private industry fast food pizza founded 1973 headquarters 2808 north 108th street omaha nebraska 68164 key people ronald b. gartlan ceo products pizza chicken salad potatoes beverages desserts . website godfathers.com godfather s pizza is a privately owned restaurant chain headquartered in omaha nebraska that operates fast casual italian franchises . in addition to their fast casual franchise locations they also operate many pizza express bars . 1 contents 1 history 2 menu 3 spokesman 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit a location in hillsboro oregon godfather s was founded in omaha nebraska in 1973 . 2 in the early 1970s william theisen owned a beer parlor named wild willy s next to a pizza restaurant named godfather s near 99th and q street in omaha . citation needed theisen bought out the pizza parlor and the name in 1974 from greg johnson who later started the minsky s pizza restaurants and sold his first franchise . 3 theisen sold the company to pillsbury in the mid 1980s and stepped down from actively managing the company . in 1986 pillsbury named herman cain ceo and president of the brand . cain and ronald b. gartlan the company s executive vice president led a group to purchase the godfather s brand from pillsbury which they did by the beginning of 1990 in a leveraged buyout 4 reported to be 100 million . it was reported to be the fifth largest pizza chain in the united states at the time down from third place in 1985 . 4 5 about this time many godfather s locations were bought out by pantera s pizza using a similar recipe . clarification needed under cain s leadership godfather s closed approximately 200 restaurants and eliminated several thousand jobs and by doing so returned to profitability . 6 cain stepped down from his position as ceo and president in 1996 and gartlan became ceo . cain stayed on as chairman until 2002 . in 2009 gartlan bought out cain . 7 according to the company s official website as of 14 may 2015 ref the chain has 571 locations in 36 u.s. states . 8 godfather s pizza also operates in some speedway locations as well as most minit mart locations in kentucky and northern tennessee . 9 menu edit the restaurants serve a wide variety of pizzas breadsticks chips cookies and pastas and has an extensive salad bar and buffet . they offer four different types of crust original golden mozza loaded and thin . the chain has recently introduced gluten free pizzas made from rice flour . 10 spokesman edit godfather s pizza is also known for its commercials featuring the godfather a parody of marlon brando s character don vito corleone from the 1972 film the godfather . the godfather has been played by two actors the first being omaha actor j. william koll 11 who typically wore a white fedora hat a pin stripe suit and a flower on his jacket . he also used the sayings a pizza you can t refuse do it if you don t like anchovies you ll be sleeping with the fishes da goods is in da box and i know your neighborhood . see also edit list of buffet restaurants list of pizza chains of the united states references edit contact us . godfather s pizza . retrieved on february 26 2010 . berg eric n. september 20 1988 . godfather s pizza sold by pillsbury . the new york times . godfather s pizza finds home at chart house . the new york times . september 15 1983 . a b berg eric september 20 1988 . godfather s pizza sold by pillsbury . the new york times . retrieved december 19 2011 . godfather s pizza incorporated company history . fundinguniverse.com . retrieved 2011 11 15 . jordon steve october 11 2011 . cain the godfather s years . omaha world herald . http janicegablebashman.com wp content uploads godfathers pizza.pdf godfather s pizza store locator . http www.minitmart.com godfather s gluten free pizzas . godfather returns as spokesman for pizza company . toledo blade . associated press . november 14 1983 . retrieved november 14 2011 . external links edit godfather s pizza v t e pizza chains list international boston pizza california pizza kitchen chuck e. cheese s domino s pizza little caesars papa john s pizza pizza hut pizza inn pizzaexpress rossopomodoro sbarro shakey s pizza sarpino s pizzeria telepizza the pizza company uno pizzeria & grill vapiano yellow cab pizza co. regional asia origus cn aoki s pizza jp greenwich pizza ph mr. pizza kr smokin joe s in pizza corner in pizza la jp europe ask restaurant uk easypizza uk kotipizza fi peppes pizza no prezzo restaurant uk speed rabbit pizza fr spizzico it tops pizza uk zizzi uk north america anthony s pizza aafes benedetti s pizza mx blaze pizza us cici s pizza us donatos pizza us fox s pizza den us gatti s pizza us giordano s us godfather s pizza us greco pizza restaurant ca happy s pizza us home run inn us hot lips pizza us hungry howie s pizza us hunt brothers pizza us imo s pizza us jerry s subs & pizza us jet s pizza us ledo pizza us lou malnati s us marco s pizza us mazzio s us mellow mushroom us mountain mike s pizza us noble roman s us panago ca papa gino s us papa murphy s us peter piper pizza us pizza 73 ca pizza delight ca pizza haven us pizza nova ca pizza patr n us pizza pizza ca pizza ranch us rosati s us round table pizza us south america jeno s pizza co mario s tt mister pizza br oceania eagle boys au hell pizza nz pizza capers au pizza haven au master franchisees domino s pizza enterprises au be fr mc nl nz domino s pizza group ch de ie uk jubilant foodworks domino s bd in lk np list articles list of canadian pizza chains list of pizza chains of the united states list of pizza franchises retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title godfather % 27s pizza & oldid 740299691 categories italian american culture in nebraskarestaurants established in 1973pizza chains of the united statescompanies based in omaha nebraskarestaurants in omaha nebraskarestaurant chains in the united statesfast food chains of the united statesbuffet restaurantshidden categories pages using infobox company 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