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Click above for a photo tour of Pizaro's Pizza
A magnificent beast of a wood-burning oven lords it over the otherwise modest new Pizaro’s Pizza in Memorial. Domed and clad in a crisp mosaic of black and white, it glows from within with the 900-degree fire of a minor sun, ceaselessly tended by owner Bill Hutchinson and his crew.
Every 90 seconds or so, another thin-crusted pie is snatched from the furnace, its crown puffed up Neapolitan style, like a range of unruly foothills, the surface singed with dark spots of satisfying char. Made according to strict guidelines prescribed by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN), the minders of Neapolitan pizza standards, it is currently the best crust in town — a marvel of stretch and chew and softness and blistery carbon.
Neapolitan wood-burning pizza oven at Pizaro's Pizza in Memorial. Photo by Paul SedilloI can’t get enough of it. Literally. At one dinner with a pizza fanatic friend of mine, we managed to scarf our way through four of Pizaro’s pies. The toppings have such a clear, ringing simplicity that it is tempting to just keep going, ordering one combination after the next.
I usually want to begin with a basic Margherita pizza as a baseline. At Pizaro’s it’s an unfailing marvel: daubed with a bright sauce of crushed San Marzano tomatoes touched with a little sea salt and olive oil, as fresh-tasting and elemental as can be.
Blobbed over the surface are glossy patches of mozzarella that is made daily in-house, poised to unleash a world of milky stretch at each bite. A few green leaves of basil write a finish to the red-white-and-green landscape that is the Margherita’s hallmark.
Part of what makes Pizaro’s pies so effective is their very brief turn through that very hot oven. The mozzarella doesn’t have time to vulcanize, so it emerges at its melty peak. The restaurant offers a fancy (and more expensive) Italian bufala mozzarella as an option, the classic that is made with water-buffalo milk, but I’d rather eat it uncooked in Pizaro’s very nice Caprese salad, layered with tomato slices, olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar.
On the pizzas, this pricier cheese gets a little too blasted and tight. Stick to the mozzarella that is made in-house — or try Hutchinson’s subtle new cold-smoked mozzarella on your pie. It’s great on the Fino pizza, a white pie with a bit of goat cheese, thin slices of fennel sausage crisped to a frizzle, and a softening baste of good olive oil infused with garlic, which gives the pizza a garlic-buttered feel.
The only pie that left me on the fence here was the so-called Sweet Pea, and that was only because the name was literal: the caramelized onions involved seemed to have been sweetened with honey, so that despite a tangle of red and yellow bell peppers and an optional confetti of crumbled Italian sausage, the pizza tasted like dessert.
Caramelized onions have such a beguiling natural sweetness that I wished this version hadn’t been pumped up so much. Or that at least a vigorous scatter of sea salt or salty goat cheese had been applied for balance.
None of which kept me from devouring every last piece of the Sweet Pea, you understand.
What I particularly love about Pizaro’s is the palpable excitement of Hutchinson, his wife, Gloria, and their son Matthew as they tweak and refine their business day by day. There’s always a daily special pizza or a new ingredient to discover, like the splendidly hot red Calabrese peppers that are a new addition. Marinated in oil, they are available scattered onto your pizza or by the $2 side cup.
For a lower-keyed warmth, Hutchinson will drizzle the pepper oil over a pizza. The Polpette pizza with tender little meatballs and dabs of ricotta came fully to life served that way. I wish I had one right now.
And there’s the rub about Pizaro’s: I find myself longing for one of their pies at inconvenient moments. It’s a semi-long haul from the East End to the corner of Memorial and Kirkwood, but this is destination pizza, worth a special trip.
Some who have made that special trip have found themselves frustrated by the service setup. Pizaro’s has only 18 tables, and when they fill up, there has been confusion about whether customers can grab and hold down a table before they stand in line to order. A small sign right at the front door now politely forbids this practice. I’ve never seen a capacity crowd here, but they’re an inevitability when the word gets out, and I would counsel patience. This pizza is worth it.
