‘Pizza Joint of the Year’ serves up thin crust nostalgia
Esquire snubbed Houston among its recent 50 picks for best new restaurants in America, but a Montrose restaurant did get a nod as the country’s “Pizza Joint of the Year.”
If readers scroll about halfway down the digital version of the magazine’s story, they’ll find Nonno’s Family Pizza among a trio of special category winners. The entry praises chef Martin Stayer’s cracker-thin Chicago tavern-style pizzas, paired with the cocktails and fun vibes of the restaurant.
The pizza parlor, located next door to Stayer’s popular bar Toasted Coconut, has been one of the year’s hottest openings. On any given night, the dining room is buzzing with Houstonians who not only order pizzas but also find other Italian-inspired classics they’ve come to know from Stayer’s first restaurant Nobie’s.
“The whole focus of Nonno’s is what you’ve had 100 times, but doing it right each time,” Stayer said.
Here’s what to know about the Houston restaurant that’s now on the radar of pizza lovers across the country.
What’s the 411 on Nonno’s?
Stayer and his wife, Sara Stayer, debuted this pizza parlor at 1613 Richmond back in late July. They described the project not only as an expansion of their business, but it’s also their passion project.
The fun space, adorned with vintage Pizza Hut lamps and arcade games with plenty of ’80s and ’90s nostalgia, pays homage to Chicago’s tavern-style pies. Chicago is also where the couple met before moving to Houston.
Pizza takes center stage, but there are other chef-y items on the menu — think pastas, a Houston-themed riff on a Philly cheesesteak and even mussels doused in dry vermouth, garlic, shallots and herbs.
What make Nonno’s Pizza Joint of the Year?
Freelance writer Omar Mamoon, who’s based in the Bay Area and has contributed to Esquire’s best new restaurants coverage in the past, came to town in September to hit up a number of new openings. While his scouting work didn’t push any Houston restaurants onto the main list, he did fall in love with Nonno’s.
The publication snuck Nonno’s in as one of three “special category winners.” Baroo in Los Angeles and Superiority Burger in New York City both won Comeback of the Year awards.
“When I was a kid, I would go to Shakey’s — it was America’s first pizza chain. I loved it for the mediocre but still delicious pizza, the excellent Mojo Potatoes, and the arcade, of course,” Mamoon wrote in the one-paragraph entry. “Nonno’s in Houston evokes the retro pizza parlors of my youth, Pac-Man and all, but the pizza is much, much better.”
What’s the dining experience like at Nonno’s?
Fun and casual is how the Stayers often describe Nonno’s. It’s as comfortable to belly up to the bar for a frozen Negroni as it is to bring children for pizza on a school night.
There are no televisions because the Nonno’s team wants customers to interact more, they said, and the sprawling dining room is set up with vintage arcades. Upbeat music is often playing in the background as a flashback to the ’90s.
What is Chicago tavern-style pizza?
Deep dish gets all the attention, but anyone who’s spent significant time in the Windy City knows tavern-style pies are more popular.
There’s no stretching or tossing of the dough, but it does take a few days to make the thin crust of each pizza at Nonno’s: Fermentation takes three days, and there’s an overnight curing process that helps make each square slice stay crisp, according to Martin Stayer. The kitchen uses a dough sheeter to make it extra thin. He added that the goal for Nonno’s is to be able to turn out a high volume of pizzas quickly.
Customers can order traditional cheese pizzas, but the Stayers offer other options with cheeky names like the Maui Wowee (Spam, pineapple, smoked jalapeno) and Meat Head (capicola, pepperoni, sausage).
What should you order at Nonno’s?
Pizza, obviously. But salads, sandwiches, pastas and even red-sauce classics like chicken piccata are options for diners. The frozen Negroni is not to be missed.
As Stayer puts it, “The food is part of the experience that makes everything happen.”