Intergalactic Cocktail Bar Brings Ironclad-Style Pizza to Montrose With Second Houston Location

Betelgeuse Betelgeuse, an intergalactic-themed cocktail bar and pizzeria in Sixth Ward, has opened its second location in Montrose — and it’s just as trippy as the first.

Located at 4500 Montrose Boulevard, Suite B, the new bar sticks to the original theme, paying homage to Betelgeuse, the Orion constellation’s red supergiant, which is pronounced “Beetlejuice” like the spooky fictional character. The Montrose outpost’s decor is also cosmic-themed, with a bar decked out in extraterrestrial paintings and spacey backdrops, plus quirky furniture, neon lights, and mannequins visible through the windows facing Montrose Boulevard. The new space also features pizza murals and a spacious back room that doubles as a private dining area and a venue for live music and karaoke.

Becca Wright

Becca Wright

Becca Wright

Betelgeuse Betelgeuse specializes in iron-clad style pizzas and weird vibes.

The bar will offer dishes it's known for, including its signature ironclad-style pizza with cheesy, crispy edges, similar to Detroit-style pizza. Diners can now order all pizzas, like the Classic Nuovo, a pie covered in natural-cased pepperoni, mushrooms, feta cheese, and chili flakes, and the Hercules Hercules, a combination of natural-cased pepperoni, house-made sausage, pancetta, and Genoa Salami, in the standard 14-inch size or a new, more personalized size of 10 inches. Betelgeuse Betelgeuse’s wings, doughy Space Balls, and its various takes on fries, including its garlic parm fries and its Pizza Fries — steak fries topped with pizza sauce, Wisconsin Brick cheese, salami, pepperoni, and Calabrese chilis — will also return, along with some entirely new food items.

New dishes include a spicy buffalo chicken pizza drizzled in ranch dressing, a Three Sauce pizza made with a combination of basil pesto, pizza sauce, vodka sauce, brick cheese, and mozzarella; and fried spaghetti squares accompanied by vodka sauce for dipping.

Becca Wright

Though certainly lauded as a pizzeria, owner Chris Cusack has been intent on Betelgeuse Betelgeuse being a cocktail bar first. As such, its mixed drinks are something to experience. The bar serves a top-notch parmesan espresso martini, a newer addition fueled by the viral TikTok trend, plus fun concoctions like the Mommy, What’s a Funkadelic?, a combination of tepache, Ilegal Mezcal, lime, pineapple, and vanilla, its Half Frozen French 75; and its signature Appletini.

The anticipated opening of the latest Betelgeuse Betelgeuse follows some bleak news for the first location on Washington Avenue after its food truck, which functions as its kitchen, was burned down on August 25. Cusack was ultimately forced to cease food operations this week, but fortunately, other food trucks have stepped in to serve diners visiting the cocktail bar.