Craveworthy to Buy Papa Gino’s Parent in Its Biggest Deal Yet

By Olivia Hart

Craveworthy Brands has signed a definitive agreement to acquire New England Authentic Eats LLC (NEAE), the Massachusetts-based parent company of Papa Gino’s Pizzeria, in its largest acquisition to date. The undisclosed deal is expected to close by Dec. 31 and would push the Chicago-based portfolio company north of $550 million.

Founded by Gregg Majewski in 2022, Craveworthy plans to add its Wing It On concept to existing Papa Gino’s locations after closing, turning them into co-branded units. Wing It On, acquired in early 2023, would grow from nearly 50 stores to about 145, making it Craveworthy’s largest overall brand. Majewski also said the company will trim brands in the coming weeks but did not identify them.

What does this change for Papa Gino’s?

The immediate change is a second concept inside an existing restaurant, rather than a new build. Papa Gino’s locations have more space than the Fresh Brothers test units and already include equipment such as hoods, reducing the physical work required to add wings.

Existing co-branded locations have added nearly 25% to sales, Majewski said. At Papa Gino’s, he estimates the wing business could add $250,000 to $600,000 a year to an existing restaurant.

“Box economics are so tough right now, so adding two brands that complement each other allow us to be more profitable,” Majewski said. In smaller Fresh Brothers and Wing It On test units, Craveworthy is on pace to add $100,000 to $150,000.

For Papa Gino’s, Majewski expects a similar tailwind because pizza and wings are a strong combination. He also believes Wing It On’s wings are a better product than the current Papa Gino’s offering.

At the corporate level, shared services are expected to reduce overhead across a larger company. “With the shared services of a company that size, we’ll be able to be between $20 million and $30 million of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization) in the next 12 months,” he said.

Majewski expects general and administrative cuts across the board. The effect, he said, would move Craveworthy from making money without abundant cash to generating excess cash flow.

Papa Gino’s ended 2025 with 70 locations, all in New England, and nearly $50 million in sales, according to Technomic. Sales fell 9.5% from the prior year.

Founded in East Boston, Massachusetts, in 1961, Papa Gino’s parent PGHC Holdings filed for bankruptcy in 2018, forcing dozens of closures. About a year later, a court approved the brand’s sale to private-equity firm Wynnchurch Capital for $20 million.

Majewski said the post-bankruptcy restructuring left a cleaner slate than any brand he has taken over. Papa Gino’s had already shed poorly performing stores and had performed since the sale, reducing the need for Craveworthy to repeat that pruning.

Fresh Brothers finished 2025 with 21 locations in California, Florida and Michigan, generating $35.4 million in sales. Craveworthy acquired the brand in 2024 and sees no conflict with Papa Gino’s because the chains have different market plays; it plans to expand Fresh Brothers aggressively, including through Wing It On co-branding.

Scale, expansion and capital

The Papa Gino’s transaction would put Craveworthy above $550 million and advance Majewski’s goal of becoming a $1 billion business in roughly three years. He frames the deal as a faster route to profitability, cash for growth and additional acquisitions.

Majewski believes the combined Papa Gino’s and Wing It On brand could support 75 new locations within a 120-mile radius of current stores. His stated acquisition pace is one deal every six to nine months over the next four years, a target that will require more due diligence as transactions grow larger.

Craveworthy received significant capital to complete the purchase, though Majewski disclosed no further details. He called this the most Craveworthy had ever paid for a brand, despite the absence of a published purchase price.

Craveworthy’s other named portfolio concepts include:

• Big Chicken
• Taim
• Gregory’s Coffee
• Sigri
• Dirty Dough
• Taffer’s Tavern
• Genghis Grill

The deal advisers were:

• Keel Merchant Bank and its affiliate Keel Advisory served as Craveworthy’s exclusive financial adviser; Akerman LLP served as legal counsel.
• Harrington Park Advisors served as NEAE’s exclusive financial adviser; Vedder served as legal counsel.

The next test is whether co-brand sales and shared-services savings arrive quickly enough to fund Craveworthy’s acquisition pace. Majewski’s forecast calls for $20 million to $30 million in EBITDA within 12 months, while the company targets $1 billion in roughly three years.