bye pi
Cult-favorite Houston pizza restaurant announces shutter
A once-heralded Houston pizza joint is folding. Sambrooks Management Company restaurant group announced the shutter of Pi Pizza (181 Heights Blvd.) at the close of business on Friday, February 21.
Pi Pizza was the brainchild of edgy pizza chef Anthony Calleo, who started the concept as a pizza truck and was given the green light for a brick-and-mortar location by then-head of Cherry Pie Hospitality, Lee Ellis, in 2016. The two became popular figures in Houston dining and hospitality circles.
As CultureMap previously reported, Sambrooks Management Company acquired Pi Pizza, along with Starfish (now 1751 Sea and Bar) and Lee’s Fried Chicken & Donuts (now Sam’s Fried Chicken & Donuts) in August of 2018.
“We loved the pizza from Pi, we just didn’t have the time and bandwidth to give Pi the focus it needed given the demands of our other concepts,” said Michael Sambrooks, owner/operator, in a statement.
As for the staff, Sambrooks noted that “several Pi employees are moving to our other concepts and we wish the best to those talented folks that are going off to other opportunities.”