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!

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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."

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Coming soon

Cuban-style burger chain Frita Batidos to make Texas debut in Dallas

Photo by Noah Fecks

Frita Batidos' signature burgers and milkshakes, along with crispy fried plantains.

An acclaimed Cuban-inspired burger restaurant from Michigan is making its Texas debut in in Dallas' buzzy McKinney-Knox neighborhood: Called Frita Batidos, it will open at 4620 McKinney Ave., just off the Katy Trail, on August 17, a release says.

Founded by chef Eve Aronoff Fernandez, Frita Batidos debuted in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2010 and has since expanded to Detroit and Brooklyn. The Brooklyn location earned national attention after its signature Frita was named one of New York City's best burgers by The New York Times.

The restaurant serves Cuban-style street food and takes its name from two Cuban staples that are the focus of its menu: fritas, the island's signature burgers, and batidos, tropical fruit milkshakes.

Their fritas are served on a soft egg bun and topped with shoestring fries. Options include beef, housemade chorizo, chicken, black bean, and Gulf redfish, with toppings such as cilantro-lime salsa, avocado spread, tropical slaw, Muenster cheese, and a sunny-side-up egg.

Frita Baditos Frita, a Cuban-style burger.Photo by Noah Fecks

Their batidos are made with vanilla bean ice cream and fresh fruit in flavors such as coconut cream, passion fruit, fresh lime, hibiscus, chocolate español, and cajeta. Guests can also order a lighter version made with mango, pineapple, and crushed ice, or add a splash of dark rum to any shake.

Other menu highlights include crisped plantains with dipping sauces, loaded plantains topped with black beans and cheese, coconut-ginger rice layered with black beans and Muenster cheese, churros, cinnamon-sugar plantains, and rotating housemade paletas.

The beverage menu features cocktails such as a margarita, mojito, piña colada, daiquiri, sangria, and pisco hibiscus lemonade, along with housemade tropical sodas, fresh juices, and nonalcoholic versions of its cocktails.

"Frita Batidos emphasizes fresh, high-quality, locally sourced ingredients, served with care in a warm and welcoming atmosphere to create a community gathering place," the owners say in the release.

The Dallas restaurant occupies a bright, airy space designed by architect Neal Robinson, a longtime collaborator on the brand's restaurants. The dining room features communal picnic-style tables, outlets for guests who want to work while dining, and dominoes for customers to play. A mural by graffiti artist FEL3000ft emblazoned with the phrase "Por Que No?!" serves as the centerpiece.

Frita Baditos Badito, a tropical milkshake.Photo by Noah Fecks

Frita Batidos founder Aronoff Fernandez is a a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef who previously owned the acclaimed Ann Arbor, Michigan restaurant Eve and authored the cookbook Eve: Contemporary Cuisine/Methode Traditionelle. She founded Frita Baditos in 2010, she says, "grounded in the tenets of the Slow Food Movement, following the seasons, cooking from scratch, working with small, local purveyors and farmers and most importantly fostering warmth and conviviality around food."

Frita Batidos will be open Sunday-Wednesday from 11 am-10 pm and Thursday-Saturday from 11 am-11 pm.

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