Ian’s Pizza Madison | State Street

Ownership

Ian Gurfield is the owner and namesake of Ian's Pizza, and Ian's Pizza Madison, Milwaukee, and Cedar Rapids locations are locally owned and operated. However, Ian's Pizza is described as a nation-wide coalition of independently owned, employee-led restaurants, indicating some locations may have different ownership structures beyond the founder.

Local Sourcing

Ian's serves regional favorites with locally-sourced ingredients, and their salads are packed with ingredients sourced from local farms. Their signature slices feature local, farm-raised meats, though some sourcing appears mixed rather than entirely local/regional.

Community Involvement

Ian's has donated thousands of pizzas and Free Slice Cards, and sponsored hundreds of events all around Dane County. The founder has donated pizza coupons toward sustainability projects and serves on the Board of Visitors for the Nelson Institute. Ian's collaborated with local chefs and representatives for food insecurity fundraisers.

Local Workforce

Reviews are mixed. The company pays industry leading wages and has a profit sharing program, and pay is very good with flexible hours and accessible management. However, some reviews cite bad pay at $11/hr for front-of-house and describe tip-dependent earnings, suggesting inconsistency across locations or positions.

Revenue Retention

Ian's Pizza has a combined revenue of $35 Million, but the company structure with independently-owned franchises in multiple states means revenue is distributed across locations. Without detailed financial breakdowns, it's unclear what percentage of Madison-specific revenue stays local versus flows to corporate operations.

Local Presence

Despite some local language ('locally owned and operated,' Madison references, farmer's market mentions), the site exhibits strong corporate signals: multi-location selector menu, franchise structure across three states, corporate careers portal, and templated boilerplate copy ('bring folks together'). The dominant navigation emphasizes Cedar Rapids/Milwaukee/Madison equally rather than focusing on the single State Street location.