First published in the Aug. 11 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
By Gavin J. Quinton
Outlook Valley Sun
For 41 years, Georgee’s Pizza was an LCF staple — a family-run venue with good eats and a warm atmosphere.
Last week, Fresh Brothers officially took the mantle from Georgee’s and moved into the same location on Foothill Boulevard.
Fresh Brothers held a grand opening event last Friday, where the restaurant gave out coupons for free pizzas and offered customers the opportunity to spin a wheel for a chance at winning a variety of prizes.
Scott Goldberg, founder of the Fresh Brothers restaurant chain, started his career in the pizza business as a high-schooler in Chicago. While working at a local pizzeria in 1985, he learned that the store’s owner planned to close-up shop. Using his college tuition money, he purchased the restaurant and opened Miller’s Pizza Co.
“My dad had a friend on the south side of Chicago who had some really good pizza recipes. I took his recipes, made them my own and grew a business that’s still there today 35 years later,” Goldberg said.
In 2008, Goldberg’s brother, Adam, decided to try out the Chicago-style recipes with a California twist, opening the first Fresh Brothers location in Manhattan Beach.
“My goal was that my brothers would open it up. I’d go back home and would be done with California. At store No. 9, I stayed,” Scott Goldberg said. Now, Fresh Brothers opened its 23rd California location — this one in La Cañada Flintridge. Not unlike the opening of the first Fresh Brothers location, Goldberg has the blessing of the location’s previous owner, George Jacobs, founder of Georgee’s Pizza.
Jacobs retired last year in Huntington Beach and was making some final touch-ups to the building before handing it off to Fresh Brothers for its grand opening event. He has worked closely with the restaurant’s team to get things ready for the store’s launch.
Jacobs still owns the building and chose to retire knowing that he was renting the location to another pizza restaurant that will provide a similar service to La Cañada residents.
“The reason I chose to pass things off to them is that they use very good, quality products. Even some of our ingredients are the same. It’s not Georgee’s, but it’s better than all of the other pizza places around,” Jacobs said.
He is now making pizzas on the deck of his home in Huntington Beach. He said, “If anyone wants George’s pizza, just stop by my house.”
Fresh Brothers makes an effort to “be an active part of the communities [we] reside in” by supporting and volunteering with local nonprofits.
“We came out to La Cañada because we felt it was an awesome community, and we found out really quickly that La Cañada is hometown USA,” Goldberg said. “We feel like we are going to get great support from the community, and we are going to support the community back. Our goal right now is to make sure that La Cañada receives good service,” he said.
