Pizza, Pizza! Magdalena’s Is Latest in Long Line of New ‘Za Spots Popping Up All Over Houston

Alex Montoya
Pizza, Pizza! Magdalena’s Is Latest in Long Line of New ‘Za Spots Popping Up All Over Houston

Prosciutto E Rucola Pizza

CAN HOUSTON HAVE enough piping-hot pizza places? It appears not, as ones like Nonno’s garner national acclaim and celeb-backed ones like Pizzana open on prime corners.


What’s one to try next? Magdalena’s, a new neighborhood Italian resto in West U with homemade pasta and hand-tossed pizza. It’s all scratch-made using the recipes of the restaurant’s namesake, chef/owner Nicolas Nikic’s mom.

The kitchen uses select ingredients sourced in Italy including cheeses, olive oils and prosciutto. Everything is ultra-fresh, like the flash-fried artichoke and the shaved brussel sprouts — and those are just the antipastos! The burrata salad is a baseball-size helping of burrata (need we say more?) served with roasted cauliflower on a bed of arugula.

Nikic’s inventive pasta selections include sweet-corn ravioli with lobster and the oh-so-cheesy tortellinis topped with fresh herbs. Hand tossed and baked to a crispy perfection, the pizzas aren’t to be missed. The Siciliana features mozzarella, olives and capers — what could be more Italian than that!? There’s also pizza topped with clams or preserved tuna for the more adventurous. Buon appetito!

Cheese Tortellini

Panna Cotta with Berry Compote

Sweet Corn Ravioli with Lobster

Tiramisu

Food

An aerial shot of River Oaks District (photo by Shannon O'Hara)

ACROSS 610 FROM his Post Oak Hotel at Uptown, Tilman Fertitta has just purchased the 14-acre mixed-use River Oaks District development. The acquisition is his second luxury-property purchase in recent months; the Rockets owner bought the Montage Laguna Beach for $650 million in November 2022.

Keep Reading Show less
Style

WHEN HURRICANE HARVEY unleashed its wrath, Mumbai-born author Nishita Parekh and a few family members, some of whom had homes in evacuation zones, holed up in her second-story apartment, safe from the flooding — but trapped. “Five adults and two kids, crammed into this one-bedroom space,” recalls Parekh. “We ended up having a good time. But that experience planted a seed in my mind that this would make a good premise for a mystery."

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment