There is a little village in Italy where ships gather in the port. It inspired a Mediterranean-themed resort in Egypt, where Mohammed Khalil and his wife, Randa, used to take their three sons.

“We loved this resort, and its delicious pizza, and we decided to bring that taste to our home in Katy,” Mohammed said.

The family learned pizza-making techniques from an Italian pizza maker and opened Marassi Pizzeria at 20660 Westheimer Parkway, Ste. L, in January. With a seating capacity of 43, many of their orders are delivery and carryout, Mohammed said.

The restaurant serves the typical pies familiar to most patrons, such as meat lovers, but Mohammed and his wife have also developed specialty recipes.

“We invented recipes collected from the places we’ve traveled,” Mohammed said. “Our salmon pizza was inspired by pizza we ate in Paris. The tuna pizza has become very popular and is Mediterranean-inspired. The toumeya pizza is from a trip to Beirut,” he said. 

The Khalils developed several light pizzas made with whole wheat crust and two percent skim cheese to cut down on fat and calories, he said.

“We did our research and found few places were catering to mothers and their needs [for healthier dining options]. Mothers can have their own pizzas and still have the cheese pizza for the kids,” Mohammed said.

Randa, the CEO, helped develop menu options that appeal to young children. Beef sticks are traditional cheese sticks with a layer of ground beef inside, and forno penne is penne pasta in a creamy béchamel sauce with ground beef.

The restaurant offers several salad options, which the Khalils said can feed one person for dinner or two as a shared side dish.

“I go every morning and buy fresh produce for the salads,” Randa said.

The dough is handmade in the store, the sauces are cooked from scratch, and the family’s commitment to healthy eating extends to their chicken wings, which are baked, not fried, the Khalils said.

Not every menu item is meant to be a healthy choice. The couple said one of the top sellers is the Super Pizza packed with three meats and veggies.

“We’re adding some new things to our menu in July,” Mohammed said. “We started offering a s’mores pizza to our regular customers and people keep asking for it, so we’re adding it to the menu.”

20660 Westheimer Parkway, Ste. L, Katy 281-665-3252 www.marassipizzeria.com Hours: Mon.–Thu. 4-9 p.m., Tue.–Thu. 11 a.m.–2 p.m., Fri.–Sat. noon–10 p.m., Sun. noon–9 p.m.