 |
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurant |
| Founded | 1964 in Stephenville, Texas, USA |
| Founder | James Eure |
| Headquarters | Fort Worth, Texas, USA |
Number of locations | 41 |
Areas served | Southern United States |
Key people | Michael Poates, president |
| Products | Pizza Delivery, Salad bar, Pizza Buffet, Pizza Pickup, Family Entertainment |
| Owner | Sovrano LLC |
| Website | mrgattispizza |
Mr Gatti's Pizza is a Southern and Southeastern United States pizza-buffet chain. [1] The corporate offices are in Fort Worth, Texas.
In 1964, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James R. Eure opened a pizza and hamburger restaurant in his hometown of Stephenville, Texas. [2] He and his wife moved to Austin, Texas; and in 1969, he opened a pizza restaurant in Austin 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. [3]
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. [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 and a buffet bar into many of its restaurants. [3]
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 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, [5] Abilene, Texas, [6] Spartanburg, South Carolina, [7] and Round Rock, Texas.
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. [8] The restaurant's design was patterned after Main Street, U.S.A., 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.
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. [3] In 2004, Blue Sage Capital bought the chain. [1] Three years later in 2007, Blue Sage renamed Mr. Gatti's as Gatti's Pizza to reflect current trends. [4] 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; El Paso, Texas; Lafayette, Louisiana; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Sugar Land, Texas. 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. Completion of the renovations was expected by late 2014. [9]
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 Gatti. [10]
In January 2019, Fort Worth-based Sovrano LLC, the owner of Mr. Gatti's Pizza, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, claiming liabilities of $10 million to $50 million. [11] Approximately 41 locations in eight states remain in business at the beginning of September 2019. [12]
Chuck E. Cheese is an American family entertainment center and restaurant pizza chain founded in 1977 by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, each location features arcade games, amusement rides, and character stage shows in addition to serving pizza and other food items; former mainstays included ball pits, crawl tubes, and animatronic shows. The chain's name is taken from its main character and mascot, Chuck E. Cheese. The first location opened as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, California. It was the first family restaurant to integrate food with arcade games and animated entertainment.
Round Table Pizza is a chain and franchise of pizza parlours in the Western United States. The first Round Table Pizza restaurant was opened in 1959, and the company has over 400 restaurants. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Casa Bonita is a former chain of Mexican-themed "eatertainment" restaurants which originated in Oklahoma City. The last restaurant in the former chain, which is located in Lakewood, Colorado, is open for tours only, after the State of Colorado ordered all restaurants in the state to close in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
VitaNova Brands, based in San Antonio, Texas, is a operator of a number of American national buffet chain restaurants including subsidiary company Furr's.
Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse are a chain of buffet/steakhouse restaurants that are a part of Homestyle Dining LLC based in Plano, Texas. Its menu includes steaks, seafood, and chicken entrées, all of which come with their buffet for a nominal charge. A lunch menu is also served.
Sbarro, LLC is an American pizzeria chain that specializes in New York-style pizza sold by the slice and other Italian-American cuisine. In 2011, the company was ranked 15th in foreign sales among U.S.-based quick-serve and fast-casual companies by QSR Magazine. In 2008, Sbarro was rated the #1 Quick Service Restaurant in the Italian segment by Entrepreneur magazine. Not all reports were positive, as the food quality had been criticized, with a suggestion that this was a factor that led to two bankruptcies. Sbarro has over 600 locations in 28 countries. Sbarro stores are located in shopping malls, airports, service areas, and college campuses, as well as in The Pentagon, American naval bases, and casinos.
A family entertainment center, often abbreviated FEC in the entertainment industry also known as an indoor amusement park, family amusement center, family fun center, or simply fun center, is a small amusement park marketed towards families with small children to teenagers, often entirely indoors. They usually cater to "sub-regional markets of larger metropolitan areas." FECs are generally small compared to full-scale amusement parks, with fewer attractions, a lower per-person per-hour cost to consumers than a traditional amusement park, and not usually major tourist attractions, but sustained by an area customer base. Many are locally owned and operated, although there are a number of chains and franchises in the field. Some, operated by non-profit organizations as children's museum or science museums, tend to be geared toward edutainment experiences rather than simply amusement.
