Loudmouth
The Hot Boy Summer is pepperoni, pepperoncini and hot honey. It is the pizza both reviewers tell you to order.1
Why go
Two critics arrived within a month of each other and agreed on the pie. Nicolai McCrary says to order the Hot Boy Summer with a caesar alongside. The Austin Chronicle's Taylor Tobin calls that pizza the kitchen's biggest hit, with the pepperoncini cutting the rich pepperoni cups and the hot honey closing it.12 Both were surprised by the bar. The Spaghett is an Aperol spritz rebuilt with Miller High Life, poured back into the bottle with the spare beer alongside in a shot glass. The Whiskey Thistle runs Cynar, mole bitters and spiced orange against the whiskey.2 The room is an 1890s house with vinyl booths, stained glass behind the bar, a front porch and a large canopied yard.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Hot Boy Summer. Start with the meatballs and grilled focaccia, or the sweet pepper arancini, or McCrary's advice, which is both.1
- Drink: the Spaghett.2
- Brunch: the Wake and Bake pizza carries egg, potato, bacon and a Mornay-style cheese sauce.2
- Avoid: taking a heavily topped pizza away. Tobin's warning is that the weight eventually tells on a thin crust in transit.2
What locals & experts say
- Nicolai McCrary, The Infatuation, January 2025, rated 7.8:
We've had crusts here that rival Bufalina in terms of blistered, chewy goodness, and others that were a little on the well-done end.
Order the pizza expecting some variance in the base.1 - Taylor Tobin, reviewing it for the Austin Chronicle in February 2025, reads the drinks list as the real work: Italian liqueurs used with intent. Balance held even where the flavors are assertive.2
Good to know
- Hygiene: no business under this name appears in Austin's inspection records. The one permit at 1209 Rosewood Ave is held by Park Pizza 1 LLC, which is the company behind this door rather than the sign. It scored 90 on 22 July 2025. Austin scores on a 100-point demerit scale where higher is better and 70 is the failing line, so 90 is not a finding. It is the only reading on the kitchen.3
Verdict
should-visit — You can book here, which is worth doing at a weekend. Order pizza for the table and cocktails for yourself. Paperboy across the street is the same team, so one block feeds you twice in a day.