Pizza Is Back

Dallas' most missed pizzeria returns with grand new menu and location

Oh Zoli, how we've missed you so.

Zoli's NY Pizza Tavern/Facebook

UPDATE: Zoli's launched lunch service on November 1. Go get 'em!

--------------------------------

In what is surely the biggest Dallas pizza news of 2017, Zoli's, the New York-style pizzeria sibling to the Cane Rosso pizza chain, has named a date for the official opening (versus soft opening) of its new location in Addison: November 3.

Located at 14910 Midway Rd., Zoli's will rejoin the family of nine Cane Rosso Neapolitan-style restaurants located in Dallas, Houston, and Austin. It will offer a selection of East Coast dishes such as New York-style pizzas, salads, pasta, and sandwiches on house-made bread.

Zoli's originally opened as a slice shop in Bishop Arts, where the awesome pizza stylings of chef and New York native Lee Hunzinger won over diners and critics everywhere. That location on Davis Street was swept up in the area's redevelopment, and it closed in 2016, on Valentine's Day, sniff sniff.

The re-opening in Addison represents a kind of Zoli's 2.0, with both lunch and dinner and a menu of East Coast Italian classics along with the pizzas and other bites from the original Zoli's.

Highlights from the menu include:

Nuggz. Old school style fried mozzarella, served with marinara.
Carbonara. Spaghetti, bacon, egg, garlic breadcrumbs, and pecorino.
Pizza Loves Emily. Pizza with mozzarella, roasted mushrooms and habanero honey, finished with cold cheese.
Brian Luscher. Pizza with mozzarella, sausage bolognese, and creamy ricotta.
Zeppole. Fried-to-order doughnuts tossed in cinnamon and sugar, with caramel dipping sauce.

The New York-style pizzas can be ordered in both 14" round pie and 12" square versions, and guests can choose to customize their own pies with a mix of their favorite meats, veggies, cheeses, and sauces. The restaurant will also offer a $1 side of jalapeno ranch for dipping, previously verboten in the Cane Rosso family; the proceeds will go to Cane Rosso Rescue.

Zoli's was also noted for its irreverent personality and motifs, including an iconic white unicorn head and the famous marquee sign that staffers used to comment on pop culture, now hanging on the wall.

Taking over an address that was once a Snuffer's, the new space has vaulted ceilings, an open pizza kitchen, and a white marble bar. Colorful geometric wood tables designed by Sarah Reiss for R&R Design Works and custom steel-cut lighting fixtures add texture.

A 10-foot Clay Stinnett painting of the "Last Supper" featuring Star Wars characters, dresses up the best seat in the house: Reiss' 10-person purple velour banquette. The 4200-square-foot space also features a private area that's just the right size to host a business lunch, dinner, or happy hour.

"After a long delay due to permitting and construction, we are thrilled to finally unveil the new version of Zoli's to Dallas," says owner Jay Jerrier. "The delay gave us plenty of time to travel to the East and West Coasts to find inspiration for the new menu, and we really have the dough dialed in after working with Brian Spangler from Apizza Scholls in Portland, Oregon. The large space and kitchen gives us the flexibility to create and offer so many of the things that both Lee and I ate growing up in the Northeast."

pizza

What Just Opened

Crazy wave of Dallas restaurants and bars have all just opened

Courtesy

1519 Main St.

The Dallas hospitality scene almost never sleeps and right now it's pulling an all-nighter, with a big slate of fresh openings, all of which have debuted within the past days, give or take.

Everyone's hustling to get their doors open in time for the holidays, and these establishments have all made it happen: From a cosmopolitan new lounge in downtown Dallas to a modern Asian restaurant in Plano to a bountiful AYCE Chinese seafood spot in Richardson, there's something here to pique everyone's interest and appetite.

1519 Main
Spectacular lounge is now open in downtown Dallas at 1519 Main St., in a nearly century-old building across from the Joule Dallas hotel where it's serving up stellar drinks in a space that's both cosmopolitan and low-key. The bar is from Hospitality Alliance, the company led by restaurant wunderkind Kevin Lillis, who helped create the original AT&T Discovery District. It's a stunning space with many original features like the rose-and-cream marble floors from the 1920s and the brick walls with signage from prior businesses in the space that dating back decades. The menu has cocktails from Brian Van Flandern, who oversaw the program at Per Se, The Carlyle Hotel, The Plaza Hotel, and Palm Court restaurant, and also has a homage menu featuring recipes from some of the most impactful but now closed cocktail lounges in the country. They're open Thursday-Saturday from 5 pm-12 am.

