A rapidly expanding, Dallas-based pizza chain has partnered with one of America's largest grocery chains to continue growing as quickly as possible. Zalat Pizza will begin opening pizzerias inside Kroger stores, and Houston has been selected as the pilot market.

The first Zalat-in-a-Kroger will open this Friday, October 21 at Kroger’s Cypress Towne Lake Marketplace supermarket. A second restaurant will open in December at the Conroe Marketplace. More locations will follow in 2023.

"As we continue to promote Kroger as a destination for superior food offerings, the opportunity to collaborate with Zalat Pizza, one of the hottest rising stars in the restaurant industry, was very appealing to us,” Kroger executive Garret Fairchild said in a statement. “We believe that offering customers convenient pickup and on-demand delivery access to Zalat’s delicious, handmade, New York-style pizza creations will be a much-welcomed addition to our local Kroger communities.”

Founded in 2015 by University of Houston alum Khanh Nguyen, Zalat puts its own spin on familiar pizzas with creatively topped pies like the Nashville hot chicken with pickles, Elote (Srirancha, corn, lemon pepper), or the Pepperoni Masterclass (all-beef pepperoni, oregano, cracked black pepper, chopped garlic).

In addition, the restaurant makes all of its own dough and sauces — including its trademarked Srirancha, a combination of Sriracha and ranch — and bakes them in a traditional deck oven. Overall, Zalat has opened six Houston-area locations since late 2021.

"Kroger is the largest grocery retailer in the world with over 2,500 locations among its many iconic brands, and we are elated to partner with them on this project," Nguyen added. "We are especially excited that Kroger is interested in us because of our best-of-class quality and dedication to our craft. Our model has always been about maintaining the highest levels of execution at large scale."

Zalat isn't the only restaurant working in partnership with Kroger. Acres Homes institution Burns Original BBQ has opened locations in three Houston-area stores.