What you don't know about Giordano's

This article was originally published on Feb. 3, 2015, when Giordano's opened its first Indianapolis restaurant. The pizzeria has now announced plans for a Downtown location.

Giordano's new Indy location near The Fashion Mall at Keystone has been quietly serving the public since Jan. 27. Staff wanted to work out kinks before the Feb. 3 grand opening at 4110 E. 82nd St. at Rivers Edge shopping center, near Nordstrom Rack.

Even without advertising that Giordano's was open for business, the place was busy. How busy? Take a look at the load facing Giordano's kitchens here and elsewhere. The company operates 46 pizzerias in and around Chicago and three in Florida. A downtown Indy restaurant is scheduled to open within a year, CEO Yorgo Koutsogiorgas said.

Cheese heads

Giordano's goes through 11,219 pounds of cheese per day, on average. That's more than 5½ tons. Mozzarella cheese comes from Wisconsin, Koutsogiorgas said.

That's a lot of sauce

Giordano's pizzas and pastas require an average of 326,500 gallons of fresh tomato sauce per year. Sauce is made at central commissary and delivered to restaurants as many days a week as is required by demand, Koutsogiorgas said.

Sending the love

Giordano's ships about 96,000 pizzas across the United States each year. Most of those pizzas land in Ohio. Have a honey who loves the deep-dish, stuffed pies? Heart-shaped pizzas are available for dine-in, carryout and delivery Feb. 11-15. Order them online for shipping nationwide now. Place orders by Feb. 11 to ensure delivery by Feb. 14.

Founders came from where?

Brothers Efren and Joseph Boglio opened the first Giordano's in 1974. They came to the United States not from Italy but from Argentina. The pair claimed to be born near Turin Italy. Their mother was known around town for her savory, deep-dish Easter pies, known as scarciedda. Some Italian Americans know a similar Easter pie named pizza gane, which is made without tomato sauce.

Imitation=flattery

The Boglio brothers idea apparently led to two other enduring Chicago pizza shops. Chicago Eater reported in May 2012 that soon after the pair opened the first Giordano's, they tried to expand the business by inviting Edward Jacobson and Dan Bacin into a partnership. When things didn't work out, Jacobson opened Edwardo's and Bacin launched Bacino's.

Call Liz Biro at (317) 444-6264. Follow her on Twitter @lizbiro, Instragram @lizbirodish and Facebook. Email her at liz.biro@indystar.com.