Centrale Italia
New concept from veteran restaurateur Patrick Colombo (Cru Wine Bar, Princi Italia) opened in November at Preston Hollow Village at Walnut Hill Lane and US-75 with a menu of wood-fired dishes, Neapolitan style pizza, pastas, and gelato made in-house. They're debuting brunch on Sunday December 7 and lunch on Monday December 8, with a menu that includes spicy meatball sub, chicken parm on toasted ciabatta, and a parmesan garlic cheeseburger with Wagyu beef and arugula. Salads include Little Gem Caesar, chopped salad with salami, prosciutto, and soppressata, and an Italian Cobb salad with chicken, Romaine, radicchio, avocado, beets, prosciutto, eggs, and Campari tomato in a creamy gorgonzola.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Restaurant in Richardson which just opened in the former Maxim's space is an all-you-can-eat sushi/seafood buffet featuring a daily rotating menu with 300-plus items from various Asian cuisines. There are oysters, crab legs, lobster, sushi bar, ramen bar, dumplings bar, skewers bar, noodles, stir-fries, and Chinese dishes both Cantonese and Sichuan, such as spicy boiled beef and kung pao chicken. Plus dim sum and desserts such as precision-cut layer cakes and a chocolate fondue station where you can dip strawberries and other fruit. (The lobster and crab are available at dinner and weekends only, not at lunch.) The price is $20 at lunch, $30 at dinner on weeknighs, and $35 all weekend long.

Jashan
Indian ambitious new Indian restaurant with a one-of-a-kind menu offering has opened at Plano's Legacy North with a chef team who are bringing flavors from cities and regions across India, from Dehli's fried potato tikkis to pepper chicken from the south. For those seeking something truly unique, Jahsan also offer a Dil Se menu — an omakase-style tasting, available in 7- or 13-course versions, featuring a procession of these flavors, letting guests discover the stories of these cities in one visit.

La Stella Italian Steakhouse
Stupendous Italian restaurant just opened at a storied North Dallas address at 14655 Dallas Pkwy. in the former Lawry's space, where it stands as a bigger, grander spinoff of its sibling La Stella Cucina, the Italian restaurant in Dallas' Design District. The menu is an expanded version of the original: combining Italian seafood and a chophouse, plus an accompanying music lounge for live entertainment.

LuLu Modern Chinese
Glamorous new Asian restaurant just opened in Plano at 3310 Dallas Pkwy. #121, with a goal is to bring an authentic and modern Chinese American dining experience. The menu features classics like Peking duck, xiao long bao (soup dumplings), and seafood executed with spices and recipes from various regions of China — from Shanghai to the Pan Asian continent. The 4,300-square-foot space features a subtle lounge theme — a place you can dine or grab tequila shots over a soundtrack of '90s hip-hop and pop, plus craft cocktails, and a serious collection of sake and wine — but not what you'd typically find at a Chinese restaurant.

Mendocino Farms
California chain known for creative sandwiches, salads, soups, and other healthy fare, has opened its newest DFW-area location — the sixth — at NorthPark Center, joining Addison, downtown Dallas, Plano, Preston Hollow, and Dallas' West Village. With its casual but upscale menu, featuring staples such as the Chicken & Hummus Crunch Wrap — as well as seasonal offerings like the November to Remember sandwich with turkey, mozzarella, mushroom & turkey sausage stuffing, spicy cranberry chutney, and Romaine on toasted cranberry walnut wheat bread — NorthPark seems like a perfect fit.

Old Ferry Donut
Doughnut shop chain from Korea entered the U.S. in 2023, with five locations in California. Now they've made their Texas debut in Carrollton at 2225 Old Denton Rd. #215, Their doughnuts are unique: They have a slightly chewier, more bready texture than the fluffy texture of a Krispy Kreme, and are a little less sweet than traditional American doughnuts. Many of their doughnuts have fillings, made from premium ingredients. The menu includes old-school flavors such as Boston Cream, Original Glaze, and Cinnamon Sugar — but also new-school flavors like White Chocolate Sesame, Earl Gray, and Matcha Cream.

Roots Chicken Shak
Fried chicken restaurant concept from celebrity chef Tiffany Derry, just opened a location at 3748 Belt Line Rd. #118, in a former Einstein's Bagels on the southeast corner of Marsh Lane. There are chicken wings, tenders, nuggets, and sandwiches on sweet potato buns. Derry opened the first Roots Chicken Shack at Plano's Legacy Food Hall in 2017, but the Addison location is owned by franchisees.

Yearby’s Barbecue & Waterice
Halal BBQ spot which originated in Pilot Point is in soft opening mode at a new second location in Plano at 3201 Alma Dr., just west of US-75, where they'll be open from 11 am–3 pm or sell out. There's likely to be a line, because BBQ places like to have a line, but the Yearby's in Pilot Point also earned a slot on Texas Monthly’s 50 Best list for 2025.

openings