Hot Pizza News

New Italian restaurant brings New York style to Dallas' Cedars District

Southside Pizzeria will open in Dallas' Cedars District in the fall.

Photo courtesy of Italian Bistro

A new restaurant coming to Dallas' Cedars District aims to dish out great Italian food, including a legit New York-style thin-crust pizza. Called Southside Pizzeria, it's opening at 1210 S. Lamar St., in the thick of the entertainment strip that includes Alamo Drafthouse and Gilley's.

The restaurant will open in September on the ground floor of South Side Flats, a new-ish four-story mixed-use apartment building with residential units on the top three floors and retail on the ground floor that opened in 2016. Other shops include a nail salon and a barber, but so far, Southside is the only restaurant. The closest pizzeria in the area is Zalat, which operates a stand next to Mac's Southside, on the other side of the South Side on Lamar loft building.

Southside comes from Ilir Murati, who already owns a restaurant in Plano called Italian Bistro. Diners give it high marks for its Italian baked dishes, stuffed mushrooms, house-made bread, and ah-may-zing cannoli.

For Southside, Murati plans to go more casual and more urban.

"It'll be a pizzeria-slash-bar, with New York-style pizza being our primary focus, but with some of the popular entrees that we do at Italian Bistro," he says.

Murati knew he wanted to expand to Dallas, and searched around before he found this space. "We'll be there for the residents in the building, but with Gilley's right across the street, I feel like we can be there for people who are going to see a show and want to get pizza or a bite to eat," he says.

He keeps his prices reasonable to entice return visits. "In Plano, we have people who come two to three times a week, and we'd be happy if that happened in Dallas, too," he says.

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Something to Chew On

Craft beer fest tops 6 best food & drink events in Dallas this week

On Rotation Brewery & Kitchen/Facebook

On Rotation Brewery & Kitchen will celebrate 10 years this week with a party.

Mardi Gras officially climaxes this week, and plenty of Dallas spots have Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday-related events — for that list, click here. But the good times do not stop rolling there: There's a noteworthy dinner featuring an Italian winemaker known for putting Barolo on the map, as well as a pricey dinner at a fashionable downtown boutique. End the week with craft beer and crawfish.

Tuesday, March 4

Ratti Wine Dinner at Salum
This five-course wine pairing dinner hosted in collaboration with Jimmy’s Food Store will feature special guest Pietro Ratti, owner and winemaker of Ratti Winery, which has been synonymous with Barolo wines for more than 50 years. Menu highlights include goat cheese flan, duck confit arancini, grilled pork tenderloin, lamb stew, and vanilla saffron panna cotta. Dinner is $149, plus tax and a service fee, and begins at 6 pm.

Wednesday, March 5

An Evening with Pace & Dallas Contemporary at Mirador
Dining destination atop Forty Five Ten downtown will combine culinary and contemporary arts for a dinner benefitting Dallas Contemporary’s upcoming exhibition in collaboration with Pace Gallery in Los Angeles. The exhibit is called You Stretched Diagonally Across It: Contemporary Tapestry by Su Wu. The menu will come from James Beard semi-finalist chef Olivia Lopez of Molino Olōyō and Mirador exec chef Travis Wyatt. Menu highlights include Wagyu picanha, hamachi tostadita, Texas squash con mole, aquachile, and heirloom corn custard with single-origin cacao, crema ice cream, and strawberry jam. Tickets are $1040.90 — you read that right — but include tequila and mezcal pairings plus tax and gratuity. Dinner is at 7 pm.

Saturday, March 8

On Rotation's Festival de Saison 10-Year Anniversary Party
Lemmon Avenue brewery is celebrating 10 years of small batch beers with a tasting party. Tickets include a first taste of the brewery’s anniversary saison, access to festival tents to sample saisons and Belgian brews from more than 10 fellow DFW breweries, and a special teku tasting glass. Tickets are $59 and the party will run from 2–6 pm.

Dallas Crawfish Kickoff Festival
Hundreds will pack Pacific Plaza in downtown Dallas for this all-you-can-eat crawfish festival featuring live music, a full bar, and multiple food vendors. Tickets start at $12 for entry (kids eight and under get in free), or pay $37 for entry and all-you-can-eat crawfish. The event will run from 3–9 pm.

Sunday, March 9

Happy Accidents Masterclass: Biology of Taste at Catbird
In collaboration with acclaimed Albuquerque bar Happy Accidents, Catbird will host a hands-on class exploring how the five senses work together to perceive complex flavors. The class is $25 plus tax and begins at 4 pm. Also visit on Saturday at 7 pm, for bar takeover by Happy Accidents featuring four innovative cocktails with unique flavors like white truffle, marshmallow, tomato water, and rock melon.

Profound Barn-Raising Farm Tour & Dinner
This monthly five-course farm-to-table dinner held at Profound Microfarms in Lucas features a different local guest chef each month. March is Women's History Month, so they'll feature seven female chefs: Lori McLain (World Soup Champion), Rebecka Evans (World Bacon Champion), Donna Collins (World Jam & Jelly Champion), Diane Hill Roark (three-time perfect score World Food Champion), Emma Nguyen (two-time World Live Fire Champion), Sherry Blacketer (two-time Top 10 World Food Champion), and Dallas chef Sharon Van Meter. Dinner includes hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. The $195 ticket price includes a $50 gift certificate for profoundfoods.com. The event begins at 5:30 pm.

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