Delivery
No
Payment
Credit Cards Accepted
Parking
Good for Kids
Attire
Alcohol
Reservations
Cuisines:
Catering
Price Point
$$
$ - Cheap Eats (Under $10)
$$ - Moderate ($11-$25)
$$$ - Expensive ($25-$50)
$$$$ - Very Pricey (Over $50)
WiFi
No
Outdoor Seats
Is this your restaurant? Click to add your description here.
03/30/2024 - MenuPix User
03/08/2024 - MenuPix User
11/11/2018 - Alain Harvey
Sometimes a motto says it all about a restaurant, whether it's finger-licking good chicken or having it your way at a certain burger restaurant. At Giannina's Pizza & Catering, the motto should be: "One slice and we got you."
On a recent Saturday night at this eatery on N. Eldridge, the place was filled with customers, many of them families sharing Salvatore's signature pies. Others were waiting at the counter for take-out orders.
The Cicciarella family has been working in the restaurant business since 1967 when the family’s patriarch Salvatore and his wife Francesca Cicciarella departed their home in the beautiful coastal city of Pozzallo, Sicily to settle in Brooklyn, New York and make a new life for themselves. Salvatore taught his son Arcangelo to “fly” pizza when his son was nine years old. Today Salvatore and Francesca’s son Arcangelo and daughter-in-law Giovannina carry on the family’s long tradition as restaurateurs as the proprietors of Giannina’s Pizza and Catering with the continued support of their family. Salvatore and Francesca can often be seen at the restaurant greeting customers and helping to assure that every customer has a great experience.
The family were the previous owner of Luigi’s Ristorante & Pizzeria, which proudly served Houston families for over 25 years. Now the family’s catering business and recently opened restaurant Giannina’s has really taken off. The family brings their portable wood-fired pizza oven to customer’s events, so that everyone can enjoy a slice of Italy in their own back yard. The Cicciarellas are proud to produce a traditional Italian artisanal pizza which can be enjoyed either at the restaurant or catered at your next home celebration or business event.
Giannina’s also caters children’s parties and provides an opportunity for the kids to learn to make and “fly” pizza themselves. The children are provided with their own mini-aprons and chef’s hats. Adults can join the fun too, learning the art of artisanal pizza making for that special event. The business offers catering services for a wide spectrum of events including weddings, birthdays, block parties, graduations, and much more.
Giannina’s's is known for its authentic wood-fired Sicilian crust pizza, but it has a number of gourmet pies, from a Breakfast pizza with scrambled eggs, Canadian bacon and mozzarella, the Special featuring sausage, beef, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, onions, olives, mushrooms and bell peppers to the Vegetarian featuring mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, olives, onions, tomatoes and mozzarella. Giannina's also serves pasta dinners, sandwiches, salads, soups and subs.
Setting and decor: Giannina’s is warm and inviting, The restaurant features a beautiful circular inset mural Italy’s regions on one wall with a star placed at the city of Pozzallo, Salvatore and Francesca Cicciarella hometown. Gianinna’s is the kind of place where you feel comfortable. It's in a small commercial center. Containers of basil greet you as you approach the front door.. The kitchen is semi-exposed, and was buzzing with activity the night my wife and I visited. The cook was hand-tossing a crust, and the occasional sound of sizzling from the wood-fired pizza oven could be heard. It seems to be a popular spot for families, and several people were there with kids.
Appetizers: I had heard good things about Giannina’s special focaccia ($4) featuring olive oil, oregano, rosemary sea salt, onions and mozzarella; something our server confirmed, but with pizza on my to-do list, we went with the Mozzarella Caprese ($9) to switch up the textures a bit. The tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil and olive oil were delicious. The serving was generous, with my wife joking to the young server, "If you see anyone who's hungry send them to our table!"
Entrees: Some folks come to a pizza place and still crave pasta, so my wife chose the Eggplant Parmigiana ($13), which came with a side salad and garlic bread. It was another out-sized portion, but who complains about Italian leftovers? The salad was also sizable; mixed greens with tomatoes and dressing. The eggplant Parmigiana was perfectly cooked, the tomato sauce flavorful and the cheese oozing. The garlic bread that accompanied it was warm and the perfect vessel with which to sop up the sauce.
I have always been the "when-in-Rome" type, so I was all about the pizza. The 10-inch Napolitana pizza with anchovies, olives, fresh tomatoes, and Italian flat-leaf parsley to which I added a premium ingredient – fresh Italian mozzarella ($11) met every expectation. You know something is high quality when it changes your mind about a preference. Mine is for thick crust and not much cheese, but this soft, delicate and not-at-all doughy (my main complaint about thick crusts) pizza could make me rethink that. The wood-fired crust was the star but didn't overwhelm the creamy mozzarella cheese and ample veggie toppings. And with eight sizable pieces, it was in line with Giannina’'s other Gulliver-size portions.
Service: The place really started hopping shortly after we were seated but our servers (two of them worked in tandem) never left us for long, coming back frequently to check if we wanted anything.
Bottom line: Giannina’s is a great place to relax with friends, family or a date night without breaking the bank. The food is excellent and the BYOB policy with a reasonable corkage fee ($5/bottle) provides the opportunity to finally open that special bottle you’ve been saving. Highly recommended!
See all restaurants in Cypress
