A celebrity-chef-owned pizzeria from California has closed its only location in Texas: Slice House by Tony Gemignani, the fast-casual pizza brand by world-renowned pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani, closed its first and only Texas location in Frisco at 5995 Preston Rd. #102.

A representative from the company's corporate headquarters confirmed that the restaurant closed in mid-October, and that the concept was for now kaput in DFW.

"The franchisee is no longer developing the DFW area," the representative said.

A second location that was penciled in for McKinney at 7851 El Dorado Pkwy. is marked as "coming soon," but a marketing spokesperson said that "at this time, we don’t have an update on the opening timeline of McKinney."

The DFW franchisee was Daniel Hawkins, who also owns Black Hawk Brewery in Prosper, originally planned to open up to 20 locations. Hawkins was unavailable for comment.

Gemignani is the 13-time World Pizza Champion who, inspired by a pizzeria in Naples, Italy, opened the first Slice House — a fast-casual concept — in 2010, then began franchising in 2023. There are now 37 locations open and nine more marked as "coming soon."

The concept was unique in that it featured four styles of crust under one roof: traditional New York, homestyle Grandma, rustic Sicilian, and Detroit-style, all available by the slice or in a whole pizza.

Following a company tradition of creating a pizza specific to each location, they devised a pizza for Frisco called the Texan with brisket, BBQ sauce, bacon, and onion.

While pizza was the menu staple, the menu also comprised pasta, wings, and salads. Plus craft beers, premium wines, non-alcoholic sodas, and juices.

According to the corporate rep, food was not the issue. The chain continues to expand, with recent openings in Idaho, Denver, Ventura, California, and Brentwood, Northern California.

Perhaps it was a bad omen that the Frisco location's debut occurred in the thick of an epically bad ice storm, first opening on January 23, then closing due to inclement weather before reopening on January 28.

"The Frisco location was never able to hit the ground running," the representative said. "Location was a big part of it. The restaurant was on the wrong side of the highway."

He said that the closure presented a good opportunity for someone to come in and purchase "lightly used assets for a fraction of the cost," and that the company was also in conversation with another operator who'd expressed interest in the concept.