Gina Maria’s Pizza closes all locations, files Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Ulises Godinez had managed two Gina Maria’s Pizza locations, including the Eden Prairie store at 7416 Mitchell Road, before the ovens went dark last fall. Within weeks, that same storefront reopened as Pizzas Gina, a family-run shop led by Godinez that kept the recipes going with permission from the prior owners and even used supplies the owners left behind in the freezer.

The restaurant that made Gina Maria’s a suburban staple is now headed for liquidation. Northern Brands, Inc., listed in court records as f/d/b/a Gina Maria’s Pizza, filed a voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota on March 26, 2026, Case No. 26-41005. Summaries of the filings show the company reported roughly $2.9 million in liabilities and about $64,000 in assets, a gap that points to a wind-down rather than any realistic path back through reorganization.

For workers, the bankruptcy paperwork puts a formal end date on what already felt final on the ground. Gina Maria’s abruptly closed its four remaining locations in Chanhassen, Eden Prairie, Edina, and Plymouth on Oct. 14, 2025, leaving line cooks, pizza makers, counter staff, and managers jobless in a market where experienced pizza-line labor is usually in demand but rarely comes with much cushion. At the time, the company’s website posted a short goodbye saying it had “officially closed its doors,” while the phone lines played an automated message: “We are no longer in operation and have permanently closed.” No detailed reason was offered publicly.

Chapter 7 does not just mark a closure, it sets the order of who gets paid from whatever is left. If final paychecks, credit-card tips, tip-pool balances, or reimbursements are still outstanding, keep every pay stub, schedule, text thread, and tip report you have. In Minnesota, state labor officials take wage claims, including some disputes over earned paid time off depending on the employer’s written policy. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry’s Labor Standards unit can be reached at 651-284-5075 or by email at dli.laborstandards@state.mn.us.

Unemployment moves on a separate track from the bankruptcy. Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance program is run by the Department of Employment and Economic Development. The customer service lines are 651-296-3644 in the Twin Cities and 1-877-898-9090 in Greater Minnesota.

Gina Maria’s began in 1975 in Minnetonka, and for many crews it was the kind of place where regulars and repeat staff built a rhythm over years. The Chapter 7 filing makes it unlikely the brand returns in its old form, but the Eden Prairie reboot shows how pieces of a restaurant’s culture and craft sometimes survive even when the corporate entity does not.