By Gordon Anderson | gordon@rantnc.com

A culinary staple for many who grew up in Sanford is returning more than 20 years after shutting down.

Mr. Gatti’s Pizza will open this summer in the Shoppes at Sanford shopping center anchored by Walmart on South Horner Boulevard. The Texas-based chain operates stores across the southern United States — but none in North Carolina.

That wasn’t always the case. Mr. Gatti’s had a location that many of a certain age remember fondly from the 1980s and 90s. It operated into the early 2000s, and was at the time located on South Horner Boulevard in what was most recently Brick City Oyster Bar until a fire in 2013.

The person behind the new iteration of Gatti’s is one of those with fond memories.

“My parents moved to Sanford in 1983, and I guess I was in first grade,” said Matt Oborne, a former Sanford resident who is the franchisee developing the new Mr. Gatti’s. “Mr. Gatti’s was my favorite place to go. It had the pizza buffet, it had a game room, and it had these big projector TVs. I remember going there during ACC basketball season, and just about any sporting event.”

Oborne became friends with the children of the original owners – the Habeeb family – so almost sort of grew up with Mr. Gatti’s as a staple, if not a second home.

“It seemed like the Habeebs created something really special, so when I thought of doing something entrepreneurial, I thought why not bring Mr. Gatti’s back to North Carolina,” Oborne explained.

Oborne, currently a resident of Wilmington, has degrees in economics, accounting and finance and currently works as a CPA. But he said he’s excited to jump into the restaurant business.

“In my 23 year career, I’ve been exposed to a lot of aspects of business, and I’ve always loved the restaurant business,” he said.

Oborne initially planned to open a location in Wilmington and then bring a second location back to Sanford at a later date. But when securing a space in Wilmington proved difficult “for a dozen different reasons” Oborne turned his sights back to his hometown and quickly became aware of the space at Shoppes at Sanford, which is next to GameStop and most recently occupied by Rue 21.

“When we learned Rue 21 was going to be vacating, we just decided to throw everything at that site,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to have an opening in the summer of 2025 after four or five months of construction and another couple months installing equipment and training staff.”

Oborne said Mr. Gatti’s as a chain had some lean years in the 2000s and 2010s, but “the brand is doing exceptionally well now. The current owners are really bullish and are expanding tremendously. And they really loved that I wanted to bring them back into North Carolina.”

Although it’s been more than two decades since Mr. Gatti’s has existed in Sanford, Oborne said the business model – and the recipes – remain the same. As part of the process of being awarded a franchise, Oborne visited Texas and said although modernized, all is as he remembered.

“We’ll have a pizza buffet and 400 square feet for a game room,” he said. “And there will be two distinct dining areas, one more like a cafe, and then a sports themed dining room. And the pizza should taste just like it did in the 80s and 90s.”

Oborne acknowledged he couldn’t have gotten this far by himself and named several people for help he’s had along the way, including Brandon Atkins, Todd Snyder, Drew Wood, Linda Berryman, Dave Caplan, Chad Spivey, Chris White, and his parents, Jim and Cindy Oborne.

He also re-stressed the importance of the original Gatti’s when it came to his vision.

“Mr. Gatti’s just has a such a great reputation in this community, and that’s mainly because of what the Habeebs built,” he said. “They created something years and years ago that so many people still remember and relate to.”