In this series, TCU Magazine visits with alumni in the food and beverage industry. Send recommendations to tcumagazine@tcu.edu. 

Austin Perrotti ’17 closed the deal to buy back Perrotti’s Pizza in September 2025, returning the business to its namesake family after an eight-year hiatus. His father, Richard Perrotti Jr., and grandfather, Richard Perrotti Sr., founded the pizzeria in 1986, building the menu around family recipes that trace back to Austin’s great-grandmother in Italy. Today, three Perrotti’s locations operate across Fort Worth, the flagship tucked under TCU’s Molly Reid Hall student apartments on Greene Avenue. Austin, now owner and CEO, came up through the restaurant industry — from server to a consulting role — and was working in insurance sales when the chance to buy back Perrotti’s arose. He left that career to take over the family business. He is the third generation to run Perrotti’s. The fourth generation already runs around the shop. 

Richard Perrotti Jr., right, beside his father, Richard Perrotti Sr., at a former Perrotti’s Pizza location in Fort Worth. The two founded the pizzeria in 1986 on recipes brought from Italy. Courtesy of Austin Perrotti

What does Perrotti’s Pizza mean to the community?

You can’t think of Fort Worth without Perrotti’s Pizza, and I can’t imagine Perrotti’s Pizza without Fort Worth. As Fort Worth has grown and has become a very metropolitan city, some locals worry about losing that small-town feel. And I think one of the things that really brings a small-town feel to a metropolitan city is those family-run businesses. As I have gotten older, I have slowly started to see that decline. A lot of people have sold them, they’ve given way to corporations or they just have gone out of business with the times being tough.

If you want a slice of the city and you want a slice of what it means to be a Fort Worthian, come to Perrotti’s Pizza. You get so much more than a slice of pizza: You get history, you get family, you see the same faces over and over again. 

Austin Perrotti grew up on Perrotti’s Pizza, both as a consumer and helping out around the restaurant as a kid. Courtesy of Austin Perrotti

Did you grow up working at Perrotti’s? 

When you own a family business, there’s no such thing as child labor laws. We would spend our weekends up here. Sometimes it was work, sometimes it was fun, but it gave us a chance to fall in love with and learn the product. Most kids, they’re out flying kites, hanging with friends, and we certainly did that. But there would be times where we’d come up here and my dad would say, “Okay, you’re in charge of the dough.” And so, I’d have to help him make the dough balls, or I’d cut a pizza and hand it to somebody, little things like that. 

What’s the story behind the Perrotti’s logo?

The logo is actually a combination of my father and grandfather. 

Back in the day — this would have been in the late ’80s, early ’90s — there was a guy who came in who just loved the pizza, and he was an artist. He would get his pizza box, and he would just kind of scribble and draw on it. And one day he was kind of looking up at my dad and my grandfather, and they came by and they go, “What is this?” He goes, “Oh, I created this little guy.”

How does the Perrotti family fit into the business today?

I’m a third-generation Perrotti’s owner, and this little guy here on my phone — that’s my son — one day he’ll be a fourth-generation Perrotti’s owner. My brothers Nick and Andrew work here, too, and now all of us have boys of our own. The fourth Perrotti brother is at the Sycamore School Road location.

From left, brothers Austin, Nick and Drew Perrotti. Today, Austin serves as owner and CEO, Nick as general manager of the restaurant’s TCU location and Drew works back of house. Courtesy of Austin Perrotti

What do you order when you walk into your own restaurant?

You know, it really depends on the mood. I’d say our pan pizza, our boneless wings or the White Sicilian — that’s probably what I get the most. The White Sicilian (mozzarella and garlic butter on a crisp golden crust) is what I grew up on as a kid, so that, for me, has a bit of nostalgia to it.

Editor’s Note: The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.