Pizza News
Downtown Fort Worth rooftop pizzeria is slinging some great pies
Son of a Baker pizza.
There's an excellent pizzeria slinging pies from a Fort Worth rooftop: Called Son Of A Baker Pizzeria, it's a restaurant-within-a-club that's located inside The Archibald, the elevated lounge and rooftop bar at 902 Houston St in the former Houston Street Bar space.
Son of a Baker is a passion project straight from the heart by Joshua Villegas, who was doing pop-ups then formed a partnership with The Archibald to serve as their in-house restaurant. They exist in parallel: The bar's clientele frequently order his pizzas, and his pizza customers often buy beers or a cocktail from The Archibald.
It gave him a stable home after doing pop-ups for a year at places like The Local and the Whiskey Garden.
"I started in mid-2023," Villegas says. "I'm a big pizza lover. I grew up around stacks of pizza boxes — there's a long history in my family of bakers and cooks and chefs. My grandfather was a pastry chef and my dad knows how to make pizza dough. l worked at a pizza chain to learn some of the processes. I've always loved pizza. I say it on my website — it's an art."
To launch the business, he got help and support from his family, including his father — thus the name of the business, Son of a Baker — and his sister, a chef who has a catering company called Anna's Table.
He says their pizza style is not region specific — inspired by Neapolitan but not Neapolitan and not quite a New York-style — but instead a fusion of all the best pizza traits.
"It's 'artisan' — with a thin crust that's slightly crispy but fluffy," he says. "Anybody can make a pizza — it's about the crust, and that's what makes us different. Making our crust is a two-day process. Our dough incorporates a poolish, which means it's fermented, and that gives the crust flavor as well as an airy, light texture."
The menu features classics and specialty offerings, although all of them offer creative and upscale twists on the basics.
For example, their pepperoni pizza is made with all-beef pepperoni. You can get it garnished with fresh oregano or purple basil. Their meat pizza, called the Menage a Trois, has pepperoni, Italian sausage, ans soppressata, with organo and Parmesan cheese. And their vegetarian, called "Save a Pig," has spinach, mushroom, bell pepper, olives, and red onion.
Their fancier pizzas include the Angry Pig with Italian sausage, habanero onion bacon jam, sriracha honey, and jalapenos. the Dos Amigos has birria, pickled onions, guac salsa, and chipotle ranch; an alfredo-themed pizza has alfredo sauce with spinach, fresh mozzarella, sauteed shiitake mushrooms, and proscuitto. There's a chicken pesto pizza and an "Angry Popper" — like a clever pizza version of a jalapeno popper with cream cheese ranch, jalapenos, and bacon.
Prices range from $16 to $22.
"My sister and I started this business and it wasn’t always easy, but I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in crime," he says. "Also, none of this would have been possible without my father's talents. So then there’s me, just a guy who is obsessed with pizza and is now carrying the torch for something that’s been passed down for generations. I feel as if it’s my duty to carry the torch for my family."
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