The Once-Bankrupt Pizza Buffet Chain That's Found New Life Inside Walmart

Discovering that something we once loved and assumed was gone forever has, in fact, survived and flourished is a great surprise. Anyone who harbors fond memories of Mr Gatti's Pizza will therefore be pleased to hear that the family-friendly buffet chain has not only weathered the challenges of bankruptcy and the COVID-19 pandemic, but has reemerged with numerous franchise locations cropping up at outlets of Walmart.

Mr Gatti's Pizza originally hails from Stephenville, Texas. Founder James Eure, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force, opened the restaurant after retiring from the military with an idea to focus on burgers and sell pizza on the side. But shortly after opening in 1964, he found the pizza side of the business so successful, the restaurant was forced to close its doors for three days to rethink its business model. After moving to Austin in 1969, Eure opened Mr Gatti's Pizza, in tribute to his wife Patricia's maiden name. Over the following decades, Gatti's would develop into a burgeoning chain across Texas and the Southeast United States as pizza buffets grew more popular.

By 2019, some Gatti's restaurants were running at a loss, prompting the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But the bankruptcy nor what Gatti's CEO Jim Philips recalls as the "devastating" impact of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry signaled the end for the business. In 2024, Gatti's announced that it would be opening 92 locations in Walmart stores across four states.

"Ask any Gen Xer who grew up going to Mr Gatti's, and they almost always have a story loaded with nostalgia," the company boasts. They're not wrong — the affinity felt by millennials and Gen Xers who experienced Gatti's during their formative years is often palpable. One Reddit user, who worked at a Tennessee location of Mr Gatti's in the 1990s, commented, "I miss that pizza so much. The dough is made fresh every day. The sauce is not too sweet like many pizza joints. The cheese is smoked provolone ... Now it's everywhere, but back then we were the only place in town that made a BBQ chicken [pizza]. It's still the best I've ever had."

The most loyal Gatti's customers may be tinged with happy childhood memories of its abundant arcade games, but many are still keen to emphasize the quality of its menu. Another Reddit user said, "I had no idea they still existed. It tasted exactly how I remembered ... It was magical." Thanks to Gatti's recent expansion, that magic can not only be revisited, but experienced by a new generation for the first time.