chron.com | February 20, 2024
Houston is a pizza town. The city has recently won accolades from Esquire to the Washington Post, and regional pizza styles have begun to find a foothold among local pie fans. Austin-based chain Via 313 is hoping to capitalize on the city’s pizza renaissance.
After years of anticipation, Via 313 finally announced a grand opening date for its first-ever Houston location: March 10. The pizza restaurant will debut in Memorial City along the Katy Freeway, taking up a spot previously housed by a Kolache Factory and Smoothie King. The Houston storefront marks the chain’s eighteenth restaurant.
Serving rectangular pizzas baked in an equally rectangular steel pan, Via 313 plans to serve traditional and non-traditional pies. Common toppings like pepperoni, mushroom and pineapple-ham are a menu staple, but the restaurant also doles out specialities like The Big Dill pie, which is topped with dill pickles, dill ranch and bacon.
Courtesy of Via 313Detroit natives Brandon and Zane Hunt opened the first Via 313 in Austin in 2011.Food Network and Food & Wine Magazine, among others, have lauded the brothers’ pizza restaurant as one of the most authentic Detroit pies in Texas. Originally a family business, the Hunts reached an investment deal with Savory in 2020, totaling about $100 million. Since then, the restaurant has expanded to multiple locations in Texas and Utah.
Regional styles of pizza have continued to grow in popularity throughout Houston. In September 2023, Anthony Calleo, formerly of Pi Pizza, opened Gold Tooth Tony’s, a Detroit-style pie shop in the Heights. Nonno’s also made headlines for its 90’s arcade ambience and Chicago-style tavern pizzas.
10201 Katy Fwy Ste 350; via313.com/locations/10201-katy-freeway/
