pizza party on richmond

New pizza restaurant energizes Richmond Avenue with tasty pies, late-night eats, and bottle service

A new restaurant is throwing a pizza party on the Richmond Strip. Parma recently debuted in the former Barry’s Pizza space at the corner of Richmond Avenue and Fountain View Drive.

The latest project from the Eighty Six’d Bar & Restaurant Group, Parma joins downtown favorite Bovine & Barley and Midtown sushi staple The Fish in the company’s portfolio. Owner Michael Collins tells CultureMap that he wants to balance appealing to Barry’s regulars during the day with a new, late-night vibe that fits in with Richmond Avenue hot spots like Prospect Park and Sam’s Boat.

“In order to make this place work and pay the rent on a high volume corner like this, we have to have three things: lunch, happy hour, and late night,” Collins says. “That’s the only way we’ll be able to succeed here.”

To create the right atmosphere, the space has received a comprehensive makeover that includes an expanded patio — complete with a DJ booth — new lighting fixtures, new booths, and an Instagram-friendly neon sign at the entrance. A basketball hoop and a bell are about all that remain from the Barry’s days.

Collins had some success at Wholesome Pies in far northeast Houston (now under new ownership as Lupo Pizzeria), but he’s swapped that restaurant’s Neapolitan-style wood-fired pies for more familiar New York and Detroit styles. Pizza fans will find a wide array of popular combinations ranging from basics like pepperoni and cheese to Buffalo chicken, the Mr. Green Jeans (collard greens, ham, mozzarella, parmesan, honey), and a Frito Pie topped with beef chili, onions, and Fritos.

A former Barry’s cook has stayed on to help execute the menu. Collins notes that he invested in proper Detroit-style steel pizza pans to give the deep dish pies the necessary crispy edge.

Shareable appetizers such as tempura fried shrimp with sweet mayo, Asian-style sticky ribs, and The Fish’s signature blue crab fried rice have all been added to the menu. Cocktails, frozens, and craft beer offer plenty of pairing options.

The restaurant also offers Viet-Cajun crawfish for $3 per pound (5-pound minimum; sausage, corn, and potatoes available for an additional cost). No, that price isn’t a typo. Collins is serious about luring new customers to give Parma a chance.

Lunch specials include a slice of New York or Detroit-style and salad ($10), meatball sandwich with fries ($12), and the Business Man’s Lunch — a slice of pepperoni pizza and a shot of Jameson for $6.

Parma shifts to 21-plus after 8 pm. The red-and-white checkered tablecloths come off and the music gets turned up. Bottle service becomes available. The restaurant stays open until midnight during the week (closed Monday) and 2 am on Friday and Saturday night.

Admittedly, that sort of environment isn’t for everyone, but people can always get their pizza to-go. On the plus side, the response has been pretty positive so far.

“We’re giving what the neighborhood desires,” Collins says.

Porky pie with pulled pork, jalapenos, pineapple, etc.

Courtesy of Parma

Porky pie with pulled pork, jalapenos, pineapple, etc.

nightlife pizza openings news-you-can-eat

Chris Cusack explains

Houston bar owner speaks out about surprise arrest for health code violations

Photo by Sergio Trevino

Chris Cusack owns two locations of Betelgeuse Betelgeuse.

Certainly one of the most unusual interactions between a restaurant and City of Houston officials took place on Wednesday, May 6 when Betelgeuse Betelgeuse owner Chris Cusack was arrested for health code violations at his location on Washington Avenue.

News of the arrest spread quickly across social media over the weekend. Now, Cusack is ready to tell his side of the story.

Cusack, whose time operating restaurants in Houston goes back more than 15 years to Down House and its affiliated restaurants such as Hunky Dory and D&T Drive Inn, tells CultureMap the problem began on Monday, May 4 when a health department inspector came to Betelgeuse Betelgeuse and asked to see the restaurant’s grease trap.

The only problem is that location has never had a grease trap. Prior to becoming Betelgeuse Betelgeuse, it was Liberty Station, a pioneering bar in Houston’s craft beer and craft cocktail scenes. In the early days, Betelgeuse served food from a food truck. More recently, it prepares its food next door at The Bell and Crane. Cusack acknowledges he didn’t share this information with the inspector.

“Usually I’m a charmer with the health department, but I was a little defensive. She kept asking me. I said, ‘ma’am, we don’t make food here,’” he explains. “The tone wasn’t my finest moment, but there was no name calling or anything like that. She said, ‘where does the food come from?’ I said, ‘it doesn’t matter where it comes from. It’s produced in a commercial kitchen.’”

Cusack says he knew there would be a follow up, but he was shocked when the inspector returned two days later with more colleagues from the health department, TABC inspectors, and Houston Police Department officers.

“I got somewhere between 21 and 25 citations,” Cusack says about the return visit. He got dinged for everything from graffiti in the bathroom to a missing Harris County tax stamp on the photo booth he leases from a vendor (it has both State of Texas and City of Houston stamps, Cusack says).

One inspector told Cusack he needed a food dealer’s permit. He showed the inspector that a food dealer’s permit had been issued for the restaurant's address under the former food truck’s LLC but not to the LLC that operates Betelgeuse Betelgeuse. Cusack says he had renewed the food truck’s permit in March, but that wasn’t good enough for the inspector. In Cusack’s telling, he was arrested for not having the permit, since it was also flagged as missing in an inspection from October 2025. He's the only person he knows who has ever been arrested for a misdemeanor violation of the health code.

Cusack says he spent 21 hours in the Harris County Jail. When he got out, he says he was contacted by a more senior official within the Health Department. Once Cusack confirmed he owned both LLCs, he was told he could reopen. Both locations of Betelgeuse Betelgeuse have been operating normally since Friday, May 8.

Cusack maintains he never knew about the October 2025 inspection, which is why he renewed the food dealer’s permit for the food truck’s LLC rather than applying for one under Betelgeuse Betelgeuse’s LLC. “There’s no paper trail that shows I was given this information,” he says. “I did not get the email [from the Health Department].”

As for why things got so out of hand, Cusack theorizes he was a victim of Houston Mayor John Whitemire’s crack down on “reckless behavior” on Washington Avenue and stepped up enforcement on bars generally that led to the temporary closure of near northside cocktail bar Rabbit’s Got the Gun.

Cusack says he’s a “huge supporter” of efforts to reduce crimes like street racing, drug dealing, and sex trafficking along Washington and in its surrounding neighborhoods. Still, he feels targeting by the city for being impolite to a health inspector.

He plans to fight both the arrest and the citations in court. “I want the charges dropped, and I want it expunged completely from my record. That’s the first thing, and I’m going to try very hard to do it,” he says.

“That’s going to end up costing thousands of dollars just to deal with the sheer volume,” he adds.

CultureMap contacted Mayor Whitmire’s office. A representative said the mayor was not aware of the situation and has no comment on an open investigation.

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