After wanting to start their own stores, Chris Barro, general manager and vice president of Barro’s Pizza Texas; his mother, Regina Barro; and sister Kylee Laird decided Arizona was too “packed” with the family’s 49 locations and determined Texas was a prime spot to introduce the pizza eatery.
Chris said he was attracted to McKinney because of the community aspect aligning with Barro’s Pizza’s charitable values. In Arizona, the restaurant works with St. Mary’s Food Bank and the Arizona Cancer Foundation for Children. Barro’s has raised over $2 million to help diminish the number of Arizonans battling hunger during the holidays, according to its website.The family-owned pizzeria is set to expand its Texas branch to at least five locations in the Dallas area, Chris said.
The Texas location offers generally the same dishes as its Arizona counterpart, with the restaurant featuring classic specialty pizzas, such as the Mega Meat, which is Barro’s version of a meat lover; namesake staple Barro’s special, which is the restaurant’s supreme pizza; and additional items, such as wings and specialty desserts. “With being under the same LLC as the rest of my family in Arizona, we have a little bit of leeway to kind of add and try new things,” Chris said. “We have different desserts here that Arizona doesn’t have.”
The restaurant does not offer delivery service due to concerns with staffing drivers after struggling in Arizona with that issue, but restaurant staff have partnered with third-party services, such as DoorDash and UberEats. However, Chris said the restaurant is thriving under just dine-in and takeout services.In honor of Doran Barro, the matriarch of the Barro family, the restaurant follows in the company’s steps in giving back to the community by partnering with local parent-teacher organizations and associations.
“We do fundraisers for the PTOs,” Chris said. “We create a flyer for them, and then all the business that they bring in on a specific day, we will cut a check for the PTO for 20% that they bring in.”Barro’s Pizza also gives a 50% discount to uniformed police officers and first responders.
Restaurant staff work on providing a new experience, introducing new toppings, such as red onions, ricotta and more, garnering close to 30 toppings, Chris said. Staff is also receptive to guests’ feedback, offering online contact submissions.
“We get here about two to three hours before we open,” Chris said. “We do the extra prepping and everything, but I feel like in the long run it benefits us, because it gives us a good, fresh everyday kind of feel.”
Barro’s Pizza
2730 S. Central Expressway, McKinney
469-625-2898
www.barrospizza.com
Hours: Sun.-Thu. 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m.
