A Cicis Pizza buffet that fed San Antonio families near De Zavala Road for 21 years has closed for good, ending a run that began back in July 2005. The restaurant at 12822 I-10, located about three miles from UT San Antonio, offered the chain’s familiar lineup of pizza, salad, pasta and dessert at buffet prices that started around $9.99 for adults and $5.99 for kids.
The closure was first reported by MySA, which noted that Cicis Pizza did not respond to its request for comment about the cause or the official shutdown date. A company spokesperson did tell the outlet that Cicis was grateful to the team members and guests who made the I-10 location part of the community. One social media user told MySA the I-10 spot was their favorite, calling it better than the chain’s other locations, and another pointed out the restaurant had still been racking up good Google reviews just four days before it closed.
Four Locations Remain in San Antonio
Cicis says it will continue serving San Antonio, and four locations remain open in the city: 7084 Bandera Road, 2335 SW Military Drive, 6511 W. Loop 1604 N., and 6900 San Pedro Avenue. Elsewhere in Texas, the brand has also closed locations in the Fort Worth and Kerrville areas, while announcing a new Mansfield location not yet open and opening a new restaurant in Grapevine, according to the same MySA report.
The I-10 closure comes as the nearly 41-year-old chain, founded in Plano in September 1985, continues to shrink from its 2009 peak of roughly 600 to 650 locations nationwide, according to Restaurant Business Magazine. By the time Cicis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2021, its footprint had already fallen to 318 locations across 26 states.
Pandemic Losses Forced a Bankruptcy Sale
The bankruptcy followed a brutal year: Cicis’ revenue dropped 57% in 2020 to $76.3 million, down from $177.3 million in 2019, as court filings cited by Restaurant Dive showed emergency pandemic restrictions shut down dining rooms that had previously generated 86% to 99% of the chain’s sales. Cicis cited difficulties amid the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for its bankruptcy filing, per MySA’s report citing CNN…