An acclaimed vegan pizzeria in Fort Worth will be closing after serving “over 50,000 meals that align with our morals,” the owners announced on May 19 in a poignant social media post that touched many customers’ hearts.
Landon and Jennifer Cabarubio, who started off as pop-up pizza makers, opened Pizza Verde as a brick-and-mortar restaurant in 2021 while the pandemic raged across Texas. In 2022 it was named one of the state’s best pizzerias by Texas Monthly and was a finalist in CultureMap Fort Worth’s Tastemaker Awards for Best Restaurant in 2022 and 2023.
“There’s no great way to sugarcoat it,” Jennifer Cabarubio wrote in an Instagram and Facebook post, which also bore her husband’s name. “Our last day will be announced soon….We would love for the next months to be a celebration of all we accomplished the last four years, and every penny we make will go to help us pay off debts.”
“Instead of sad comments, could you tell us a moment that was special for you at Pizza Verde?” the post continued. “That would feel like a big hug.”
Pizza Verde’s Instagram followers obliged, leaving more than 80 comments that praised the Cabarubios’ food and service and sharing fond memories of the pizzeria. One commenter wrote, “I’ve been vegan for 6 years. I love pizza, and it’s what I missed most about the transition. That was until I found Pizza Verde, the absolute best pizza joint on the planet. Hands down.”
CultureMap Fort Worth pointed out that Pizza Verde’s location is “off the beaten path from the center of Fort Worth, and vegans in Dallas-Fort Worth seem generally reluctant to drive out of their way to support vegan restaurants.”
Pizza Verde serves wood-fired, plant-based pizzas as well as pastas and sandwiches. The pastas were added to the menu in March 2024.
“I think one of the things we are most proud of is to have a product that is appealing to all people, not just vegans,” Landon Cabarubio once told Voyage Dallas. “We spent a lot of time testing our pizzas with those [people] that typically wouldn’t eat plant-based foods to make sure they felt the flavors were great. It is the best feeling when we get someone to give us a try and they say, ‘You’d never know this is vegan’ or ‘This cheese is amazing.’”
In a glowing review of Pizza Verde, Texas Monthly reported that the Cabarubios opened their vegan pizzeria “to fill a void they saw in the Cowtown restaurant scene. Baking thin-crusted, crispy-edged pies and making their own almond-based mozzarella, they’ve created pizzas even a carnivore could love. The basics—a potato leek pie, a Margherita, a pepperoni—are solid, but the specialties shine, especially the Verde, with house-made soy chorizo, charred corn kernels and cilantro, and the Bacon & Brussels, drizzled with a tart-sweet balsamic reduction.”
A May 3 social media post suggested that the Cabarubios were worried about the economy. “We’d love to hear how these federal cuts and tariffs may be affecting you and your families,” it read. “Sending love. We know small business sales are down in general. Are you seeing similar trends at your jobs? What would benefit your families most?”
That post went on to announce that Pizza Verde had “some affordable family meal dishes in the works.”
