BEST PIZZA
GUMBY'S PIZZA
THE BEST LATE NIGHT PIZZA IN AGGIELAND
Located deep in the heart of College Station lies Gumby’s Pizza. The pizza joint, which is adjacent to Texas A&M’s campus, provides a multitude of toppings and flavors to satisfy its patrons.
Jason Carter, Class of 1998 and co-owner of Gumby’s, said in the years he’s lived in College Station, the town and the university have vastly changed.
“I first came to College Station in 1992, and Rock Prairie Road was like the end of the world,” Carter said. “The change has been really big.”
Gumby’s initially started as a chain restaurant, but now only has few locations across the United States. According to the Gumby’s website, there are locations close to other major universities, including Florida State, Penn State and University of Iowa.
“I worked here when I was in college. At one point in time, Gumby’s was a chain and they had 35 or 36 stores nationwide and then they ended up consolidating,” Carter said. “The original corporation is still based out of Florida and the rest of us are independent across the United States.”
With the growing student population, Carter said he and his partner, Steve Whelan, have had to make adjustments to their business plan.
“One of the things that has been changing over the years have been the pizza rolls,” Carter said. “Not necessarily the recipe but the way we serve them. We noticed that the popularity started getting more and more, as it did we [tried] to change our business model to accommodate that.”
Prior to the boom in business, Carter said they used to make the pizza rolls to order, however, now they make a constant stream to have a large amount ready for one of their busiest nights — 75 cent pizza roll Tuesdays.
“We shifted over from making to order — which would take 10-12 minutes — to keeping them made all the time, hot and fresh and being able to hand them out,” Carter said.
Chris Nguy, industrial distribution sophomore, said he had never tried pizza rolls until he came to A&M, but now is a regular customer at Gumby’s.
“I went with my fish camp [discussion group] and they bought me pizza rolls,” Nguy said. “I never had pizza rolls — besides Totino’s — before that and I was like, ‘It’s going to be alright,’ but it was so good and I dreamed about it for weeks after that.”
Nguy said the environment makes it easier for college students to enjoy and take a break from school.
“I kinda like the vibes I guess, it’s kind of a classic college hang out place and it’s pretty chill,” Nguy said. “It’s a fun place to hang out with friends, it’s open late so that’s
pretty good.”
Carter said one of the popular products that compliments the pizza is the jalapeno ranch, which is made in house.
“We’ve added a few new products, the jalapeno ranch was new a couple of years ago,” Carter said. “It is homemade, Steve, my partner came up with it himself. It’s made using fresh jalapenos, fresh cilantro, everything is fresh in there and we make it everyday.”
Gumby’s expanded to a second location in South College Station due to demand. Carter said as the holiday’s approach, they adjust the hours of both locations.
“At [the Domnik] store over Christmas, we close for the week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, because it’s so slow and it’s not even worth being open. Out there [at the South College Station location] we stay open and had a lot of families [who come in].”
Carter said he hopes to continue to grow his business and hopes to see more families walk through the doors of their locations.
“We’re starting to see more and more families and that demographic come through, which is good,” Carter said.
By Angel Franco
Offering 75 cent pizza rolls Tuesdays makes Gumby’s a B-CS favorite