In 1964, retired Air ForceLieutenant Colonel James R. Eure opened a pizza and hamburger restaurant in his hometown of Stephenville, Texas. 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. 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. 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. In the 1990s, Mr. Gatti's had expanded its game room concept 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, Abilene, Texas, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, 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. 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. .
Twenty first century
Some Gatti's Pizza locations are branded under the GattiTown name; these are based on the Family Entertainment Concept 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; 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. 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. 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. Approximately 41 location in eight states remain in business at the beginning of September 2019.