Fuddruckers is an American fast casual, franchised restaurant chain that specializes in hamburgers. The Fuddruckers concept is to offer large hamburgers in which the meat is ground on-site and buns are baked on the premises. As of 2019, Fuddruckers had 49 company-operated restaurants and 107 franchises across the United States and around the world. The company headquarters is in Houston, Texas. On September 8, 2020, Fuddruckers owner Luby's, Inc. announced they plan to liquidate existing assets, including Fuddruckers' assets, distributing the proceeds to investors after the proposed sale of the chains. On June 21, 2021, Black Titan Franchise Systems announced a deal to acquire Fuddruckers for $18.5 million.
Schlotzsky's is an American franchise chain of restaurants, specializing in sandwiches and pizza. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Schlotzsky's has more than 330 franchised and company-owned locations throughout the United States. Most locations are in the south and southwestern United States, but the company is expanding into areas across the country, particularly the north and southeast.
Golden Corral is an American restaurant chain which offers an all-you-can-eat buffet and grill. It is a privately held company headquartered in the U.S. city of Raleigh, North Carolina, with locations in 43 U.S. states.
Cicis is an American chain of buffet restaurants based in Irving, Texas, specializing in pizza. The company was founded in 1985, and started franchising by 1987. There are 297 franchised and corporately owned restaurants in 24 states. In November 2015, the company began a new marketing campaign which included the renaming of the company to Cicis, along with the addition of a new logo and redesigned website. On January 25, 2021, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Peter Piper Pizza is an Arizona-based pizza and entertainment company with locations in Arizona, California, Mexico, New Mexico and Texas. Restaurants have a large dining area and a game room.
DoubleDave's Pizzaworks is a chain of pizza restaurants based in Austin, Texas. The first restaurant was founded by David Davydd Miller in College Station, TX in 1984. Charles M. Thorp, Jr. is the CEO. In addition to several varieties of pizza the chain is famous for its 'Peproni Rolls'.
ShowBiz Pizza Place, often shortened to ShowBiz Pizza or ShowBiz, was an American family entertainment center and restaurant pizza chain founded in 1980 by Robert L. Brock and Creative Engineering. It emerged after a separation between Brock and owners of the Chuck E. Cheese's franchise, Pizza Time Theatre. ShowBiz Pizza restaurants entertained guests through a large selection of arcade games, coin-operated rides and animatronic stage shows.
Furr's was a chain of family restaurants in the United States started by Roy Furr. The first location opened in 1946 in Hobbs, New Mexico. For many decades, Furr's has been known for cafeteria-style dining, but had eventually redeveloped into buffet-style dining.
America's Incredible Pizza Company (AIPC) is an American restaurant chain based in Springfield, Missouri. The restaurants are pizza buffets and entertainment centers. The first restaurant opened in Springfield in 2002. The company has 1,200 employees, and a revenue of $64.1 million.
Souper Salad is an American restaurant chain based in Dallas, Texas. It is an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant serving fresh salads, made-from-scratch soups, homemade breads, and more. All locations are in the Southwestern United States, with the majority located in Texas. The chain is privately owned and has been in operation since 1978. As of May 2020, the chain had 17 locations.
Sweet Tomatoes, operating as Souplantation in southern California, was a United States-based chain of all-you-can-eat buffet-style restaurants. The first location opened in 1978 in San Diego, California, where the company was headquartered. The company was incorporated as Garden Fresh Corp. in 1983. The company went public in 1995 but was taken private in 2004. The company, owned by Garden Fresh Restaurant Corporation, temporarily closed its 97 locations in March 2020 because of government mandates related to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 7, 2020, the closure was made permanent and the company filed for liquidation.
