For Italian-American classics like spaghetti and meatballs, sausage-and-pepper sandwiches, cheese pizzas and calzones, you can't beat Antonio's. It doesn't just look like an East Coast red-checkered tablecloth pizzeria, it really is one. Owner Antonio Rosa threw pizzas in Connecticut and New Jersey before he moved to Houston and opened Antonio's Flying Pizza in 1971.
Arthur Ave seeks to highlight and elevate classic Italian-American fare, lending it an air of sophistication that might feel at odds with its checkered-tablecloth past. While some of these endeavors sparkle and pop, others falter under the weight of their ambition. The re-tuned Caprese makes excellent use of pulled-to-order mozzarella, paring the milky-sweet and creamy cheese against the pop-rocks burst of basil-marinated tomatoes (peeled, for an added bit of subtle luxury) and delicately bitter arugula. It’s a gem of a dish, honoring the spirit of the original while updating and improving it at every turn. Likewise, the finely tuned eggplant parm pays so much attention to so many details that the plate winds up far more than the sum of its parts, and is likely the city’s best example of the dish. At the outer edges lies the crispy lasagna, whose refiguring of the classic might please some and pain others. For our money, it is overly focused on form, allowing the idea to trump reality. It’s an interesting concept, but one that would ring more clearly if it followed more of the rhythms offered by its original inspiration rather than looking for an entirely new beat. While the wine list doesn’t have either the focus or the panache of the one at sister restaurant Helen Greek Food and Wine, the cocktail menu makes up for it with charm and taste. In particular, the Ace High rings clear, bolstering a brace of herbal and bitter components with bright lemon and a fruity Lambrusco float. Expect the place to be noisy, the service friendly but slow.
The Barking Pig is a casual neighborhood bar and grill that leans more heavily on the bar end of the enterprise. Expect counter service, but feel free to grab a seat on the patio and have a runner bring your meal. With both the drinks and the food, it’s a good bet to keep things simple. The straightforward backyard cookout-style burgers are pleasant enough, as are the thin-crust pizzas. Stay away from anything that strays from the expectable model, like the truly disappointing ceviche. Don’t expect to be dazzled, but do expect to have a good time.
Taking in Big Humphrey's King of the Hill ambience, customers might wonder about the food. But all they need to do is sit down and order. Jasper Vitale uses recipes left by his grandmother, who was born and raised in Sicily. They supplement Grandma's Italian dishes with good ol' American favorites, as if to concede that truckers do not live by the meatball alone. Those who want wine with their pasta will have to bring it themselves.
The downtown location really packs 'em in, with tables so close together you can reach out and touch someone. The service is at its most erratic before the theater. At other times, you may enjoy decent if overpriced Italian food and a remarkably fine thin-crust pizza. It's nice that you can choose whichever kind of pasta you like and top it with your favorite sauce. Pleasant bar area with excellent happy-hour specials. And great chocolate mousse.
Beloved East End gathering spot Bohemeo's is known for its lush patio, live music, coffee and open-mike nights thanks to former owners and local artists Lupe and Sid Olivares. Current owners Kent Marshall (also of TK Bitterman's and Market Square Bar & Grill) and Keith Adkins of Fontana Coffee Roasters introduced some changes when they took over, and the changes suited Bohemeo's well. In addition to coffee, Bohemeo's also offers a tap wall of all-local craft beers. The small food menu offers excellent fish tacos with a creamy, spicy sauce; individual-size pizzas on a whole wheat crust; and daily specials like a Swiss chard quiche made with chard from The Last Organic Outpost. There are plenty of options for vegetarians, too, which can be tough to find in the East End. And thanks to Adkins, the coffee program at this sprawling coffeehouse is appropriately excellent..
Bollo is a casual neighborhood spot churning out occasionally great, occasionally greatly disappointing Neapolitan pizzas. A bit of a novelty among Neapolitan specialists, Bollo also offers a full menu comprising small plates, salads and entrées. Unfortunately, most of these fail to deliver. With its assured sear and well-executed, wine-enriched sauce, the pork chop is a surprise standout among mostly lackluster non-pizza offerings. When the pies fare well, they fare quite well indeed, even if some suffer from overthought and overwrought combinations of toppings. Stick with the simpler pies, and you’ve got a good shot at almost great pizza. Like the pies, the service can be a bit spotty.
In a melting pot like Houston, a place like Bombay Pizza Co. — a downtown pizzeria that specializes in Indian toppings like saag paneer and chicken tikka masala — is almost a given. What isn't a given is that it would be good. It is very good. The thin-crust pizzas resemble giant rounds of naan topped with delicious specialties like Mitul's Masala with grilled chicken, chorizo and spicy potato gravy, or the Slumdog, which includes a spicy Bombay pizza sauce. The place delivers, too, and is great for to-go thanks to its convenient spot on the light-rail line.