The pies aren’t huge for their $12-$16 prices, but Pizaro’s seems like a very good value, at least in part because of its liberal BYOB policy. There’s no corkage fee if you bring your own wine, and there’s a lovely corner étagère set up with democratic little glass tumblers, a selection of corkscrews, and a welcoming basket into which corks can be pitched. Beer-loving acquaintances of mine who arranged a craft-brew bottle share at Pizaro’s are still talking about how much fun they had.
The environment, while pleasant enough, is rather stark and boxy. It looks like most of the budget went into that handsome pizza oven, which came all the way from Naples. And I confess to a little pang every time I pick up a plastic fork to eat one of Gloria Hutchinson’s lovely salads from a paper plate. They deserve better: particularly the fine, crisp Caesar with its judicious application of tart, anchovy-tinged dressing. I can think of far fancier restaurants that don’t make a Caesar nearly this good.
Perhaps real utensils and plates must wait for Pizaro’s next iteration. I feel hopeful that the restaurant will continue to evolve, as it has over the couple of months I’ve been visiting. Just last week, the arrival of some earthy, full Taleggio cheese from Italy threw Hutchinson into overdrive, and before long he had dreamed up a special: a white pie strewn with fine shards of excellent prosciutto, splotches of runny Taleggio, a scatter of crunchy walnuts and — added raw when the pie was pulled from the fire —skinny-cut green apple batons plus a crown of arugula leaves glossed with olive oil.
The Hutchinsons had adjusted the timing on this special, cooking it just long enough for the cheese to melt without seizing up, which produced a paler, downier crust that still retained its chew. Much as I prize char on my crusts, I found this variant delightful — gentle without a trace of wussiness.
That’s the thing about Pizaro’s. The place keeps surprising me in a good way. I’ve enjoyed watching as the family gained confidence from their earliest days, so that now they’re charring their crusts more confidently without having to be asked. They’ve done the public relations work with customers who complained that their pizza was “burned,” and they’ve put up posters outlining all the steps, traditions and rationales that go into making Neapolitan-style pies.
They’re educating a new generation of pizza consumers out here in Memorial, from which the city as a whole can only profit.
The Houston pizza scene that once seemed so dreary has perked up considerably in recent years, thanks to Marco Wiles at Dolce Vita and the coal-fired pies of Russo’s and Grimaldi’s. By seeking out training at VPN’s California facility, doing field work in Italy and doggedly pursuing his newly chosen trade, Bill Hutchinson is advancing the city’s pizza arts day by day, as he hand stretches the day’s crop of dough, stretches the fresh mozzarella and feeds his all-important blast furnace from the woodpile underneath.
He’s obsessed. And that’s a compliment.
For my money, he and his family are making the best pizza pies in town.
Start your engines. And let the arguments begin.
Pizaro's Pizza
ΩΩ
14028 Memorial
281-589-7277
www.pizarospizza.com
Key
Ω a good restaurant that we recommend.
ΩΩ very good; one of the best restaurants of its kind.
ΩΩΩ excellent; one of the best restaurants in the city.
ΩΩΩΩ superlative; can hold its own on a national stage.
Nailed this one on the head. Tasty, authentic, well made pizza with fresh toppings. Sterile, uninviting small building. Bet it will get pretty hot in there during the summer with the massive oven. Pretty pricey (small portions) for lunch. The tiny plastic/paper plate must have been piled six inches high with lettuce though.
I was going to say that pizza looks as good as Dough's, but then I saw the picture of the oven. Well worth the cost of having it shipped over! I'll make a note for the next time I'm in Htown.
Couldnt agree more! We've been going here since the 2nd week they opened and have NEVER been disappointed. Great pizza! Bill's enthusiasium for his craft is contagious.
Absolutely spot on. The margherita here is as good as I've ever had. So light and elemental, with the perfect char on the crust. I ate there twice last week it was so good.
