Parents call it Chuck E. Cheese's on steroids. That's not much of an overstatement.
At 40,000 square feet, Frisco's GattiTown is a supermarket-size collection of pizza and pasta, video games, scampering toddlers, carnival-type rides, desperate-to-look-cool preteens, outsize movie screens and, oh yes, bumper cars.
Riley Jaye, 3, waits for a heaping serving of pasta from the buffet at the GattiTown in Frisco.
Opened one year ago this week, it's the newest twist from Mr. Gatti's Inc., an Austin-based chain that's been making pizza since the 1960s. It represents the best hope of the company's new owner to put a spring chicken's pep into a middle-age brand that, in some outlets, is showing its crow's feet.
It's also trying to drive a preteen wedge between Irving-based CEC Entertainment Inc., which operates the Chuck E. Cheese's brand aimed at younger kids, and Dallas-based Dave & Buster's Inc., which appeals to the grownup arcade crowd.
"GattiTown is where we want to draw the brand for the future," said Mike Mrlik, president and CEO of Mr. Gatti's, who was brought in last year to engineer a renaissance. "The GattiTown facility you see in Frisco is our future."
But first, the company must address its past.
It was 1964. Retired Air Force Lt. Col. James R. Eure – who flew supplies to Gen. George S. Patton Jr. during World War II, according to his wife, Pat –borrowed money to open a pizza restaurant in Stephenville, Texas.
Over the years, the brand moved to Austin, adopted the name Gatti (Mrs. Eure's maiden name) and changed owners three times.
Today, there are 140 stores in the chain, 90 percent owned by franchisees. The restaurants operate under a full menu of names and formats. There's GattiLand, GattiTown, Gatti's To Go and Mr. Gatti's Pizza.
Mr. Gatti's, GattiLand and GattiTown all feature fixed-price buffets with pizza, pasta, salad and dessert.
The concepts vary by size and demographic draw. That presents some challenges as the company seeks to face the marketplace as one brand.
"That is something that we still are talking about," said Jim McBride, a partner with Austin-based Blue Sage Capital LP, which purchased the Gatti's chain in November 2004. "How do we maintain the flexibility to be in different places, but still capture the brand legacy that is Gatti's?
"That's a great question," he said. "In 18 months, we haven't answered it."
Gene Dillard is president of Carrollton-based FoodWise Group, which helps food service companies with marketing. He said that to succeed, the company must offer a consistent message across the varied platforms.
"They have to make sure they're consistent in value and operation among all of those different entities under the umbrella," Mr. Dillard said. "Then, every one will build on the other. If it's not done well, it can pull the others down."
The chain's finances have seen some downward movement.
The company declined to reveal sales figures. But Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based restaurant market research firm, shows a sales slide of 26 percent since 2001 – to an estimated $89.5 million last year.
Blue Sage is suing the former owner in Travis County District Court, alleging that L.D. Brinkman Investments Corp. and LDB Food Services Inc. failed to reveal the brand's true financial condition. The two Brinkman companies deny "each and every ... allegation," their response filed in court said.
A new image
As it looks to rebuild the brand, Blue Sage is focusing largely on GattiTown. It hasn't decided how many outlets will add.
GattiTowns generally run between 18,000 and 40,000 square feet, about the size of a grocery store. They can cost more than $3 million to build.
By comparison, a small buffet eatery might run 5,000 square feet, with enough space for eight to 12 games.
"It's a complex proposition," Mr. McBride said. "Let's say we go to Colorado Springs. We might use GattiTown as a beachhead and fill in with traditional buffet stores."
To plop down a GattiTown, the company generally looks for 250,000-plus residents within a five-mile radius, with plenty of disposable income.
Many of the traditional Mr. Gatti's buffet stores are in more established neighborhoods, where working-class consumers are drawn to the prospect of fueling lanky teens for less than $10.
Some buffet stores still sport a decades-old look, including the teal-and-orange Mr. Gatti's logo that's been replaced in newer stores by an updated version.
"At various places, you certainly could draw the conclusion that there has been deferred maintenance," Mr. McBride said.
Mr. Mrlick said the company can't force the franchisees to make changes. But he hopes they'll be impressed with a new "re-imaging" campaign the company has launched to renovate company stores with a brighter, more modern feel.
All fun and games
Traditional Mr. Gatti's may have a few coin-operated games. In Frisco, the 18,000-square-foot GattiTown "Midway" has up to $40,000 worth of games, rides and attractions.
At all the 26 GattiLand/GattiTown locations, amusements are a big deal.
"If you look at it as a dollar-for-dollar investment," the entertainment side of the room can be more profitable than the dining room, said Bill Boone of Austin, who's been a Gatti franchisee off and on since the 1970s.
He took a break, returning to the brand in 1990. By that time, the store count had begun to drop from its high of 339 stores in 1988.
"There were some existing franchisees who didn't want to take on the game concept," Mr. Boone said, citing the cost involved. "We decided that games was a good way to go."
An older crowd
With the gaming quotient growing, Gatti outlets are enticing youngsters who might otherwise be hanging out with an animatronic mouse.
"Chuck E. Cheese does a great job," said Mr. McBride of Blue Sage. "We're on the same food chain. We tend to appeal to kids age 5 to 15."
Chuck E. Cheese's core audience, by contrast, is preschoolers up to 8-year-olds.
Cherubic, even with a mouth full of pizza, 9-year-old Elyse Haggard of Frisco is part of the demographic Gatti's is seeking.
She hasn't been to Chuck E. Cheese's in three years, she said during a recent visit to GattiTown with a neighbor.
"They have more choices for food here," she said, as 3-year-old Riley Jaye polished off her macaroni and cheese and fruit.
"Some of the games cost more here, but they're a lot more fun. Like the [virtual-reality] roller coaster that goes upside down is really fun."
Likewise, 11-year-old Tracy Frasier of Carrollton said she used to go to Chuck E. Cheese's – "when I was a little kid."
Keeping up
CEC has done nothing specifically to address the potential Gatti encroachment, a spokeswoman said.
"We do see when a new one comes in, everybody likes to try something new, so we'll see a slight erosion" in sales at nearby units, said Brenda Holloway, marketing manager for CEC. "Historically within a year, it comes back around."
CEC did test a buffet-style unit and found it didn't work.
It is testing game cards that store information on dollars available for game play and points earned. Gatti's uses such a system.
Ms. Holloway said CEC also is adding ride simulators, such as a mock roller coaster, in all of its new stores.
"We're trying to keep up with the marketplace, not necessarily keeping up with our competition," Ms. Holloway said.