Godfather's Pizza is an American privately owned

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

chain headquartered in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...

, that operates

fast casual A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate conc ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

franchises Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television ...

and Pizza Express locations.

History

Godfather's Pizza was founded in

, in 1973. Willy Theisen bought out the pizza parlor and the name in 1974 from Gregg Johnson (who later started the Minsky's Pizza restaurants), and sold his first franchise. Theisen sold the company to Pillsbury in 1985 and stepped down from actively managing the company. In 1986, Pillsbury named

Herman Cain Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's d ...

CEO and president of the brand. Cain and Ronald B. Gartlan, the company's executive vice president, led a group to purchase the Godfather's brand from Pillsbury, which they did by the beginning of 1990 in a

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...

for what was reported to be $100 million. It was reported to be the fifth largest pizza chain in the United States at the time, down from third place in 1985. About this time, many Godfather's locations in the St. Louis area were bought out by Pantera's Pizza. Under Cain's leadership, Godfather's closed approximately 200 restaurants and eliminated several thousand jobs, and by doing so returned to profitability. Cain stepped down from his position as CEO and president in 1996 and Gartlan became CEO. Cain stayed on as chairman until 2002. In 2009 Gartlan bought out Cain. According to the company's official website, as of August 2016, the chain had 453 locations in the U.S. Godfather's Pizza also operates in some Speedway locations, as well as most Minit Mart locations in Kentucky and northern

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

, as of 2007.

Spokesman

Godfather's Pizza is known for its commercials featuring "The Godfather", whose likeness is a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of Don Fanucci, from the 1974 film ''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is partially based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. ''Part II'' s ...

'', though some sources compare the role to that of Don Vito Corleone of 1972's ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...

''. "The Godfather" has been played by two Omaha actors, the first being J. William Koll, who typically wore a white fedora hat, a pin stripe suit, and a flower on his jacket. Dale O'Brien has been the Godfather's Pizza spokesman since about 2000.

References

External links

Godfather's Pizza
{{Pizza chains Italian-American culture in Nebraska Restaurants established in 1973 Pizza chains of the United States Companies based in Omaha, Nebraska Restaurants in Omaha, Nebraska Restaurant chains in the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Buffet restaurants Herman Cain 1973 establishments in Nebraska

History

Menu

Spokesman

See also

References

External links