I could care less if someone follows VPN, I just want a good pie. Coming from New Haven I have opinions of what I want and it is not something I expect to ever find in Houston. That said, Pizaro's is fine. They did not make mine how I asked, but it tasted better than most in town. I will give it ago again, but I am still looking forward to going to Sally's in September.
Doesn't New Haven have a style of its own that would be difficult to find...anywhere outside of New Haven?
Ignore him, Frankie. He's just being a typical Yankee.
shouldnt VPN be difficult to find outside of Naples?
Hmmm...Dolce Vita is a few minutes away, while this place is outside the Loop. Could it be that much better than Dolce Vita to warrant driving out and dealing with suburbanites?? I'm guessing no....
Would it be a bad thing if there are two different good Italian restaurants in (gasp!) different parts of town? Would it kill either business in an area with millions of residents?
You'd guess wrong. Dolce Vita was my gold standard for pizza in Houston. Emphasis on was.
We aren't so bad. I mean, yeah, we bite but...not hard or anything.
Great review. Thanks. I can't put my finger on it precisely, but I liked Dough in San Antonio just a little better. (The two got their ovens from the same Italian maker.) I went a couple months' back and Pizaro's didn't char my pizzas quite enough, their homemade muzz wasn't quite as good, and they didn't have some of the better meats that Dough did (homemade duck pastrami, maybe some sausage...). Sorry I can't be more precise about what it is about Dough that puts them in my mind right up with Pepe's and Sally's in New Haven (the New Haven "apizzas" are more oily and casual, and they have regular pepperoni and white clam, so I like them a bit better and they seem more of an American/Italian hybrid than the Dough/Pizaro style that seems more self-consciously strict Italian).
Alison, have you been to Dough?
Not yet. I have friends who love it and have made trips to San Antonio specifically to eat there. Some of those friends tell me Dough has slipped a little recently. I still want to check it out.
Hooray!! Alison you did nail this wonderful pizza restaurant. We have been already several times . Each time I marvel at the delicious pizzas that fly out of that oven.The owners are wonderful and so welcoming. I wish them all the success in the world. Run out there everyone that is ready this comment you will love the place,I carry their postcards around with me to hand out like a great betting tip.Bravo to Pizaro'
s and to Alison for great food and a great review!!!!
Very tasty pizzas, sparse on the toppings, but that is apparently authentic... Great crust.
Hope the owners will plow some of the profits (these pies aren't cheap) into the surroundings. Right now it is only slightly more welcoming than a Five Guys. Small and cozy is fine, I ate at Fred's Italian Corner for years...but small and spartan is not very inviting. Bravo to them on their generous BYOB policy though.
I finally went last week for the first time and reacted exactly as you have, Allison. Your review is spot-on and I think we've eaten most of the same things there, including that lovely "special" pizza from last week w/ the Tellagio and apples. I had the same reaction to the cesar and to the caprese salad, which is so often a disappointment.
It is really, really good and I think better than Dolce Vita actually. If it were any closer to me, I'd be in pretty big trouble I'm afraid - ha! I'm just glad that I-10 is easier than it used to be because I'm sure I'll be heading out that way fairly often. I have lamented about the sad state of affairs in the realm of pizza here for quite some time. This place makes me happy.
Thought I would share this with you. We are humbled by all of this.
Come see us some time. Pass this along to others at Wayne.
Miss you all.
Bill, my wife and I will be in on Saturday.
Pity I can't bend your ear about franchising... :)
We've been to Pizaro's three times since they opened. One of the nice things about living in the "oh-seven-nine" is the three or four minute drive to Pizaro's. Alison, there's no shame in living on the west side, especially here in Memorial.
Similar to the New Haven guy previously, I'm a New York style guy. To me there's nothing quite like MY kind of pie. We each have our favorites (mine is a sausage and onion pie).
I'm not ashamed to say that I REALLY am a VPN fan now. So simple. Such quality. The Margherita pizza is perfect!! Better than the great pies I had in New York and New Jersey last month.
