Operation Success
Drake’s Pizza (Hackensack, Pine River and Crosby, Minn)
Rob Walton, a Navy veteran, never set out to own a restaurant, let alone three bustling pizzerias in northern Minnesota. Just a few years ago, his “kitchen” was his own garage, where every Wednesday he cooked meals—everything from smoked brisket to liver and onions—for local veterans, entirely out of his own pocket.
“Word spread fast,” Rob recalls. “I’d ask the guys what they wanted, and I’d make it for them the next week. They encouraged me to open a restaurant.”
Those weekly dinners built a loyal following and inspired Rob to purchase and renovate a restaurant in Pine River, which is now the Damsite Supper Club. That venture soon sparked his interest in another business opportunity: pizza. In February, he opened Drake’s Pizza in Hackensack, followed by a second location in Pine River this summer, and a third in Crosby opening soon.
Each Drake’s location offers a small-town vibe with arcade games, a family-friendly atmosphere, and a menu featuring a wide variety of pizzas, wings, nachos, taco salads, and more. Popular pizzas like Hawaiian and Taco Pizza rotate as fan favorites along with a variety of specialty pies like Meat Raffle, Chicken Alfredo and Everything pizzas.
“It’s the kind of place I grew up with,” Rob says. “A small-town pizza joint where everybody hangs out.”
Named after Rob’s girlfriend’s young son Drake—who proudly calls himself one of the owners—the pizzeria’s mallard duck logo carries the slogan, “The hunt for great pizza ends here.” The Pine River location even boasts a themed “duck blind” party room with a hunting mural, duck boat, and fog machine.
While the concept may be nostalgic, the operation behind Drake’s Pizza is anything but old-school. Rob knew scaling multiple restaurants quickly would require consistency and efficiency, especially in kitchens with a smaller footprint of approximately 600 square feet. That’s where his partnership with Sysco and General Mills Foodservice came in.
