No Italio
Uptown Dallas Italian restaurant flees location with iffy history
Italian restaurants are opening everywhere, but this one's the rare closure: The whimsically named Sallio Itallio, which opened in late 2017 at 3232 McKinney Ave. in Uptown Dallas, next-door to Del Frisco's Grille, has called it quits.
The restaurant, a spinoff of North Dallas restaurant Sallio Bistro and owned by the same family that owns Amberjax at Trinity Groves, lasted barely five months, in a location that has suffered one closure after another.
In late April, Sallio's management posted a sign stating that repairs were being made on the space. But ultimately, said a spokesperson, they just weren't able to get customers in the door.
"We were out there giving away appetizer cards, cookies, but were never able to make it work," she said.
One is reluctant to proclaim any location doomed, but 3232 McKinney has not had much luck. Prior to Sallio, the space was occupied by Patrizio, an Italian eatery from restaurateur Ed Bailey, where it moved to in 2015, after being ousted from its original home in Highland Park Village.
Prior to that, the location was home to a restaurant called Barter, and before that, Private Social.
Sallio's owners Larry and Karen Williams have a history of scooping up restaurants in need of owners; previously, they took over Sallio Bistro, after its prior owner Jeff Armand died in 2016.
In the Uptown space, they saw potential in the location's wood-burning brick oven, which inspired them to do Italian food along with the seafood for which Larry is known. Their menu included crab cakes, lemon sole, rigatoni bolognese, eggplant parmesan, New York strip steak, and bone-in pork chop.
But a spokesperson said they also had trouble retaining a reliable chef.
Other efforts included weekend brunch on Saturdays and Sundays with seafood crepes, Italian sausage benedict, and mushroom-spinach ricotta frittatas, and a last-ditch effort to add a monthly "Drag Brunch" with performers. The last one was on April 22, with promises for a repeat on May 6.
