Locatelli’s: A Local Secret

in Restaurant review

Locatelli’s Pizza
13215 Grant Rd
Cypress, TX 77429

Atmosphere–A+
Service–A+
Food–A++

Six hours can make all the difference in the world.

The suburbs can be touch-and-go when it comes to eating out at dinner time. I’ve learned that visiting a place at lunch time is no way to gauge how dinner will be there. My husband and I work in the suburbs of Houston – it’s great to live in town and work out, driving against the flow of traffic. The downside is that our favorite “lazy lunch places” up in the ‘burbs seem to disappear around 7:00 each night and morph into total chaos.

We frequented a Tex-Mex restaurant near our workplace for lunch that had a neat atmosphere. We decided to go for dinner one night and oh, my! Loud. Obnoxious. A totally different place – the lazy lunch place was no more. The entertainment worked hard to play over conversation and the shrieks from the kiddies, while the diners worked hard to speak over the music – a viscous cycle. Then there is Locatelli’s Pizza.

I never knew you could buy pizza by the slice growing up – there were only two choices: medium pepperoni pizza or large pepperoni pizza, all from Pizza Hut. Houston has some bad pizza joints. Who knew you could screw up pizza? The news isn’t all bad, though – we’ve got a couple of really neat pizza joints: Star Pizza, which I used to live across the street from (man, talk about convenient!), and Barry’s Pizza over on Richmond. Hands down, I think the best place for pizza in Houston isn’t even in Houston – it’s just outside the Beltway in Cypress.

Locatelli’s is a really neat Italian joint. Their menu ranges from Chicken Parm and Italian Beef sandwiches to Baked Ziti and the Texatelli pizza. The sauce is amazingly fresh and the crust is perfect. (If you’ve peaked in a time or two, you know I’m always looking for a good pizza crust.) They’re always pretty busy, too – definitely a favorite among the Cypress residents. A wall of mirrors on one side of the restaurant ensures that, even if you’re facing away from the TV, you still have a great view of the Astros game from any one of the three TVs.

The service is terrific and the lunch special can’t be beat – two huge slices of pizza (1/4 of a 17″ pizza), a salad, and a soda for about $6. Locatelli’s attracts everyone – tonight we sat among families, an expecting couple, an older couple, a table of teenagers, and a couple of solo diners. The volume was set to a very lazy medium buzz with the warm spring evening fading on the diners outdoors at the bistro-style tables. I only wish it hadn’t been a school night – we could have enjoyed a glass of wine outside if the alarm wasn’t set to go off so early.

If you’re looking for a good pizza place, try Star or Barry’s. If you’re looking for outstanding pizza, head up to Locatelli’s – and as they say, “Put a Telli in your belly.”

3 comments… add one
  • Lexie aka Sweet_Thang

    Wow, thanks for the review! My DH and I live just a few miles away off of Spring Cypress and N. Eldridge. We have seen it, but wasn’t too sure how good the food might be. DH has a quest to find the best of “pizza, mexican, and chinese” over by us. (we just moved over here in October). I will definitely pass on the review and let him know; maybe we can even give it a try this weekend!

  • I love pizza by the slice and I love places that sell pizza by the slice. Mmmmmm!

  • Holy Momma, this place is incredible! The pizza is so freaking good, that I find myself stuffing pieces into my mouth, my belly bursting over my belt, miserably full, and wondering how I can possibly fit more of this edible gold down my fat neck. I LOVE IT!!! Its so good, that you will be thinking about eating it AGAIN the next day, as you miserably waddle out to your car from your meal!! The Rho-Rho Sausage Rolls will simply hypnotize you with flavor. You will get paralyzed with anticipation as they lower the plate onto your table. The Owners are named Katie and Adam, and they are both some of the nicest folks in the business, and work there open to close, every single day. Excellent family run establishment for family outings or romantic dining. 746 on a scale of 1-10.

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