* "The fact is, we were not hippies and we are not billionaires"<ref name="wsj-1988-01-14-p13" />.
* His goal in 1974 was a chain of restaurants with sales of more than $10 million<ref name="wsj-1988-01-14-p13" />.

==See also==
* [[Item:Q523|Roger Brown in the Pizzapedia database]]

==Notes==
<references />

[[Category:People]]