Open mic nights, live music and karaoke, plus a kickin' menu and a hair-of-the-dog Sunday brunch that will keep the party going. Have you seen their Bloody Mary bar? Check out the Facebook page at facebook.com/burtonroadhouse for the music calendar.
This L.A.-based chain's Post Oak location is great for people-watching. It definitely has that West Coast feel, with a trendy, open and airy design and a creative Asian/Italian/Southwest fusion menu. Diners here enjoy a lot more than just fine thin-crust pizzas. You can't go wrong with the chicken lettuce wraps or the dumplings to start with, and the smoked bacon and gorgonzola chopped salad is a serious contender for best dish. CPK's Thai chicken pizza helped redefine what pizza could be when it was first introduced many years ago.
The crusts are crisp and the red sauce is outstanding, but at Candelari's it's the sausage that really rocks. If you order the create-your-own pizza with Candelari's Italian sausage, green peppers and half the usual amount of mozzarella, you will sink your teeth into the best sausage pizza in the city. The penne with Italian sausage and spaghetti with Italian sausage aren't bad, either.
Cane Rosso serves as a sort of hybrid Vera Pizza Napoletana shop, offering pies ranging from impeccably classic to spicy Texan-friendly riffs that pile on more toppings than the style usually warrants. Sometimes — as with a spicy dealer’s choice che cazzo consisting of hot soppressata, Calabrian chiles, sausage, mushrooms and sambal — the effect is bright and evocative, each additional player supporting and augmenting both the one before and the one after. Of course, if you’re looking for a more elemental thrill, Cane Rosso can definitely provide it. Try the bianca, cacio e pepe in pizza form. With its base of buttery cheese and fine bloom of floral black pepper, it’s a finely tuned delivery system for a very pure kind of pleasure. Similarly, the milky sweetness of house mozzarella plays perfectly against a sprightly tomato sauce with just a kiss of basil in the well-heeled margherita. All pies come atop a delightfully chewy crust, offering just the right tension of tug and snap. The mid-rise crowns come speckled with an array of oven-kissed shades, erupting in the occasional char-burst bubble along the perimeter. The dough itself has a well-developed flavor with a delightfully surprising edge of salt. There are a few worthy appetizers — the burrata is all creamy richness with a slick of olive oil and prick of salt and pepper to wake things up — and a surprisingly user-friendly cocktail list focused on dressed-up and mature versions of crowd-pleasing classics like the Lemon Drop and the Bellini. As a general rule, steer clear of pies that sound overwrought, and don’t bother with dessert.
Cane Rosso serves the most authentic Neapolitan style pizzas in Texas, cooked in our wood-fired ovens in less than 90 seconds at 900 degrees. Named "Best Pizza in Dallas" by D Magazine 5 years in a row, Cane Rosso also serves sandwiches, salads, pastas, and desserts, and also runs a charitable dog rescue group, Cane Rosso Rescue.
In addition to serving up pizza and drinks, Capone's features live music on weeknights and DJs spinning dance tunes in the "hideout" bar area on the weekend. Televised sporting events also draw hungry, younger crowds. Monday night is Steak Night - a 6 oz. filet served with a red wine demi - and other food offerings includes basic salads and sandwiches, appetizers like crab cakes and portobello mushrooms, and, of course, pizza. The trendy restaurant's menu boasts more than a dozen kinds of pie, from classic Margherita to the more inventive Stinky Chick, with chicken, bacon and blue cheese.
This original location is one of only two Carrabba's that are still family-owned. Here is where the franchise began. Old-world service and good homemade Italian cooking still reign, with pasta, veal, chicken dishes and pizzas holding their own. Veal scaloppini prepared a piccata (lemon and capers) with marsala always pleases. The brick chicken also is good; half a chicken cooked with rosemary and garlic sauce, flattened by a weight.
CRISP offers the perfect atmosphere for an after-work drink coupled with a solid wine and craft beer menu and friendly, attentive staff. Unfortunately, the food is inconsistent and confusing. Italian fare is reminiscent of overly seasoned Olive Garden items, while the pizza is too complicated to be appreciated for its crispy, stone-deck-fired crust. Steer clear of the creamy pasta dishes and overwrought pizza, and you'll probably find yourself enjoying a relaxing meal in the chic, modern space nestled in the Heights. Check out the daily specials, which knock a few bucks off the wine or beer during certain hours for an incredibly reasonable night out.
