Garcia's Pizza In a Pan

Garcia's Pizza in a Pan is a pizza restaurant brand based in Champaign, Illinois. Founded in 1971 near the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the business is known for its pan-style pizza and its "Flying Tomato Brothers" marketing campaign. While the company formerly operated multiple locations in the Champaign–Urbana area and in Normal, Illinois, the brand is now centered on a single restaurant on North Mattis Avenue in Champaign.

History

Garcia's Pizza in a Pan opened in 1971 at Wright and Green Streets in Champaign. The founders were Joe Ream and Ralph Senn, who had attended the University of Illinois. In 1976, the Champaign restaurant moved to a larger building on East Green Street.

Ream and Senn became known locally as the "Flying Tomato Brothers" and used a tomato-shaped hot air balloon to promote Garcia's Pizza in a Pan at local events and over area campuses.

In 1978, the company expanded outside of Champaign–Urbana, opening a restaurant in Normal, Illinois, near the Illinois State University campus. Over the next two decades, Garcia's operated several locations in both markets.

The company eventually began to downsize, leaving the Normal market in 1999. In 2008, the longtime Green Street location in Champaign closed after 32 years in operation. Following that closure, the owners announced they would focus operations on their remaining restaurant at 313 North Mattis Avenue in Champaign, which remains in operation as of 2025.

Menu

Garcia's serves pan pizza, thin-crust pizza, and stuffed pizzas sold under the name "Gutbuster", filled with cheese, sausage, green peppers, mushrooms, and onions. A 2024 review in Champaign–Urbana magazine Smile Politely noted the pizza's tomato sauce, slightly sweet dough, and a menu that also includes breadsticks and other side dishes.

See also

• List of pizza chains of the United States
• Monical's Pizza