"3"^^ . "2010-02-14T00:00:00"^^ . . "14"^^ . . . "2"^^ . "6"^^ . "Oh, Garcia's Pizza in a Pan, where did everything go wrong?\n\nThe story of Garcia's is similar to the story of drug kingpins in 1980s Miami. From humble beginnings, they climb their way to the top of the world, build an empire, but then everything comes crashing down. \n\nAs a boy, I remember the excitement of seeing the Garcias Brothers fly over our house in their hot air balloon (yes, the owners of Garcia's had an actual fucking hot air balloon, shaped like a tomato). There were around seven Garcia's Pizza joints in Champaign-Urbana, and everyone knew that Garcia's pizza was the best around. \n\nNow, nearly twenty years later, the empire is long gone. There is one Garcia's restaurant still clinging to life, but just barely. The old hot air balloon van is parked out back collecting rust. I can only imagine that the Garcia brothers are living paycheck-to-paycheck, forgoing bill payments so that they can afford pot and blow (just a guess). \n\nThe pizza is still good (+ 3 stars), but put this restaurant on the critically endangered list. I don't see it surviving for much longer the way things appear to be going."^^ .