A Midwest chain serving up various styles of pizza, subs, wings and more has firmly settled in Cape Coral.

East of Chicago Pizza now has three different locations throughout the Cape, with the first spot opening in 2023, a second in June of ’23 and most recently, a South Cape location welcoming patrons this past January.

Partners Barry Goettenmoeller and Ted Horstman have brought East of Chicago Pizza to spots along Santa Barbara Boulevard, off of Pine Island Road and now off of Southeast 47th Terrace. The Ohio natives both have ties to the national franchise, including a close relationship with its founder.

Goettenmoeller said the idea to bring a slice of home and “pizza done right” to the Cape has been rolling in the dough for a decade.

“We kind of said if it ever happened — East of Chicago has never been in Florida — it’ll be us,” Goettenmoeller said. “We set out about 2 1/2,/3 years ago to set out and do this, and we found some space and decided to do three of them.”

Goettenmoeller, being a real estate broker, wanted to “blanket” the Cape, choosing three sections of the city to serve.

“It’s been great,” Goettenmoeller said of how business has been in the short time of operation. “The response from the community has been amazing. Clearly, Ted and I are pizza lovers, but it’s more than that. We’ve been in this community for more than 20 years, and we’re both heavily involved in the community and want to give back.”

As many Floridian transplants have experienced, finding a pizza pie up to standard is not always the easiest task in the Sunshine State, though things are getting better.

East of Chicago offers six different crust styles (pan, thin, crispy, square, loaded crust and “Authentic Chicago Style”), with fresh ingredients daily. They even offer a cauliflower crust to help meet an individual’s dietary restrictions.

“Finding good pizza down here has been a challenge over the years,” Goettenmoeller said. “We have a great product, and our consistency is awesome. If you haven’t heard of East of Chicago Pizza, you will soon.”

What is really the key though, Goettenmoeller said, is the water.

“The water in South Florida is a challenge,” he said. “So we’ve put a lot into our water filtration to get that right.

“And what I would say is the quality of our ingredients is what separates us. And the process. Again, part of that is the water filtration to make the right dough. You have to have the right stuff. It all starts with water. And we cut all of our fresh vegetables daily. We make dough every morning. We also have an extensive menu of oven baked wings and subs.”

If you’re not in the mood to build-your-own pie or delve into a specialty pizza, East of Chicago has you covered. They offer no-crusts pizza bowls, six different salad options, a myriad of submarine sandwich choices, unique appetizer-style bites and eight different wing styles from plain to hot.

The new-to-Florida venture has already been involved in community events such as the city’s Bike Night, with plans to be a vendor at various events moving forward.

The partners are also excited to bring the franchise to a fast-growing city like Cape Coral.

“Ted and I, and our families, have been here for so many years. We call the Cape home,” Goettenmoeller said. “We’ve been involved in the community and charitable events over the years, and we hope to continue that. We’re especially excited about our South Cape location.”

The East of Chicago Pizza locations at 1306 Santa Barbara Blvd., Suite 7, and 1260 N.E. 8th St., Suite 8, are for delivery and carry-out. The newest location in the South Cape at 4706 S.E. 9th Place is equipped with indoor seating.

For more information, a full menu and to even place an order, visit eastofchicago.com.