For Houston pizza fans, particularly those who live inside the Loop, the news they have been looking forward to for months is here. The Montrose location of beloved Italian pizza restaurant Pizaro's Pizza Napoletana is back on track.
"After a long wait, we just picked up the permits today," owner Bill Hutchinson tells CultureMap. Construction to transform the former Bobbit Glass building will begin soon with a plan to open in January 2015. When Pizaro's first announced its expansion plans last year, Hutchinson hoped to be open this July, but the city permitting process proved to be more daunting than he originally anticipated.
Pizaro's is so widely regarded as the best pizza in Houston that it can't help but find an audience.
The only bad news is that plans for a 300 square-foot patio have been scrapped. Otherwise, the restaurant will be what Hutchinson has planned: Twice as big as the original, with two, jet-black Italian ovens and a better looking interior than the west side original. "We've got a little more money this time," Hutchinson says with a laugh.
Capacity will be about 90 people, but one thing hasn't changed. Pizaro's will still be strictly BYOB.
Even with high-quality options like Dolce Vita, The Pass & Provisions and Romano's already in Montrose, Pizaro's is so widely regarded as the best pizza in Houston that it can't help but find an audience. For pizza lovers, January can't get here quickly enough.
Pizaro's Neapolitan-style pies are widely considered the best Italian pizza in Houston.
Photo by Ruthie Miller
Pizaro's Neapolitan-style pies are widely considered the best Italian pizza in Houston.
Goat chops, curries, and naan are coming to Katy. Aga’s Restaurant & Catering, the cherished Indo-Pak restaurant that’s a staple of Houston’s South Asian community, will open its first new location in 25 years on Wednesday, June 24.
Called Aga’s To Go, the new restaurant will be located at The Shoppes at Grand Crossing (102 W. Grand Parkway S., Suite 100). As it names implies, the restaurant is a to-go only facility that’s designed for both takeout and delivery via third party apps. While diners won’t be able to eat at the restaurant, they will be able to enjoy Aga’s cuisine at home in a more convenient than by traveling to the original location in Southwest Houston.
The new restaurant will serve about 100 of the original location’s most popular offerings — all in compliance with the standards of zabiha halal. Customers can look forward to ordering kababs, boti, biryani, curries, freshly baked breads, and, of course, the signature goat chops.
“This new location is a direct response to the growth of our business and the tremendous support we’ve received from customers throughout Katy and west Houston,” Zain Maredia, Aga’s head of growth and strategy, said in a statement. “Many of our guests make a considerable drive to enjoy Aga’s, and we’re excited to bring our food closer to them while creating new opportunities for our team and our company. Katy has been one of our strongest customer bases for years, making it a natural next step as we continue to grow.”
Aga’s has plans for additional to-go only locations, according to press materials. Long term, the restaurant has its eyes on full service locations in other Texas cities such as Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas, CEO Shaukat Maredia tells the Houston Chronicle.
The Maredia family purchased Aga’s in 2010. Since then, they’ve grown the restaurant’s location at 11842 Wilcrest Dr. into a more than 16,000-square-foot behemoth that serves hundreds of diners every day. Along the way, Aga’s has earned wide acclaim, including multiple nominations for Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year in the CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, a no. 1 rating in the Houston Chronicle’s list of the city’s top 100 restaurants, and a spot on the New York Times’ list of The 26 Best Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2024.
Writing for CultureMap in 2023, Burger Bodega owner Abbas Dhanani hailed Aga’s as “the best Pakistani restaurant not just in Houston, but in the nation.” His top recommendations include the goat chops, chicken shinwari karahi, butter chicken handi, and white kabab karahi
All that attention has drawn considerable interest from other media, including this deep drive from YouTube superstar Mark Wiens that’s racked up more than 1.7 million views.
The restaurant funds college scholarships for high school seniors. This year, 25 students, including some from Katy, received a total of $100,000.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received over the years,” Maredia said. “Houston has embraced our food, our family, and our story. Food has a unique way of bringing people together, and we’re excited to continue sharing that experience with even more guests through our new Katy location.”
