The De Baggis family has a lot of history there, at what used to be the Sandman Motel. In 1998, patriarch Ermanno De Baggis, a retired Italian liaison assigned to Redstone Arsenal, and wife Elvira De Baggis opened a restaurant, Villa Fiore, at this former motel site at 11505 South Memorial Parkway in Huntsville. Daughter Elisa de Baggis helped manage Villa Fiora. Elisa waited on and bused tables too. Elisa also hosted cooking classes on site.
Villa Fiore closed in 2005. The space was turned into a location of El Mariachi Mexican Restaurant. After that El Mariachi location came and went, the space housed Bishop’s Southside Pub & Grill, a sister restaurant of Winchester Road’s Bishop’s Eastside Pub & Grill.
In 2013, the Sandman’s arc returned to the De Baggis family. Elisa opened The Boot Pizzeria there. The Boot’s initial menu included pizzas like gorgonzola chicken and BBQ sausage and apps like Italian ragu fries. In 2016, their smoked salmon pizzas featured in AL.com’s “11 creative Alabama pizzas” list: “Plays like a posh wedding reception hors d’oeuvre that’s been zapped with a growth ray.” In 2024, The Boot’s made our “5 essential Huntsville pizzas for gameday” list: “Their prime rib pizza gets my vote for homecoming queen. Succulent, house-smoked prime rib, mushrooms, onions and mozzarella over an olive oil base, with a victory lap of horseradish sauce on top”
The Boot’s restaurant chapter will soon close. On Friday, October 10, the businesses posted a notice titled “Thank y’all” on social media. “After 12 beautiful years, The Boot Pizzeria will close on October 18, 2025. Thank you for being part of our story – for your loyalty, laugher, and love through the years for good food alive.” The post was signed, “Ciao.”
In a comment underneath that post, The Boot’s account added, presumably written by Elisa De Baggis, “The pizzeria might be closing, but the fire in the kitchen is still burning! Our cooking classes are in full swing, and something new and exciting is taking shape…