Pink's Pizza

Ken Bridge and his partner Ed Gomez have just opened the second location of Pink's Pizza in Midtown (710 West Gray, 713-521-7465), the first one being in the Heights. Why did they decide to expand? "Because we're hot!" says Gomez. "We were getting people from all over the city coming to our place and, particularly, a lot of people who lived in the Montrose, so we opened one here. We're just a bunch of fun guys that don't take anything too seriously except for our product and our service. We're really what I would call a boutique pizzeria — an old-school pizzeria. We have hand-tossed, traditional pizzas, for which we make the dough and sauce daily. We only use fresh ingredients."

And what makes his pizza different from the rest? "Some of the exotic ingredients we use," says Gomez, "like those on my favorite, the Santa Monica, which has gorgonzola and prosciutto, eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes and cranberries. And if you think cranberries seem strange, you need to remember that it's all in the balance of the ingredients." We tried the Santa Monica and agree — it's a terrific pizza, especially if you request the thin-crust.