Mr. Gatti's Pizza, formerly known as Gatti's Pizza and commonly shortened as Gatti's, is a Southern and Southeastern United States

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

buffet A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners serve themselves. A form of '' service à la française'', buffets are offered at various places including hotels, restaurants, and many social eve ...

chain. The corporate offices are in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

History

In 1964, retired

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

Lieutenant Colonel James R. Eure opened a pizza and hamburger restaurant in his hometown of

Stephenville, Texas Stephenville is a city in and the county seat of Erath County, Texas, United States. It sits on the North Bosque River, which rises nearby. Founded in 1854, it is home to Tarleton State University. Located in north-central Texas, Stephenville' ...

. He and his wife moved to

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

; and in 1969, he opened a pizza restaurant in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

under the name, "The Pizza Place." In order to identify themselves from the rest of the pizza places, Eure undertook a naming contest. Eure's wife's maiden name was Gatti, which soon won out over many other proposed names and The Pizza Place was renamed Mr. Gatti's Pizza. In 1974, Eure sold his chain of 18 Mr. Gatti's restaurants to a group of investors but held on to a few franchises. The investors worked with Eure in helping the company grow by establishing in Texas and many other states.Gatti's Pizza Handbook, Page 4. The chain has since changed hands a number of times. By the 1980s, Mr. Gatti's took on a more modern look by adding a

game room Game Room was a video game compilation developed by Krome Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Windows Phone 7. Launched on March 24, 2010, Game Room let players download classic video games and co ...

and a buffet bar into many of its restaurants. In the 1990s, Mr. Gatti's had expanded its game room concept (which at that time, the concept was titled "GattiLand") by adding more

arcade games An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade ...

and bumper cars into most of its newer restaurants, with an orange-canopy entrance to the game room saying "Welcome to GattiLand - Family Fun & Games". Notable locations using this modified concept are two locations in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor County, Texas, Taylor and Jones County, Texas, Jones counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan ar ...

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 11th ...

, and

Round Rock, Texas Round Rock is a city in Williamson and Travis County, Texas, United States, part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 according to the 2020 census. The city straddles the Balcones Escarpment, Texas State Histor ...

. In 1997, Mr. Gatti's created a new concept called "GattiTown". The first store to use this concept opened in the Oak Hill area of Austin that year. The restaurant's design was patterned after

Main Street, U.S.A. Main Street, USA is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, USA is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20th centu ...

, and was complete with a buffet, several dining and party rooms, and a ''Midway'' game room, which featured many arcade games plus a large carousel.

Turn of millennium

Some Gatti's Pizza locations are branded under the GattiTown name; these are based on the Family Entertainment Concept (FEC) with a larger physical footprint and a dedicated gaming and attraction based midway. In 2004, Blue Sage Capital bought the chain. Three years later in 2007, Blue Sage renamed Mr. Gatti's as Gatti's Pizza to reflect current trends. In 2011, Blue Sage announced that they would construct four new super-sized Gatti's restaurants based on their GattiTown model. The new locations were between 45,000 and 60,000 square feet. In addition, typical features included bumpers cars, go-karts, miniature golf, and miniature bowling. Those locations are based in

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city and the county seat of Pinellas County, Florida, United States, west of Tampa, Florida, Tampa and north of St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies T ...

;

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

;

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette ( , ) is the most populous city in and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Lafayette Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River (Louisiana), Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's List of municipaliti ...

;

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

; and

Sugar Land, Texas Sugar Land (sometimes incorrectly spelled as Sugarland) is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a po ...

. They were all expected to open by late 2011. In addition, two former Gatti's Pizza restaurants were scheduled for renovation into smaller-sized variants of the GattiTown model in Corbin and

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

. Completion of the renovations was expected by late 2014. In June 2015, Blue Sage sold Gatti's Pizza to Sovrano, LLC for an undisclosed amount with Michael Poates, president of Sovrano, being appointed president and CEO of Mr Gatti's. In February 2016, Sovrano, LLC renamed Gatti's Pizza back to Mr. Gatti's Pizza due to only 30% of Google searches using the rebranded "Gatti's Pizza's" moniker. In January 2019, Fort Worth-based Sovrano LLC, the owner of Mr. Gatti's Pizza, filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wh ...

in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, claiming liabilities of $10 million to $50 million. Approximately 70 locations in eight states remained in business, six months before the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

began. As of 2024, the Mr. Gatti's website lists 75 locations — 44 in Texas, 14 in Kentucky, 8 in Louisiana, 3 in Indiana, 2 each in Alabama and Tennessee, and 1 each in Ohio and Oklahoma.

References

External links

*
Pizza Franchise website
{{Pizza chains Companies based in Fort Worth, Texas Restaurants in Texas Economy of the Southeastern United States Pizza franchises Regional restaurant chains in the United States Pizza chains of the United States Restaurants established in 1964 Buffet restaurants 1964 establishments in Texas Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019

History

Turn of millennium

See also

References

Further reading

External links