For all the DFW natives I'm an out of towner that ends up in the DFW every other month. When I'm on an Italian kick I always return to usuals; Campisi's (Mockingbird) and Maggiano's Little Italy. Are these as good as any or am I missing some gems?

Nona Tata - Magnolia area of Ft. Worth. Only open M-F for dinner and one saturday per month
Loveria Cafe - Colleyville

Both of these are run by actual Italians, making their own pasta and generally kicking ass.

If you plan ahead and want a great experience: Lucia, in Bishop Arts, is excellent.

(I say plan ahead because you have to call on the first of the month to get reservations for the next month. Or you could go one day and try to get a walk up spot at the small kitchen bar)

We love savianos in Euless and heard good things about la piazza (Fort Worth) from a true Italian customer of mine

Taverna is good in Dallas off of Knox. So is terrilli's off of Greenville.

mavsfan4ever said:

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Taverna is good in Dallas off of Knox. So is terrilli's off of Greenville.

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Now i need some italchos...dammit

Mio Nonno in Allen is awesome if you happen to find your way to the northern suburbs.

Nona Tata & Aventinos in Fort Worth are both great.

I grew up eating at Terillis and Prego on Greenville. Those are sentimental favorites of mine.

I have heard really good things about Mangiamo near the Galleria in Dallas (Preston and LBJ).

Gah! Some of the recs above are, well okay (Lucia is superb! But not reasonable schedule-wise). Sticking to Dallas (Not Allen or FW), try Carbones, no reservations. Or Nonna. Or Sprezza.

Understand that my recs are more Italian than your examples, so take my suggestions for what they are worth.

Lucia is well worth it if you plan ahead.

Another in for Nonna

Roman Cucina in Richardson.

Carbones is fine as long as you realize it is half grocery with a smaller, limited menu. It is really a lunch and takeout place that happens to serve a few items for dinner.

I had a pretty great dinner at Urbano a month or so ago. I would add that to the list. It is off the beaten path but worth driving a short distance out of the way.

If you already hitting Campisis it is not that far away.

Terillis's and Prego are legit.

We like Kenny's Italian Kitchen on Beltline in Addison. I still consider that Dallas.

Trattoria Al Giardino in Frisco is very good.

Chipotlemonger said:

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If you plan ahead and want a great experience: Lucia, in Bishop Arts, is excellent.

(I say plan ahead because you have to call on the first of the month to get reservations for the next month. Or you could go one day and try to get a walk up spot at the small kitchen bar)

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Lucia is fantastic.

correction on the reservation. they take reservations 60 days out. new day opens each day. you don't wait until first of month

If you want cheap, delicious and BYOB try Tony's. Terrill's is also great

Nonna and Sprezza!

Lucia is now using a new reservation app, Resy. Not sure how Lucia is utilizing it - I kinda think its for managing cancellations of reservations made by phone. Quite often Lucia will post their cancellations on FB.

FYI, they are on their annual vacay, so closed till next week.

Windy City Ag said:

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Carbones is fine as long as you realize it is half grocery with a smaller, limited menu. It is really a lunch and takeout place that happens to serve a few items for dinner.

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I went to Carbones a couple weeks ago and really liked it. Their vodka sauce was amazing.

Everything we had at the table was great so I'll definitely go back.

Reading this is depressing. Not much good Italian in Dallas. Lucia is excellent but expensive as hell, hard to get into, and you can't really do any sort of business stuff there because it is so intimate. The other 3 places mentioned on this thread are from the same guy...

Allessios back in the day was wonderful. Cafe urbano next to jimmys is passable. It is byob too.