NEW YORK SLICE OF MIND

Brooklyn-born pizzeria chain bakes up first Austin restaurant

Things are heating up at Domain Northside with the addition of the new pizzeria.

Photo courtesy of Grimaldi's

A national coal-fired pizza chain is investing some dough in Austin.

Grimaldi’s — the Scottsdale, Arizona-based pizza biz founded in a location beneath the Brooklyn Bridge in New York in 1990 — will open its first full-service restaurant location in Austin, at Domain Northside, this fall.

Located at 11700 Domain Blvd., Ste. 148, the new Austin pizzeria joins Grimaldi’s only other Austin outpost, a takeaway-only ghost kitchen located in the Kitchen United Mix facility that opened earlier this year.

Though it’s the first full-service eatery in Austin for the company, Grimaldi’s at Domain Northside is the brand’s 18th location in Texas and 42nd location nationwide.

The new 3,950-square-foot pizzeria will include an indoor dining room and a full bar, as well as more than 1,000 square feet of covered patio dining space equipped with fans and heaters.

Grimaldi’s features a menu of coal-fired brick-oven pizzas and calzones, all made with a secret-recipe dough and using Brooklyn-style cooking techniques dating back more than a century. Along with salads, starters, and desserts, pizza freaks can devour specialties like:

Brooklyn Bridge Pizza: oven-roasted red peppers, ricotta cheese, and hand-pinched Italian sausage
Prosciutto Arugula Pizza: Grimaldi’s white pizza topped with thinly sliced prosciutto, a shaved cheese blend, and fresh arugula
Grimaldi’s Famous Cannoli: Fried pastry dough filled with sweet ricotta and chocolate chips
Oreo Cookie Cheesecake: Traditional New York-style cheesecake with crumbled Oreo cookies and an Oreo cookie crust

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria at Domain Northside will also offer a full bar program that will include handcrafted cocktails; premium and local craft beers; and a good selection of wine, including Grimaldi’s own bottlings of Mille Gradi Rosso Toscano Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio.

Grimaldi’s will offer carryout service, and delivery through third-party services will also be available at the new pizzeria.

“We’ve received a warm welcome to Austin with our Grimaldi’s Pizzeria to-go concept at Kitchen United Mix, so we’re thrilled to expand our presence in the market with a full-service location at Domain Northside,” says Grimaldi’s Pizzeria CEO Joseph Ciolli. “We love being a part of neighborhoods across Texas and we look forward to bringing our signature full-service Grimaldi’s dining experience to the Austin community.”

Once it’s open, the new Grimaldi’s at Domain Northside will be operate Sunday to Thursday 11 am-9 pm, and Friday and Saturday from 11 am-10 pm.

pizza openings

Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras/Instagram

Confituras Little Kitchen is closing its brick-and-mortar store, but feeling optimistic about the future.

A famers market find is returning to its natural environment after six years in a brick-and-mortar location. Confituras Little Kitchen, which specializes in locally sourced preserves, is closing its jam and biscuit shop after service on Sunday, December 22. However, it will continue selling goods at the Barton Creek Farmers Market and via retailers.

Confituras announced the change in a newsletter to its customers in December. The letter called the news "bittersweet."

"Although the brick and mortar will no longer be, the good news is that this will be a fresh new start for us – we are bursting with energy and creativity at the thought of being back out in the community where it all started for confituras," it said.

The kitchen is closing because the lease is up, and the team has decided to "give up the chase." The newsletter emphasized the ups-and-downs of business over the past several years — ones that were chaotic for just about any business, let alone a small, fairly niche food operation.

"So much has happened since we decided to open a brick + mortar – a wonderful kickstarter fundraiser, THE PANDEMIC, the AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC, and an ever growing city," the letter says. "We tried so very hard but never really got our footing. We know we are not alone, many small business are in the same boat. We renewed our lease during the pandemic because we were hopeful we could make it work - the changing times had other ideas."

Finally, it shared how customers could keep enjoying Confituras creations:

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is open at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
A list on confituras.net compiles retailers including Royal Blue Grocery, Farmhouse Delivery, and Antonelli's Cheese Shop.
Jam share and Table22 subscription customers will have more instructions coming soon about picking up their goods in January at the same space, 2129 Goodrich Ave.
Customers may also reach out to inquire about continuing to order meals directly.

The kitchen also hosted frequent events and workshops, but the letter did not address this aspect of the business.

A shorter message shared on Instagram has inspired 63 comments so far, five days later. Customers eulogized the shop for its community feel and providing a sense of regularity during the height of the pandemic thanks to weekend pick-ups.