MANCHESTER, N.H. – Manchester Ink Link’s first-ever Pizza Madness Tournament has concluded and the Pizza Man Bar and Grill of East Industrial Park Drive has emerged as the champion.
In an official announcement by Manchester Economic Development Office Business Liaison Erik Lesniak and Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, Pizza Man defeated Fotia’s of South Willow Street, 5,717 to 5,142. That figure came after duplicate and anonymous votes were analyzed, with Pizza Man also defeating Fotia’s in the initial count: 6,071 to 5,430.
Pizza Man shut out the Hanover Street Hannaford in the first round, and then took down Crown Tavern, 900 Degrees Neapolitan Pizza, Elm House of Pizza, and Souvlaki en route to the finals. In all but the first one of those contests, Pizza Man was not the favorite.
“I didn’t think we’d get this far, honestly,” said Pizza Man Co-Owner Tim Gosselin. “Plenty of customers seem to love us and they all did their part.”
The final round remained close until polls closed on Thursday, with Fotia’s holding the lead as late as Tuesday. Despite the loss, Fotia’s Owner Tommy Katsiantonis stated that during the final round, pizza sales were up by 60 percent. Katsiantonis also saw an increased interest from customers throughout the tournament, as many actually learned from the contest that they served pizza along with their array of Greek cuisine.
“(The Tournament) was a very good idea, what (Manchester Ink Link) did helped every restaurant increase pizza sales,” he said. “There were a lot of people coming out to try our pizza just from what they had heard. I congratulate Pizza Man and I hope we do this again.”
