BEVERLY — Toppers Pizza pulled out of Beverly before anyone even had a chance to try its uniquely topped pies.
The Wisconsin-based chain is known for its pizza topped with macaroni and cheese, taco meat, Tater Tots and other oddities. Toppers Pizza was slated to open in the spring at 2347 W. 95th St. in Beverly.
Franchise operations director Mark Watt said Thursday that the Southwest Side restaurant is no longer in the works after a fallout with the franchisee.
"As it sits right now, that Beverly location is not going to happen," Watt said.
Franchisee Benjamin Tresidder had also planned to open a second Toppers Pizza location somewhere in the south Chicago market in 2016. Now, the chain is looking for a new franchisee interested in taking over the region, Watt said.
Toppers Pizza opened a restaurant in Wrigleyville on March 4. The chain known for pizza topped with French fried onions and sold with a free barbecue dipping sauce also debuted a store in Lincoln Park earlier this year.
Toppers Pizza was founded in 1991 in Champaign. The chain opened in 1993 in Whitewater, Wis., where it's now headquartered.
Roughly a third of the company's 67 stores are in Wisconsin. Toppers Pizza has a goal of having 500 stores by 2020. The pizza chain expects about a third of those stores to be corporate-owned while the remaining stores will be handed out to franchisees.
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