Montrose Pizzeria Dolce Vita Will Close Permanently

Welcome to AM Intel in the time of coronavirus, a round-up of the city’s newest bits of restaurant-related intel. Follow Eater on Facebook and Twitter for up-to-date details on how COVID-19 is impacting the city’s dining scene.

Dolce Vita says ciao

Dolce Vita, the Montrose pizzeria, is closing, reports Houston Food Finder. The restaurant, which has been on the market for nearly a year, was sold to an investment group, according to chef Marco Wiles. Dolce Vita, which has been making Neapolitan-style pizzas for Houstonians since 2006, will serve up its last pie on May 24. Wiles’s other restaurants, DeMarco and Vinoteca Poscol, will carry on. [HFF]

Axelrad’s hosts Houston’s first drive-in concert

Axelrad, the popular Midtown bar and patio, will host a drive-in concert on May 23. Local bands Flower Graves and El Lago will perform on the rooftop of the bar for onlookers in the large parking lot next door, according to Culturemap. Organizers say the show is a test run for future performances. Tickets, which were pay-what-you-can, sold out in a matter of hours. According to a post on Reddit, the bar’s management is waiting on a decision from the Texas government before the event as to whether they and other bars can serve alcohol to go. [CM, Reddit]

Tito’s gifts $1M to Baylor College of Medicine

Texas-born vodka Tito’s Handmade Vodka has donated $1 million to Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine to help fund research into Covid-19, KHOU reports. The university has been studying coronaviruses since 2011, and hopes to use the money to fund vaccine research for the current outbreak. [KHOU]