Hugo’s Pizzeria opens in a celebrated pizza location in Midtown

Anyone counting Dave and Kara Bailey’s restaurant concepts will soon need another hand. The eighth (like the rest, in the St. Louis city limits) is Hugo’s Pizzeria, named after their son. Located in the former The Good Pie space in Midtown, the 130-seater combines century-old brick with centuries-old oak-and-poplar tables. Opaque warehouse-style pendants cast a soft glow. Sturdier-than-Neapolitan Roman-style pizza crust is overlaid with a sauce that’s “a little sweet and a little spicy, just like Hugo.” Credit the lad’s parents with recognizing the nation’s favorite pizza topping—pepperoni—by offering it in five different ways: house beef, spicy beef, chicken, Buffalo chicken, and Caribbean jerk, all commissary-made. The hand-tossed 10-inch pies cost $11–$14 (unless you visit at lunch, when that tally includes a small salad and drink). Shareables include crisp-edged Brussels sprouts with house-cured bacon and fresh mozzarella with charred grapes. Hugo wouldn’t want the kids’ menu overlooked, so those pizzas get extra cheese, and chicken strips are cut from pasture-raised birds. Savvy diners might notice an unusually large kitchen, built to accommodate yet another new concept from the Baileys in the adjoining space—No. 9, if anybody’s keeping score. 3137 Olive.