When Hani Barazi, owner of Falbo Bros. Pizza in Sugar Land, moved to Houston from Chicago in 2001, he could not find pizzerias serving deep-dish pizza, the super thick pies packed with cheese and toppings made famous by that city.

So when he opened his takeout pizzeria a little over a year ago, Barazi decided that, in addition to thin crust pizzas, he would also make the stuffed pizzas that are ubiquitous in the Windy City and weigh as much as a small child.

Since deep-dish pizzas are rare around the Greater Houston area, Barazi found he needed to explain his pies to his customers.

“We still get people who come in and ask what stuffed pizza is,” Barazi said. “When we take orders over the phone, we have to make sure the customers know what they’re getting.”

At Falbo Bros., the pizza dough and the tomato sauce are made from scratch, vegetables are cut by hand, and the cheese, which arrives in 5-pound blocks, is shredded in the kitchen, Barazi said.

“Nothing is frozen or prepackaged,” he said.

Barazi, an engineer, worked in the restaurant business when he was younger. Barazi said he loved the work, and a few years ago he began looking for potential restaurant locations.

“When you run a restaurant, it’s like you’re traveling the world,” Barazi said. “You meet a diverse bunch of people from different nationalities and religions.”

Barazi said he decided on his pizzeria’s location after he happened to notice the vacant storefront while driving down Sweetwater Boulevard one day.

“I came home and told my wife I leased a place for a restaurant,” he said.

Barazi said he opened his doors less than six months later.

In addition to takeout, the pizzeria delivers to within a 4.5-mile radius.

The pizzeria also offers catering services, which includes pastas, sandwiches and salads, in addition to pizzas.

“We can make about any type of pizza or pasta you want; we just need 24 hours notice,” Barazi said.