You'll get the best pizza and pasta dishes in the city at this intimate and unassuming little Montrose upscale Italian restaurant. Some of Da Marco's unusual varieties of fish, such as the branzino (Italian sea bass) are jet-flown in from Italy. The wine list is just as innovative as the food, with lots of crisp Proseccos and unusual Piedmont reds. And the service is exceptional -- unless you ask for spaghetti and meatballs.
This Montrose institution – owned by culinary mastermind Marco Wiles along with two other neighborhood favorites, Da Marco and Vinoteca Poscol – makes for the perfect date night. Downstairs, the double-sided wine bar and covered patio are one of the hottest spots to see-and-be-seen, while upstairs, a funky maze of dining rooms offers lots of quiet tables. The menu reads like a tour through Italy, with small plates of fennel bagna cauda, calamari with mint and citrus, and salumis and cheeses imported from Italy which make for the perfect first bites before moving on to the big guns. Those come in the form of rich plates of pasta and scorched, Neapolitan-style pies topped with everything from porchetta and ricotta to clams and garlic.
Opened in 1954, Doyle's is a vintage Houston institution where many
Houstonians ate their first spaghetti and pizza. Spaghetti and
meatballs is the house specialty. The time capsule atmosphere is
great -- and so are the lasagna and the oven-baked sausage poor boy
with red gravy and mozzarella. Bring the kids; it's a family restaurant.
This Market Square pizza place comes from folks who know their pizza: Pink's Pizza expats, who've constructed a menu of fun, playful pizzas that all come in a personal, 12-inch size. The basic Margherita Ville is made with tequila-marinated roma tomatoes and plenty of roasted garlic for a one-two punch, while the Castro is a Cuban-inspired pie with roast pork and plantains. Sandwiches are equally tongue-in-cheek, like the Guido Sarducci filled with meatballs.
For beer connoisseurs in the downtown area, there's no better place to taste, toast and toss back a few brews than the Flying Saucer. With hundreds of beers available you'll find yourself coming back for the cheap, fried food and also, maybe, probably, the attractive, ever-inebriated barflies.
Frank's offers downtown diners superb hand-tossed pizzas, each topped with a homemade sauce. Traditional toppings are a cut above those of the chains, but no pizzeria comes close to Frank's specialties such as pesto spinach or chicken fiesta. For those not pining for pies (there's always one sourpuss in the group), Frank's packs a punch with Philly cheese steaks, Reubens, burgers and buffalo wings.
You can order a pepperoni pizza here, but you'd be missing out on Friends Pizzeria's real specialties: Brazilian-style pizza and X-tudo burgers. A thin, low-gluten crust on the pizza is barely topped with tomato sauce, but covered with all manner of ingredients, some exotic, some not: catupiry cheese, corn, peas, boiled eggs. The X-tudo burgers - Brazilian slang for "with everything" - come similarly outfitted, most with a slice of ham and a fried egg on top as well. Corn, pea and marinara sauce-covered hot dogs are a trip, too, but anyone can enjoy Friends's classic Brazilian desserts: papaya cream and strawberry cream, like fruity shakes in a bowl.
The original Fuzzy's is a manic, old-fashioned pizza scene bustling with Memorial frat rats, well-padded suburbanites, busy delivery men, and entire Little League teams. What fuels this happy frenzy is high-quality toppings that more than compensate for damp-in-the-middle crusts -- as in a vibrant, housemade tomato sauce, ground-on-the-spot sausage and unwimpy mozzarella. For maximum enjoyment, ask for the extra-thin (not the pseudo-thin New York) crust. Fine lasagna is a triumph. Pizza by the slice is a civilized option, as is the new wine list. Three other locations.
The pizzas are baked in a coal oven, just like at the namesake Grimaldi's in Brooklyn. The fresh cheese, imported olive oil, homemade Italian sausage and outstanding red sauce are all from the same sources that supply the Brooklyn restaurant. With stellar toppings and crispy coal oven crust, Grimaldi's serves one of Houston's very best pizzas.
We are an old fashioned general store with modern amenities created to service one of Houston’s oldest historic neighborhoods. Inside we offer a premium full service coffee bar, locally sourced produce and goods, as well as an excellent barbecue menu and draft beer growlers to go. If there’s anything you’d like to see us add to our store please fill out our survey at the bottom of this page. Hope to see you soon!
New cool pub and grub off Washington Ave. with a huge patio with swings, large TV's and fun atmosphere. Live music, steak night & trivia weekly as well as a great daily happy hour. This is the place where you come, hang out, eat, drink and find yourself staying at all day.
