Rosa’s Pizza Ristorante Italiano (Katy, TX) – The Real Deal

Vegetable Pizza

Rosa's Pizza with Mushrooms, Olives and Onions (Katy, TX)

Houston, TX and the surrounding area has a long history of great foods; barbeque, Tex-Mex, seafood and even Cajun cooking.For a metropolitan area of 4+ million people there is a definite shortage of good pizza joints. For those that live on the east coast you have no idea how good you have it with a pizza joint in every strip mall. I have lived in Houston for 15 years and there is only a handful of pizza places worthy of their name. I am not saying that there are not restaurants that make a good pizza in Houston, but my trepidation is strong enough that I am not willing to risk the disappointment. This fear of the a pizzeria over promising and under delivering stopped me from trying out Rosa’s Pizza Ristorante Italiano off of Mason Road for nine years when I moved to Katy, TX in 2002. Shame on me is all I have to say.

There are those that will argue the finer points of a New York style thin crust versus the Chicago style deep dish and then are those that will say that only artisan style wood fire pizza is worthy of the name. There are merits to all of these offerings and they are all good. However, a bad rendition of one of these styles will leave you disappointed. I must qualify this by saying that I have never met a pizza that I did not like. Granted, some of them were down right terrible, but then I have nostalgic pangs for Ellios frozen pizza of my youth.

Rosa’s Pizza is the real deal. The crust is super thin but chewy as it is intended. I have not seen them do it, but I am confident that they either a light coating of garlic oil or garlic butter to the crust before adding the sauce. The sauce and cheese are applied at the right level making for a perfectly cooked and amazingly flavored cheese pizza.

Aside from them preparing an amazing cheese pizza, the toppings that are available (both on and off the menu) can satisfy anyone’s cravings. For a time I was ordering my pizza with spicy Capicola and mushrooms. The spicy Capicola is not on the official topping menu, but the proprietor will add it to your pizza if you ask. Likewise, they use real Italian sliced sausage for their pizza toppings versus that “sausage like” spongy crumble sadly perfected by the pizza chains.

They serve more then just pizza for sit down dining and takeout. I have not yet tried the rest of the menu, but I am sure it is all phenomenal. The restaurant is a family run business originally from Italy via New Jersey. It is evident that they take pride in their food and service. They prices are not cheap, but then this is not CiCi’s Pizza Buffet. They serve good authentic New York style thin crust pizza at a price that I would expect to pay. I always order the large 19″ pizza and it is just the right amount for two people. This may seem like a lot of food for two people, but considering how light and thin is the pizza do not be alarmed when there is not a slice of cold leftover pizza to eat the next morning.

 

 

 


4 comments

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  1. I agree that the is a dis-appointing lack of good pizza shops in Houston. People have raved about Canderlaris but it is just too expensive and everywhere else I’ve tried is just okay. Most of the time I just make our own.

  2. From my time in South Philly, I consider the best pizza the ‘bought by the slice’ tomato pie to be had at the italian market. Thin crispy dough with sauce and tomato slices, a bit of oregano… heaven.

    I have found an establishment that manages a crispy crust and ‘real’ toppings such as sliced sausage, spicy meatballs, chopped garlic (not the crap in a jar) and fresh mushrooms. Fat Tony’s at 1460 Eldridge is guaranteed to give a good pizza experience. Try the Tony’s favorite.

  3. My favourite style of pizza is Napoli (or Neapolitan) and the best I ever had was in Courchevel, France, but that’s a bit far to go. I heard there is new place at Kirkwood and Memorial called Pizaros that does authentic Napoli style pizza that I will be trying soon.

  4. Pizaros is good.

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