pizza boom continues

Mountain Mike’s Pizza from Calif. bakes up first Houston location

Mountain Mike's is known for their jumbo pizzas.

Photo courtesy of Mountain Mike's Pizza

A pizza chain from California famous for its enormous pizzas will soon be slinging them in the Houston area: Mountain Mike’s Pizza is coming to Cypress, with a location at at 24320 Northwest Freeway, Suite 100 that will open later this spring.

It will be the chain's first Houston location. It already has four stores in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Their pizzas can be ordered in a customer-pleasing array of sizes, from a 6-inch mini starting at $7 for a pepperoni, to a 14-inch large. But the trademark is their "Mountain" size which spans 20 inches, with a pepperoni going for $33.

The company’s other signature is their curly pepperoni. They get the pepperoni to curl by enclosing it in a collagen casing, which makes it shrink in the oven into little cups.

Their menu includes classics like all-meat, vegetarian, and loaded, with meat and veggie. Other notable options include:

BBQ at the Ranch: chicken, bacon, tomato, and onion on BBQ sauce with ranch dressing
Garlic Tuscan: Louisiana hot sausage, salami, black olives, garlic, green onion, and sun dried tomato on classic red sauce
Pineapple Chicken Luau: chicken, bacon, and pineapple on BBQ sauce

They also offer wings, both boneless and bone-in, plus salads, mozzarella sticks, crinkle-cut wedge potato fries, desserts, beer, and wine.

The Cypress restaurant spans 2,500 square feet with 7 big-screen TVs for sports-watching, a kids arcade area, and a 340-square-foot patio. At lunch on weekdays, they host an all-you-can-eat pizza and salad buffet bar.

The Cypress restaurant will be owned by family members Nadeem Rajani, Karim Rajani, and Danish Faraz. The trio have also secured the rights to open at least two more locations.

Mountain Mike’s was founded in 1978 in Palo Alto, California. It now has almost 300 restaurants across California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Idaho.

“Once we tasted Mountain Mike’s delicious high-quality pizza made with fresh dough and ingredients, we knew other Houstonians would enjoy Mountain Mike’s Pizza as much as we did,” Nadeem Rajani said in a statement. “Mountain Mike’s Pizza brings families, sports fans, and communities together, and we are excited to introduce this iconic brand that’s well-known for its welcoming restaurant environment and commitment to the communities it serves to our tightknit city of Cypress.”

2 staples shuttered

Downtown Italian restaurant and Upper Kirby wine bar suddenly close

Cru, seen here in happier times.

Inevitably, the end of the year brings a surprise closure or two, and 2024 is no exception. Both a staple downtown Italian restaurant and an Upper Kirby wine bar have quietly closed this week.

Sambuca closed after service on December 16, owner Kim Forsythe shared on Facebook. Open for 22 years in downtown’s The Rice apartment building, the restaurant was well known for its live music and lively atmosphere. While the restaurant had long been a staple for both downtown office workers and residents, it never fully recovered from the lingering economic changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In recent years, we've faced challenges that have tested our resilience,” Forsythe writes. “The changing climate of our city, with rising homelessness and crime, coupled with the lingering impacts of COVID and the resulting empty office spaces, has created a perfect storm that we could not weather. Though we fought with everything we had to keep our doors open, we're choosing to close this chapter with gratitude, carrying countless memories over the past 22 years.”

Crú Food & Wine Bar has closed its location in Upper Kirby’s Shops at Arrive development, according to a post former managing partner Annette Amaya on Instagram. In addition to the post about the closure, it is no longer accepting reservations via Open Table.

First opened in 2011, Crú earned a following for its eclectic wine list and a food menu that focused on familiar fare such as cheese and charcuterie boards and pizzas. Its location in The Woodlands remains open.

The Shops at Arrive have been busy this year with new openings. Staples such as Eddie V’s and Pondicheri have been joined by PostScript, a female-focused restaurant inspired by Dallas’ XOXO Dining Room, and Kira, an intimate hand roll bar from the team behind upscale omakase counter Neo.

closings news-you-can-eat