A nostalgic pizza restaurant will return to Raleigh after decades away
.jpg "Godfather’s Pizza and its signature thick crust will return to Raleigh in 2025 after decades away.")
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Godfather’s Pizza plans a Raleigh return with a full-service site on Glenwood Ave.
- Franchisee Don McClaren targets a fall 2025 opening after site renovations.
- Brand last operated in Raleigh in the 1980s; now ranks 7th in U.S. pizza chains.
One of the largest pizza chains in the country doesn’t have a single location in the Triangle.
That’s about to change.
Godfather’s Pizza will open a new Raleigh location later this year, moving into 6429 Glenwood Ave., a space most recently known as a Pizza Hut.
The Omaha, Nebraska, pizza brand previously landed in the Triangle in the early 1980s, but had closed and rebranded its four locations less than a decade later.
Now this nostalgic Midwestern pizza giant will open a new full service restaurant in North Raleigh, led by a lifelong fan as franchisee.
The Raleigh return of Godfather’s is the work of Don McClaren, an Iowa native who ate the pizza all through childhood.
“I grew up with it,” McClaren said in a phone interview. “To me it’s just a much better quality pizza than the other competitors out there.”
McClaren signed a lease for 6429 Glenwood on July 1 and is working his way through the renovation process. He expects Godfather’s to open in the fall.
Currently there are only four Godfather’s Pizzas in North Carolina — in Charlotte, Lexington, Southern Pines and Rockingham. A pared down version of the brand, Godfather’s Express, is also open in Mebane.
Since most Triangle residents haven’t tasted a Godfather’s slice in at least 30 years, McClaren described the pizza as built around a thicker crust and more generous toppings.
“We use a lot of cheese and high quality ingredients,” McClaren said.
The Raleigh Godfather’s will be a traditional location, with 30 dine-in seats, takeout and delivery service, fountain soft drinks and two-liters.
McClaren moved to Holly Springs in 2021 and this is his first restaurant job in decades. For the last 25 years he’s worked in IT, mostly for large restaurant brands.
The Raleigh location is the sole restaurant in McClaren’s franchise deal, though there could be more in the future he said.
Blast from the past
Industry magazine PMQ published a report last year listing Godfather’s as the seventh largest pizza brand in the United States at 583 locations. Most of those locations are in the Midwest, but the brand stretches from Seattle to Myrtle Beach.
Godfather’s first landed in North Carolina in the early 1980s. It grew to four locations in Raleigh, plus one in Fayetteville and Wilmington.
Rick Fleming has been a real estate agent for more than 20 years, but in the early 1980s he was area manager of Godfather’s Pizza. At the time there were locations on Capital Boulevard, at the intersection of Six Forks and Wake Forest Roads, South Wilmington Street and in Mission Valley, he said.
When Godfather’s opened its Capital Boulevard location, Fleming said he and co-workers drove a yellow hearse (emblazoned with the brand name) through the Brentwood neighborhood announcing its arrival. To lean into the “Godfather” association, Fleming waved a violin case, another co-worker dressed as a flapper and another dressed as a tough guy with a handlebar mustache.
“All the stores did pretty well,” Fleming recalls.
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 2:28 PM with the headline "A nostalgic pizza restaurant will return to Raleigh after decades away."
