When visiting his grandmother in the summer, Nick Calandro would fly home to Illinois with pita bread he loved from a Jacksonville, Florida, bakery.

Calandro, a nearly 20-year veteran of the restaurant industry, said he was determined to bring the pitas he enjoyed from his childhood to his new home in Austin.

In 2008 he opened his first Pita Fusion location in Round Rock and expanded to a second location in Northwest Austin in June 2016.

Calandro said Northwest Austin was a location he was eying from the start.

“I live three houses [from the restaurant], and it’s all young couples that are buying and renovating,” he said. “I think this whole corridor here is really ready for a big resurgence in the next two or three years.”

The “fusion” in Pita Fusion refers to the somewhat unorthodox fillings that customers can choose. Options include traditional Greek and Mediterranean fillings but also pulled pork, salami and turkey.

Before opening the second Pita Fusion location, Calandro said he consulted with several bakers about the difficulty of making his pita in-house.

“All of them told me, without a doubt, we should not try to make our own pita bread, so we were like, ‘OK we’re going to do it,’” he said.

Soon after, a couple from Florida came into the shop and asked to see the pitas, hoping to find a pita similar to ones they would buy from a bakery in Jacksonville—the same one Calandro grew up eating. At that point, Calandro said he was determined to come up with a recipe that did those pitas justice.

He said he applies this same attention to detail to sourcing fresh ingredients and maintaining a strong relationship with suppliers, some of which are local.

Although Calandro said he is eager to open more locations in Austin and elsewhere, he is committed to expanding at a sustainable pace.

“I don’t imagine myself doing anything else, which is why I think we have the benefit of being able to grow slow,” Calandro said. “I want to build this into something substantial and something that’s going to last.”

Pita Fusion
13776 US 183, Ste. 130, Austin
512-243-6548
www.pitafusion.com
Hours: daily 11 a.m.-9 p.m.