<P> Before the 1940s, pizza consumption was limited mostly to Italian immigrants and their descendants . The international breakthrough came after World War II . Allied troops occupying Italy, weary of their rations, were constantly on the lookout for good food . They discovered the pizzeria and local bakers were hard - pressed to satisfy the demand from the soldiers . The American troops involved in the Italian campaign took their appreciation for the dish back home, touted by "veterans ranging from the lowliest private to Dwight D. Eisenhower". By the 1960s, it was popular enough to be featured in an episode of Popeye the Sailor . </P> <P> Two entrepreneurs, Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo, invented Chicago - style deep - dish pizza, in 1943 . They opened their own restaurant on the corner of Wabash and Ohio, Pizzeria Uno . </P> <P> Chain restaurants sprang up with pizza's popularity rising . Leading early pizza chains were Shakey's Pizza, founded in 1954 in Sacramento, California; Pizza Hut, founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas; and Josey's Pizza founded in Newnan, Georgia, in 1943 . Later entrant restaurant chains to the dine - in pizza market were Bertucci's, Happy Joe's, Monical's Pizza, California Pizza Kitchen, Godfather's Pizza, and Round Table Pizza . </P>

What was the first pizza chain in the us
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