Sammy Shahini, his father, Mike, and his two brothers, Jimmy and Ilir, opened the first location in Humble in 2006 with the goal of bringing authentic New York pizza to the Houston area. The Shahini family operated a pizza restaurant in Brooklyn for decades prior to moving to Texas in 2005, Shahini said.
“We get fresh ingredients weekly from New York, and we make true premium pizzas in our brick ovens,” Shahini said. “And we have our own in-house delivery team that will bring customers pizza anywhere in a 6-mile radius of our locations, unlike most of our competitors.”
The company now has over 100 employees and has grown steadily since opening the first restaurant with locations in Humble, Atascocita, Baytown, Missouri City, Pearland, Richmond, Sienna Plantation and the soon-to-open Cypress restaurant.
“Brooklyn Pizzeria has always been operated by members of the Shahini family. Sons, mothers, fathers and daughters have all worked together to serve our local communities and families. We believe in treating our customers as our neighbors because they are our neighbors,” the website states.
Shahini explained how New York-style pizza is different from other versions of pizza, as it features large, thin-crust style pies with simple ingredients like cheese and pepperoni.
The menu at Brooklyn Pizzeria includes lasagna, manicotti, baked ziti and spaghetti with meatballs, and all the sauces are made in-house with the Shahini family recipe. In the tradition of New York, they sell pizza by the slice, and they also serve several appetizers including Buffalo wings and garlic knots.
The business is open daily from 11 a.m-10 p.m. For more information, visit www.bkpizzeria.com.
