The Nostalgic Pizza Buffet Chain That's Been Making A Comeback

While pizza giants like Domino's, Papa John's, and Pizza Hut continue to compete amongst each other, there's a casual, sit-down restaurant chain serving up buffet–style, all-you-can-eat pizza that has been staging a quiet comeback since it filed for bankruptcy in 2021. That chain? Cicis Pizza, a now 40-year-old mainstay in family dining based in Coppell, Texas, with around 300 restaurants spread out amongst over 30 states at the time of writing. It once was a go-to spot — and a lifesaver — for busy families who need to fill up at a modest price point (just $1.99 per adult, originally).

After peaking with over 600 locations in 2009, that number gradually began to declined; in January 2021, nearly a year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, Cicis entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But a mere two months later, it emerged debt-free, with new owners and a new lease on life. Certainly, Jeff Hetsel, the president and COO of Cicis, was looking forward to staging a comeback. In 2023, under the leadership of Hetsel and prominent shareholder Chris Dharod, the chain tweaked its pizza recipe, and more importantly, expanded the size of its game rooms.

That latter move alone exploded same-store sales, and it wasn't just making the game rooms larger that helped. Cicis Pizza locations also invested money into modernizing its game room experience, getting rid of tokens (which can be easily dropped or lost) and replacing them with cards. These interactive game elements may just help Cicis get one step ahead of rival pizza chains.

Despite its successes after emerging from bankruptcy in 2021, Cicis Pizza still occupies a tenuous market space, as casual dining restaurant chains take hit after hit (like TGI Fridays, which filed for bankruptcy in November 2024, and Hooters, which went bankrupt just five months later). Cicis continues to evolve, however, leaning into its newer call-ahead, pick-up-in-store ordering system, as well as third-party delivery models. It's also getting in on the "value wars," attempting to offer customers menu items that provide more bang for your buck. Cicis recently went old school for its 40 year anniversary, offering "vintage" pricing of $4.99 adult buffet admission on select days of the week.

The new era of Cicis is also leaning into modern technology in a big way, implementing stringent and widespread security measures in Payment Card Data (PCI), as well as leveraging AI in innovative ways. The pizza buffet chain also recently won the Visionary in Technology Award, presented by XRobotics, for "leading the way in modernizing restaurant operations through smart, scalable technology solutions," (via Pizza Marketplace). This integration of cutting edge technology into everyday operations, while still staying true to what made it a success in the first place, may be exactly what Cicis needs in order to survive whatever comes next.