What’s in a name? For Bruce Bertucci, co-owner of Bertucci’s Restaurant Inc. in Highwood, and his partners, Mark Loeb of Libertyville and Bill Bodnarchuk of Arlington Heights, the answer comes with a dollar sign in front of it.
The owners recently gave up the rights to the name of their upscale Italian restaurant, now in its fifth year, deciding they would rather switch than fight the Bertucci’s Inc. pizza chain, based in Wakefield, Mass.
The chain opened Bertucci’s Brick Oven Pizzeria in Glenview in mid-June.
Contacted at home in Highwood about the deal, Bertucci said, “We were the little guy. They’re the big guy. So the big guy won. But we’re not unhappy.”
Bertucci wouldn’t say how much it took to make him and his partners happy, but he added, “They made us a handsome offer.”
The name Pappagallo’s will replace Bertucci’s above the doors at 246 Green Bay Rd. on or about Sept. 6. Pappagallo’s (the Italian word for parrot) was chosen from 3,000 customer suggestions in a contest that began last March.