Little Caesars was founded in 1959 by Mike and Marian Ilitch in Garden City, Michigan.
The Ilitches opened their first restaurant, initially called Little Caesar’s Pizza Treat, in a suburban Detroit shopping center. Mike Ilitch had worked in restaurants before entering the pizza business with Marian, whom he married in 1955.
The company grew through a combination of company-owned and franchised locations. Its later reputation was strongly connected to value-oriented pizza offerings, including the Hot-N-Ready model that allowed customers to pick up selected pizzas without ordering in advance.
Little Caesars is sometimes confused with Domino’s because both originated in Michigan and became major national pizza chains. Domino’s began in Ypsilanti in 1960, while Little Caesars began one year earlier in Garden City.