Say it ain't so
San Antonio suffers swift shutter of celebrated Midtown pizza joint
The pizza party is over for a celebrated Midtown restaurant. Via a Facebook post on October 10, SoBro Pizza Co. unexpectedly announced that the Neapolitan pizzeria had closed.
Owner Paul Hughes tells CultureMap that October 9 was the last day of business. He made the decision so shutter so he could focus on his other passions — chiefly music and pottery. For years, he has juggled responsibilities as the music director at Madison Square Presbyterian Church while running SoBro and Aria by Paul, his pottery business.
“It has been great serving the community, but as I am approaching 60, I felt that it was time to concentrate on things that make me the happiest,” he says.
With the closure, San Antonio loses a trailblazer. When the 1915 Broadway St. shop opened in spring 2014, it was one of the few places around town devoted to authentic Neapolitan pizza. The opening team of Hughes and Gerry Shirley (of Mon Thai Bistro and Bar du Mon Ami) even went so far as training with the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana — the international nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading proper pie techniques worldwide.
SoBro further set itself apart with its innovative pizzas like the Figjam with figs, hand-pulled mozzarella, blue cheese, prosciutto, and arugula or the Spanish Chorizo Pamplona with spicy cured meat, ricotta, capers, and rosemary — both served on a charred, chewy crust.
The other offerings were just as notable. The joint won raves for its Caesar salad with a parmesan crisp, tomato basil soup, hearty calzones with surprising ingredients like fried eggs, and house gelato in an ever-rotating array of flavors.
SoBro is the second restaurant to close at The Mosaic on Broadway mixed-use development, which was plagued with construction at the corner of Grayson Street over the summer. The San Antonio outpost of the Tacos and Tequila chain, also opened in 2014, shuttered in October 2017.
