A popular pizza popup from chef Angelo Emiliani, formerly of Cafe Louie, is getting a permanent home in the Heights.
Angie’s Pizza is slated to open in July at 1002 W. 11th St., Suite A, serving Neapolitan-style pies. The restaurant will occupy a renovated 1950s ceramic building designed by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, blending midcentury modern design with personal touches inspired by Emiliani’s family.
For its next chapter, Angie’s is expanding beyond pizza with appetizers, a full pasta menu, and dishes such as polenta “fries” with Zin Zin cheese sauce and wood-fired cannelloni with arrabbiata and guanciale. The beverage program will feature an Italian-focused wine list and spritz-forward cocktails.
Emiliani first started hosting pizza popups in Houston in 2020, after moving back from Los Angeles. He had a portable wood fired pizza oven that he lugged around to the East End. Former critic Allison Cook called it “a sublime pizza experience.”
“It’s immensely humbling to go from pulling a little pizza trailer around to getting the opportunity to build this restaurant. We’re so excited for Houston to see what we’ve created; it’s beyond my wildest dreams,” Emiliani said.
His passion for Neapolitan-style pizza was shaped by his work with and mentorship from James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco, which started in Phoenix.
Emiliani’s kitchen career actually started at Uchi in Houston. His resume also includes stints at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry and Ad Hoc in Napa Valley, as well as serving as chef de cuisine at Tartine LA.
The pizzeria was always supposed to be Emiliani’s first restaurant, he said. The pop-ups came to a halt when the opportunity arose to open Cafe Louie, which debuted in 2022 with sandwiches and pastries. The restaurant made the Houston Chronicle’s Top 100 list at the time. Emiliani’s sister, Lucianna “Louie” Emiliani, was the pastry chef and will take on the same role at Angie’s.
One year and a rebrand later, the restaurant closed. Emiliani wasn’t sure he would open another restaurant. He moved back to Los Angeles to work as culinary director at the Pizzeria Bianco location there.
His now-business partner, Alex Dunlevie, encouraged him to return to Houston and open the restaurant he had always envisioned. They signed a lease for the space last summer and have been working toward the opening since.