By Tracy Morin

As a new college grad in a bleak job market, Mike Garibaldi noticed a lack of food options near Tennessee’s University of Memphis and imagined opening a deli near campus. Instead, fate connected him with out-of-towners who wanted to start a pizzeria. They exited the business after a year, but Garibaldi’s Pizza is still going strong, celebrating 50 years in 2025.

With a $2,500 initial investment, no experience, and recipes pulled from both sides of the Italian-American family (Mike and his wife, Donna), Mike learned on the job—and struggled the first year. But business picked up, enabling a second location in 1979 and a third in 1986, both in eastern suburbs that housed growing families.

Mike Garibaldi, Mike III, Michael and Mike’s grandson, Matthew, now carry the family business across three generations. (Garibaldi’s Pizza)

“We learned and developed on the fly, but we always tried to keep it good and keep it simple,” says Mike, who runs the business today with his son, Michael (they’re known by locals simply as Junior and Senior, with young Mike III also learning the ropes). “We were around for the whole delivery explosion, and pizza was becoming a mainstay of the American diet. But we didn’t have giant budgets—we did a lot of grassroots marketing.”

Garibaldi’s also distinguished itself through innovation. In 1980, Mike invested in a heated catering truck (today, the company has five) to deliver dozens of hot pies on-site and later started manufacturing a proprietary spice blend for consistent sauce across locations.

Mike Garibaldi shows off his new state-of-the-art automatic slicer in the mid-1980s. (Garibaldi’s Pizza)

Meanwhile, Michael pushed for more technology, so the pizzeria established a web presence in 2001, adopted a POS system with online ordering and an app, and purchased conveyor ovens to streamline operations. Despite being a humble, family-run independent, the Garibaldis thought like the chains—and made game-changing decisions for productivity and growth.

Still, at Garibaldi’s, the human touch prevails. In an atmosphere Michael calls “old-school Italian mixed with Cheers,” customers and employees become family, and community efforts remain top of mind. Plus, the father-son owners aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, whether fixing the roof or handling a Friday-night rush. “This is all we’ve ever known,” says Michael, who was tossing pizzas at six years old. “My dad is in the trenches every day—that’s just how we roll.”

“It’s pretty simple,” Mike adds. “Go to work and work hard.”

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.

Mike Garibaldi and his son, Michael, oversee the pizzeria today. (Garibaldi’s Pizza)

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