Cottage Inn Pizza has become a staple restaurant in cities across Michigan and the Midwest. The pizza chain is known for its signature square deep dish pizzas loaded with toppings. Cottage Inn’s delicious pizzas, warm atmosphere, and small town charm have made it a beloved eatery for over 50 years. But where did this pizza empire begin? To find the origins of Cottage Inn Pizza, we have to go back to the very first restaurant in the small town of Mount Pleasant, MI.
The Beginning in Mount Pleasant
The very first Cottage Inn Pizza opened in Mount Pleasant, Michigan in 1959. The founder, Sandy McKay, was just a college student at Central Michigan University when he purchased an existing pizza shop near campus called The Pizza Shoppe. McKay decided to rename the business to Cottage Inn Pizza, drawing inspiration from the cozy, welcoming atmosphere he wanted to cultivate.
In these early days, Cottage Inn Pizza only had room for 12 customers at a time. All pizzas were baked in a small oven and served on paper plates. Despite its humble beginnings, the pizza was a hit in Mount Pleasant. Hungry college students kept coming back for the fresh, homemade pizzas loaded with cheese and toppings. From the start, McKay focused on using high-quality ingredients like vine-ripened tomatoes and real Wisconsin cheese to create pizzas with an incredible flavor.
Early Menu Items
While the menu at Cottage Inn Pizza has expanded greatly over the decades, many of the most popular items today were on the original menu:
| Pizza | Various sizes and toppings like pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, etc. |
| Breadsticks | Served with the signature Cottage Inn dipping sauce |
| Salads | Garden salads and chef salads were early favorites |
| Sub sandwiches | Cold subs served on freshly baked bread |
The ingredients were simple, but customers kept flocking in for the delicious flavors of Cottage Inn’s pizzas in Mount Pleasant.
Franchising Begins
By the late 1960s, Cottage Inn Pizza became so popular that McKay began to franchise the concept. This allowed for major expansion throughout Michigan over the next decade. The first Cottage Inn franchise location opened in Lansing, MI in 1968. As franchising took off, new Cottage Inn Pizza restaurants opened in cities like Flint, Jackson, Kalamazoo, and beyond.
Early Franchise Locations
| 1968 | Lansing, MI |
| 1969 | East Lansing, MI |
| 1972 | Flint, MI |
| 1973 | Jackson, MI |
| 1976 | Kalamazoo, MI |
By maintaining brand consistency while allowing entrepreneurs to buy into the franchise, Cottage Inn Pizza found the perfect formula for growth. Customers could enjoy the same original pizzas and cozy atmosphere whether they visited a franchised location or the original restaurant in Mount Pleasant.
Continued Growth and Innovation
Over the decades, Cottage Inn Pizza continued to expand while retaining its small-town charm and dedication to quality. The pizza chain grew strategically throughout Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio by identifying new communities that would appreciate its welcoming restaurants. By the 2000s, there were over 100 Cottage Inn Pizza locations across these Midwest states.
During this ongoing expansion, Cottage Inn Pizza also innovated with new menu items, developing favorites like its baked spaghetti, chicken wings, salads, and square deep dish Sicilian style pizzas. While the original pizzas remain as popular as ever, Cottage Inn has proven adept at adapting to customer tastes without sacrificing the quality of its original recipes.
Cottage Inn Pizza Today
Today, there are nearly 130 Cottage Inn Pizza restaurants, with most still located in Michigan where the brand originated. The company remains family-owned, now operated by the second and third generations of the McKay family. While many restaurant chains have changed hands or altered their recipes over the decades, Cottage Inn Pizza remains committed to its heritage.
The Original Cottage Inn Pizza
While Cottage Inn Pizza has rightfully expanded across Michigan, the original restaurant in Mount Pleasant holds a special place in the company’s history. It was recently renovated and updated, but still retains the same cozy atmosphere that Sandy McKay cultivated back in 1959. Located near the Central Michigan University campus at 316 S. Main Street in Mount Pleasant, this first Cottage Inn Pizza serves as an important reminder of the brand’s humble roots.
Visiting the original location allows customers to experience where it all began – from college students flocking to grab cheap, delicious pizzas between classes to families enjoying weekend dinners in a warm, inviting environment. More than 60 years later, the first Cottage Inn Pizza remains a Mount Pleasant institution.
Celebrating the Past
Cottage Inn takes great pride in celebrating its long, rich history. The corporate office lobby displays photos, old menus, uniforms, and other artifacts that trace the origins back to that small pizza shop in Mount Pleasant in 1959. Historic images also often decorate the walls at each franchised location. Keeping this history alive allows Cottage Inn Pizza to retain its unique identity even amid significant growth over the decades.
Conclusion
Cottage Inn Pizza has come a long way from its humble start as a small pizza shop near Central Michigan University’s campus. But the very first restaurant in Mount Pleasant will always have special significance as the birthplace of a popular Michigan pizza chain. That original location remains open today, serving as a reminder of Sandy McKay’s vision for a warm, welcoming pizzeria serving high-quality food. More than five decades later, Cottage Inn Pizza stays true to those roots. So the next time you grab a delicious square pizza or cheesy breadsticks from Cottage Inn, remember it all started in a tiny shop in Mount Pleasant, MI.