Pizza News

Dallas pizza pioneer debuts creative test concept at Plano food hall

Cavalli makes its pizza the Neapolitan way.

Photo courtesy of Cavalli Pizza

Local pizza chain Cavalli is joining the stampede of restaurants opening in Legacy Food Hall in Plano, but with a differently named concept called Forno Nero. It will serve a condensed version of the Cavalli menu, centered on its Neapolitan-style pizza.

Cavalli was the first Neapolitan pizzeria in the Dallas area when it opened its inaugural branch in Irving in 2007. A second branch opened in McKinney in 2010, and a third in Lewisville in 2016. Original owners were Paolo and Clara Cavalli; Paolo passed away in 2016.

The new owner is Chase LaFerney, who worked with Plano restaurant company Yum! Brands and whose family was in the restaurant business. He was first intrigued by the pizza, but ultimately became involved because of the stability of the company.

"I think we have the best pizza in town, but I was also impressed by the tenure and loyalty of the employees, some of whom go back to when the company began," he says. "Paolo was an engineer before Cavalli, and he set up a system that's really effective."

LaFerney took over when there were two branches, and oversaw the opening in Lewisville. The basic menu is the same at all three, but each keys into its neighborhood.

"The audience in Lewisville is completely different from McKinney," he says. "We added a couple of pizzas that are unique to Lewisville, including a white pizza with chorizo, cilantro, mozzarella, and crema. In McKinney, they'd been doing this giant tapas menu but a lot of those dishes weren't getting ordered, so we added some fresh pastas instead."

The new concept at Legacy Hall will have a smaller menu with a lot more improvisation.

"We're calling it Forno Nero, which means 'black oven,' because it will feature a showpiece domed black oven," he says. "But to give you an idea of what it's about, we almost called it 'Test Kitchen.' It'll be a little different. We'll be doing 10-inch pizzas instead of the 12-inch pizzas we usually do. There will be five to six pizzas that will be staples that are always on the menu, and four to five that are seasonal. That seems like a good fit for a place like Legacy Hall."

The smaller size will address what is the most frequently heard feedback, regarding the nature of the crust. Many parts of Dallas are still grappling with the nature of the Neapolitan-style pizza crust, which is more supple than the flat cardboard bottom that previously dominated the local pizza scene. If you scan Yelp for local Neapolitan pizzerias, half of the comments seem to dwell on the fact that the crust is not crisp.

"The crust on the 10-inch pizzas holds up much better, you can pull up a slice and the toppings don't fall off," LaFerney says.

When Cavalli first opened, Neapolitan-style pizza was still relatively unknown, and acquiring a VPN certification from the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana, proving that your pizza was made in the true style of Napoli, Italy, added value. But with numerous chains doing the style, such as Spin, Blaze, Project Pie, and the latest, MiDici, VPN certification has become less of a thing.

"We switched to APN, Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani, which certifies the pizzaiolo not the restaurant," LaFerney says. "But we're still doing things the Neapolitan way, using the ingredients and fermenting our dough for 36-48 hours. We're basically bringing Neapolitan-style pizza to the suburbs."

Pizza News

Iconic Dallas pizza chain Campisi's snags hot address on Inwood Road

Campisi's

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An iconic name in pizza is opening in one of Dallas' ritziest neighborhoods: Campisi's, the beloved longtime pizza chain, will open a location at 7709 Inwood Rd., taking over the desirable space previously occupied by Perch, which closed in March.

The location, across the street from Inwood Village, brings Campisi's back to a neighborhood where it has resided for 30 years, says owner David Campisi.

Most recently, they were in a storefront at 5405 W. Lovers Ln. but were ousted after 20 years in the space, when the center suffered a fire in December 2025. Prior to that, they operated a satellite location in Inwood Village, in the former Lovers Egg Roll space next to Pogo's.

"This will be our third location at Lovers Lane and Inwood Road, where we've been serving generation after generation," David says.

His goal is to open by January 1.

The space, which was originally a Steak & Ale, has seen turnover in recent years. Prior to Perch, it was Dea, an Italian restaurant, and before that, a popular location of Fireside Pies. But scoring it was a triumph, and Campisi won out over other suitors.

"I'm hoping to be good neighbors with Shinsei owner Lynae Fearing," David says.

This Campisi's will be larger than most of the other eight locations in the chain, but David has some bold plans that incorporate both relying on tradition while looking ahead.

"You've got all these out-of-town concepts charging $4 for an iced tea," he says. "We want to be what we've always been: a restaurant for everybody — a dining experience with great food and service where you don't have to wear a sports coat."

It'll definitely have a bigger bar presence.

"The new location will be a little more bar-driven," he says. "It'll have a huge horseshoe bar where you can get small bites for a great price. We won't do happy hour. We'll just always have the strongest and cheapest drinks on Lovers Lane — taking you back in time to the intimate Club Room vibe at the original Campisi's on Mockingbird Lane."

Campisi's signature dishes include its thin-crust rectangular Sicilian-style pizza, buttery crab claws, and "Joe's Famous" garlic toast. Other menu signatures include shrimp scampi, lasagna, spaghetti & meatballs, and fettuccine alfredo.

"But we'll introduce some daily specials, like a fresh pasta of the day," David says. "We've always had weekly staples, like Tuesday nights, we do an $8.99 spaghetti with red sauce, with garlic toast and a house salad — we stole this idea from El Fenix — and on Wednesdays, we do $5 Chianti. We're not creating value meals, we're adding value. The pricing in this city has spiraled and I think people are tired of it."

Opening the location will also help streamline delivery, which represents a large chunk of their business, to that side of town. (They also just opened a dedicated pickup and delivery location at Preston-Royal at 5944 Royal Ln.)

Updates on the interior at the new location are underway, with a goal to "exceed expectations" for their generations of guests.

"You'll see the red tufted booths, the dim lights, our vintage photos bringing our long history in Dallas to this location," David says. "We've lasted 80 years because we are a family — we don't have employees, we have 350-plus family members, and they're the reason. In the end, it'll be a red sauce joint — we're not trying to be anything else."

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