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HOUSTONVOICE.COM
Pizza at its best
Ingredients are fresh and the toppings generous as Candelari's Pizzeria expands to the Heights with copious garlic, fennel and family recipe sausage.
By: A. CHAPMAN
Published: Friday, June 17, 2005
THE CHEESE WAS STILL bubbling when the waiter placed the pizza on the raised stand atop our table. Garlic and fennel wafted towards us, and the crispy yeast crust begged for us to dig in.
We were sitting in the new Candelari's Pizzeria. I had stumbled across it when a construction detour sent me for a spin around the new Washington-on-Westcott roundabout. A sign that read, "Now Open" caught my eye. Candelari's had arrived in the Heights.
Candelari's Pizzeria opened a few years ago in Bellaire. A storefront pizzeria, with mostly take-out business, it's been a hit from the beginning. Owner Michael Mays, the self-proclaimed King of Sausages, had been making his outstanding sausages from his grandfather Candelari's secret recipes for many years. Opening a pizza joint gave him the chance to serve them to the public.
The Heights restaurant is the second location for Candelari's and offers much more dine-in seating as well as beer and wine. But would the pizza quality hold up in this fancy new space? I'm pleased to report it's as good as ever.
Candelari's is a straightforward place. The menu is on the wall, and you order at the counter. Get your own drinks and silverware and they'll bring your food out to your table.
Whatever you do, be sure to order something with Candelari's Italian sausage. It's loaded with garlic and fennel and has a spicy kick. It shows up all over the menu, from the pizzas to the pastas and sandwiches. It's simply some of the best Italian sausage youčll find anywhere.
Candelari's offers the usual collection of signature pizzas ($14 - $20), which are loaded with toppings. The Papa Albert's offers a good mix of sausage, pepperoni and vegetables, and plenty of mozzarella. Vegetarians might like the Spinaci, which comes with a parmesan crust, spinach, tomatoes, feta and basil, which provides a bright burst of flavor.
The ingredients are fresh, and they're generous with the toppings. If the crust sometimes gets a little soggy, or the cheese is a bit gloopy, these are minor quibbles. Overall, Candelari's offers some of the best pizza in town.
If you're not in the mood for pizza, pastas and sandwiches are on the menu as well. Try a grinder - a large sub sandwich. The meatball grinder ($6.95) was served on a crisp baguette and topped with marinara sauce. The meatballs were a little plain, but the sauce was zippy. All grinders come with mustard sauce or Italian dressing, which struck me as odd considering the whole thing was dripping with marinara. I used my not-too-spicy mustard sauce as a dip for my potato chips.
THIS TIME OF YEAR, a chilled salad is a welcome option. The house salad ($5.95) is crisp and cool and loaded with goodies. The robust vinaigrette is a good topper. Or try the snappy Caesar ($5.95), which is tossed with plenty of parmesan and a respectable dressing.
For a good overview of Candelari's pizza varieties, try visiting at lunch time for the all you can eat pizza buffet. For $7.95 you get a salad, drink and all the pizza you can manage. They don't skimp on the pizzas, offering many of their signature pizzas, as well as some simple one-topping pizzas.
I sampled the Pollo Arrosto pizza from the lunch buffet, and while I'm not normally a chicken pizza fan, I found the roasted garlic, sun-dried tomato and feta cheese combination irresistible. The T-Rex, loaded with meats including the excellent Candelari's andouille sausage, is a carnivorečs dream.
Candelari's in the Heights is already busy. It can be packed in the evening and very loud, helped along by the wood floor and copper-topped tables. There's a spacious deck on two sides of the building, but, despite the fans, it's really warm this time of year. With the first cool breeze in fall, no doubt it will be prime real estate.
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