DOUGH PIZZERIA NAPOLETANA - OUR STORY

DOUGH Pizzeria Napoletana San Antonio, Texas location is to date one of an elite 54 restaurants in the U.S. and #292 in the world to receive the prestigious certification from L'Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana for serving authentic Pizza Napoletana.

In order to be considered for certification, Doug Horn, Chef/Co-Owner of DOUGH,studied artisan pizza-making with the Director of the Verace Pizza Napoletana Americas (VPN)-Peppe Miele. Doug was taught the process of making authentic Pizza Napoletana following the strict guidelines as set forth by the Italian government.

Soon after his studies, Doug and his wife, Lori Karsky Horn, began their search for the best location for their Pizzeria. Since San Antonio is as vast as it is (it is the 7th largest city in the U.S.!) it was crucial to find a location that would be convenient for everyone. That is when they headed toward the airport. If they could find a location by the airport, that would mean a drive of about fifteen minutes for most people. They came across the Blanco Junction Shopping Center, just inside Loop 410 on Blanco Road in the Castle Hills section of San Antonio. It was an ideal location!

Next was to decide on the name of the restaurant. Strangely enough, the name would come from Doug, Lori and Marco-the Master Oven Mason in Italy who they would soon get their oven from. Upon ordering the oven, Marco would e-mail Doug updating him on the location of the oven, which ship it was on and when would it finally arrive to the port in Houston. His e-mails would always begin with “Dear Doug h.” One day, Lori asked Doug why Marco kept referring to him as “Dough?!” Doug explained that “No, he is addressing me as “Doug H (Doug’s first name and first initial of his last name) not “Dough.” A few minutes later, Doug turned to Lori and said: “That’s it. It’s perfect. We’ll call the restaurant “DOUGH!”

The next memorable event was the oven’s (“Il Cuore’s”) arrival to San Antonio. It was quite a stressful day, to watch as the windows of the restaurant were removed, as they gently lowered the oven from the Semi-Truck that had transported the oven from Houston to the restaurant. (Some of the photos on the website show the events of the day.) When the oven was put into place in its new home, everyone sighed a breath of relief! “Il Cuore” was home and was now the “heart” of Dough!

In November of 2007, Doug and Lori opened up their first location of DOUGH Pizzeria Napoletana in San Antonio, Texas! It was in June of 2009 when the official VPN certification ceremony took place and Dough was officially part of the prestigious VPN family.

It has been quite a journey from the conception of Dough to now and none of this would be possible without Doug, Lori, Scraps & Sparc’s very supportive family and friends and their families and friends. Dough has turned out to be a place where everyone comes together and has a great time. As one of Dough’s customers’ said: “Dough is a neighborhood restaurant located in everyone’s neighborhood!”

Thank you for calling Dough your Pizzeria!

Also, special thanks to Chris Bianco, Chef/Owner of Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, Arizona for taking the time to share stories of his love and passion for pizza with Doug & Lori. He continues to be a true inspiration to them!

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR HARD WORKING FARMERS & VENDORS!