Spot on review, Alison! Went there for the first time a few months ago, and was very impressed. I like the Russo's Coal-Fired place on 290 very much, but they are somewhat inconsistent. Pizaro's is consistently fine. The restaurant is very stark, and with success, they may upgrade the surroundings, but I'm fine with the spartan digs for now.
Thanks for the tip on using the house mozz on the pizza and saving the Bufala for raw consumption. Great idea.
mmmmmm....
We made a point to stop in recently after purchasing an automobile at one of the ubiquitous dealerships on nearby I-10, hoping it to be the best in Houston as advertised. We were disappointed by a distinct metallic taste in the dough. We've got similar nits to pick with Dolce Vita and others in the next tier. So we remain bigger fans of Piola. (Your otherwise-positive review whiffed on the superb quality of Piola's cheese, as my friends who are transplants from Italy attest.)
I'll root for homegrown over a chain anyday, even one based in Treviso. But as first order of business it has to actually be superior.
This is the BEST pizza, and we are the luckiest ones in Houston because Pizaro's is right here in our shopping center! They make their own mozzarella and sauce daily, and the crust is amazing! Be sure to order your own pie, you'll want to eat the whole thing. We posted about our recent dinner at Pizaro's on Ann's blog, annsfinegiftsblog.com. Support and enjoy independently owned businesses where the owners greet the customers personally!
Pizaro's opened in our shopping center and we LOVE eating their delicious pizza! They make their own ingredients, sauce, crust, and mozzarella, amazing flavors and crisp crust. Come eat the best pizza you ever tasted and enjoy quality food made by the owners themselves! Ann blogged about Pizaro's Pizza Napoletana on her blog, www.annsfinegiftsblog.com
My family loves Pizaro's Pizza, the Huthinson family are great hosts and always welcome guests in such a warm manner. As a nicec plus they are BYOB so we can enjoy a bottle of our own wine. With Spring Break it has been two long weeks without their pizza. I suspect we will visit before the weekend is over.
We were so underwhelmed by our experience. Pizza ended up being too soggy to enjoy. As a person who's lived in Northern Italy, Houstonians are still missing out on the real deal.
I agree. The crust was way too soggy.
Dear Ms. Cooke,
The bufflao is not made out of water as would be the case in "water-buffalo milk"; I will try a $16 pizza in Houston, but do wonder if you have ever had the full range of New York (true New York Pizza) styles, let alone a glorious 'pizza Romana' at Barfettos, in Rome, or any of a doizen pizzarie, in Naples - I did havgin lived in Rome for 6 years.
By what standard do you jude pizza? How are you uniquely qualified to tell a metropolis of more than 2 million what is a good pizza?
Frightening, the rubbish this newspaper published, and on a regular basis. It show that ignorance is no bar to wiriting for a newspaper.
Wow. Such piety! Keep the solid reviews coming, Allison. Thankfully more than 2 million of us aren't lording living in Rome over everyone's head. I can't wait to try Pizaro's.
Obviously you don't follow Allison and know her food pedigree. I relish every word that she writes - the Chronicle is a better paper because of her. Unfortunately, my belly is a fan as well - wanting to try out her findings. Allison is too classy to respond to your pithy comments - someone needs to smack your nose with a 29-95.
Allison,
I once owned a globe and how dare you compare this Pizza to the Pizza I had at.... Wait I just found the globe. Ooooh now I get it, you comment on food that is available to me on my spec of the globe. Very sneaky, you disguise your blatent Houston pizza agenda in the local paper, nicely played.
Good pizza, but often soggy. If you want a real Italian pizza you need to go where real Italians go: Piola.
Thanks guys, I just about lost it loonikg for this.
Do you know this place? Went here hoping for a map but none.
It's at 14028 Memorial, as indicated above. That's on the northwest corner of Memorial @ Kirkwood. Or just plug "14028 Memorial Drive Houston TX" into Google Maps and voila.