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Stuffed crust pizza — or pepperoni stuffed crust pizza, if you’re really getting wild — is the stuff dreams are made of. Seemingly endless cheese tucked away into a perfectly puffed-up crust is the perfect way to keep your tastebuds happy as you come to the end of a slice of pizza. It’s hard to imagine that such a wonderful culinary creation was ever the source of a $1 billion lawsuit — but it was.
In 1987, a man named Anthony Mongiello — now the CEO of Formaggio Cheese — developed the stuffed crust pizza. He got the idea to create stuffed crust pizza in 1982, when he attempted to make pizza dough for his girlfriend’s mother. He used more dough than he should have, and ended up with a seriously puffy crust, which gave him the idea of stuffing the crust. His father, who made a living creating cheese machines for the Italian cheese industry, encouraged him to apply for a patent, which he filed in 1984 and was granted in 1987.
He pitched his innovative pie to several major pizza chains. Pizza Hut was the only company that agreed to talk with him — and they rejected his idea — only to debut their own stuffed crust pizza less than a decade later in 1995. Recently, the drama of the stolen stuffed crust has gained notoriety, and was even the subject of a docudrama called “Stolen Dough.” On a February 2024 episode of “Brooklyn Magazine: The Podcast,” Mongiello shared the story of his claim that Pizza Hut stole his literally billion-dollar idea.
The saga continues: Anthony Mongiello shares his story
The feud between Anthony Mongiello and Pizza Hut started more than 30 years ago, so why is Mongiello talking about it now? When asked why he’s bringing media attention to his claims of a patent violation in the 1990s, Mongiello kept it simple: It’s about his legacy. “Being a young man that grew up in Brooklyn and in business now for over 32 years, I’m getting older,” Mongiello told the podcast. “When I tell somebody, ‘Hey guys, you know that product that you’ve probably seen on TV, or probably eaten, called stuffed crust pizza? Well, I’m the creator of that.’ And people look at me like I’m crazy.”
The year that Pizza Hut introduced stuffed crust pizza, its sales increased drastically (Pizza Hut says sales increased by $300 million, while Mongiello claims the increase was more than $600 million). In the lawsuit, Pizza Hut demanded a summary judgment — meaning Mongiello never got to tell his side of the story in front of a jury (in a summary judgment case, a single judge chooses the verdict).
He’s no longer after money from Pizza Hut — he says he’s not after money from anyone, actually. Mongiello simply wants the recognition he deserves. “Whether it’s Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Little Caesars, everybody’s making stuffed crust pizza. I just wanted my kids to be able to feel proud of what their dad did,” he said. Want to support Mongiello? Check out “Stolen Dough,” and spread the word on social media to share how a kid from Brooklyn — not a corporate giant — came up with what is still one of the most popular styles of pizza to this day.