What are the best pizza and Italian restaurants in Texas ?

[badhornet]

Juan's Pizza and Tamale truck in Sanderson Texas

[gguerra]

Has anyone tried Aldino Cucina Italiano in SA off of I-10 and 1604..

Aldino Cucina Italiano - San Antonio, TX

[itchyfeet68]

Originally Posted by homeinatx

There was never much Italian emigration to Texas and there are no substantial Italian or Italian-American communities in the state. Consequently Italian food is mostly ersatz, clueless and inauthentic. Looking for great Italian food in Texas is like looking for great Mexican food in the northeast: 90% of it is awful, and the good stuff tends to be more expensive. The overwhelming majority of Italian restaurants don't make their pasta from scratch, make sauces like Alfredo which Italians have not eaten in 50 years, if ever, put corn starch in their pizza to cheat on the crunch, hardly ever make pizza in a wood-fired oven, cook out of season vegetables, have no sense of terroir or locality, don't smoke their own meats or bake their own bread, and generally do the things that make my Italian mother contemptuous or enraged.

As a principle, one should not eat Italian food in the U.S., south of Kansas City, except for Los Angeles and San Francisco which have some great Italian restaurants and New Orleans which has a few. There is nothing like the fantastic Italian food culture in Texas cities like what you can find in New York, Boston, Philly, small town New Jersey and Chicago.

That said after extensive and depressing sampling, I have found one very good Italian restaurant - DaMarco's in Houston - and one excellent Italian restaurant - Il Sogno in San Antonio.

I don't recognize all the recommendations above, but with the exception of Damarco's, all the ones I have eaten at were nothing short of appalling. There have never been enough Italians in Texas to teach Texans what good Italian food is, so most Texans happily consume the bad stuff. Great Tex-Mex or Mexican food or BBQ in Texas would produce a much much longer list. You would be mad to come here looking for Italian food.

Great post and thanks for the recommendation. Same goes for French delis in Houston: appalling water based ham and Subway standard bread. On the flipside, the Texmex in London taste like wet cardboard compared to here.

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[ognend]

I have lived in Europe, Canada, New York, Missouri, Florida and now Texas. By far one of the best pizzas I have ever had was in New Braunfels at a pizza place called "Oregano's".

OD

[Arabianhorsebreeder]

Gennaro's in Startzville! I heard about this place on AM 550 during a restaurant review segment. Since returning from Italy several years ago, my husband and I have refused to eat "americanized" Italian food. However, at Gannaro's every effort is made to create authentic Italian food. We were impressed with the homemade bread served with warm spiced olive oil and the calamari was fresh and seasoned just right. My husband had the days special- fresh flounder stuffed with crab meat- and I enjoyed the jumbo shrimp stuffed with crab meat. The pasta was lightly sauced and my risotto was fantastic!
Needless to say, we will be going again. Here is the website; Home

[homeinatx]

Originally Posted by ognend

I have lived in Europe, Canada, New York, Missouri, Florida and now Texas. By far one of the best pizzas I have ever had was in New Braunfels at a pizza place called "Oregano's".

OD

Thanks for the recommendation. I am desperate for decent Italian food in Central Texas. I'll check it out!

[RonnieinDallas]

Neo pizza is my favorite pizza. I know it's a chain but the original carrabba's in Houston is very good. The other locations are hit or miss. arcodoro & pomodoro are in Dallas and Houston but I haven't been to the one in Dallas since it was on Routh street it was Really good then, but way different than any other Italian I've had.