Papa Bello Enterprises is starting to franchise its Italian eatery chain in Maryland this month after moving its headquarters to Baltimore.
The restaurant chain, which touts pizza, calzones and pasta on its menu, is one of several companies eyeing Maryland as a new hot spot for pizza.
Maryland and the mid-Atlantic have been relatively insulated from the harsher impacts of the recession and looked like a prime region to expand franchising opportunities, Papa Bello officials said.
“It’s a multibillion-dollar industry,†said CEO Jim Price of the pizza market.