Pizza News

Dallas' love affair with pizza peaks with 2 pizza festivals on deck

Many pizzas on the menu at Eataly Pizza Fest.

Eataly

Dallas loves pizza so much right now, there are two festivals to celebrate it. That includes Eataly Dallas Pizza Fest, a food-fest hosted by Eataly at NorthPark Center with more than two dozen pizza purveyors serving up hot slices.

The festival takes place on Sunday, April 19, spotlighting more than 10 pizza styles – from Neapolitan to New York to Detroit-style.

This is the second year for the festival, which launched in 2025. Taking place in the parking lot in front of Eataly's entrance, it feastures tasting stations where pizzerias hand out samples. There'll also be beverage stations serving Italian wine and local beer, plus hands-on pizza making, chef demos, and guest appearances.

(Note: This is also not Dallas' only pizza festival: There's another one called Dallas Pizza Fest taking place on April 26 at Epic Central in Grand Prairie. It's a family-friendly event with games, pizza trucks, and a pizza eating contest. Entry to that festival is free, and you pay for your pizza per slice.)

While pizza has been trending up across Dallas-Fort Worth for a few years, things have really crested as of late, with a growing number of places offering pizza by the slice, as well as a sudden influx of artisanal pizzerias debuting in Fort Worth.

Participants at Eataly's Dallas Pizza Fest will include:

Andrew’s American Pizza
Cenzo’s Pizza & Deli
Delucca Gaucho Pizza and Wine
Doughbird
Fireova Pizza
Fortunate Son
Greenville Avenue Pizza Co.
Il Forno
Jet’s Pizza
Mimi’s Pizzeria
NEONY Pizza Works
Olivella's Pizza & Wine
Partenope Ristorante
Pazzeria by Pietro's
Pizzana
Pizzeria Carina
Poco Fiasco
Salisbury’s Pizza
San Martin Bakery
SauceBros
Starship Bagel
Urban Crust
Zoli’s

In addition, Eataly Dallas will showcase two types of pizza from its offering – Roman-style pizza alla pala and Neapolitan pizza — in collaboration with Rossopomodoro.

Eataly previewed the event on March 19 with a sit-down dinner attended by two dozen influencers and their plus-ones.

It started with a trio of salads, followed by four pizza courses from highlighted entrants:

Diavola Dolce, a spicy salami pizza from Rossopomodoro
Mexican elote, featuring corn, Mexican crema sauce, and cilantro, from DeLucca (who were one of the two winners of Best Pizza in. 2025)
Star Luca, a star-shaped thin-crust pizza with Calabrian spicy salami from MisterO1
Leche Quemada, a decadent dessert offering from Starship Bagel, featuring bagel dough topped with whipped cream cheese, condensed milk, Leche Quemada candies, cinnamon, and vanilla

The festival will be open with two time slots: early/lunch from 11:30 am-2:30 pm, or afternoon from 4-7 pm.

General admission tickets are $75. VIP passes are $125, with access to a dedicated lounge, cocktail bars, and exclusive bites. Admission is free for children under the age of 10, with RSVP.

festivals pizza

Downtown News

2 longtime side-by-side bars in downtown Dallas to close

The Mitchell

Farewell to The Mitchell

Not one but two watering holes in downtown Dallas are closing, and that includes The Mitchell, the bar at 1404 Main St. that has been a staple of the downtown scene for more than a decade.

Its younger sibling and next-door neighbor Ye Olde Scarlet Pumpernickel Tavern will also close, says co-owner Adam Salazar, who calls it a real estate decision.

"The two bars are owned by a group, and they've decided to sell the buildings," Salazar says. "It's unfortunate, but it's a little beyond my pay grade."

The Mitchell opened in 2015, taking over a space in the heart of the Central Business District that had previously been home to bars such as the Chesterfield, One Eyed Penguin, and Prohibition — and long ago, a Chinese restaurant called Mandalay.

They made good use of the kitchen, serving food that regularly earned praise. But their main emphasis was always on having a lively, bustling bar, inspired by bars one might find in cities such as San Francisco or Chicago.

As for the Scarlet Pumpernickel, Salazar opened that in 2020, commandeering a space that had been occupied for 14 years by City Tavern, but which had originally been home to a Greek restaurant called the Zodiac. (City Tavern relocated to 1514 Elm St. in 2019.)

"The Mitchell was doing well, and I feel like the Scarlet could've been there for 50 years," Salazar says. "I am proud of everyone who works there. We didn't always do mainstream stuff, especially the Mitchell, where we only offered one bottle of vodka — but were successful doing it. We were definitely a staple in downtown, especially with the service industry."

He says they'll be closing over Easter weekend. "The idea is to get the building vacated, so it will be easier to sell," he says.

Meanwhile, "we're going to go out with a bang," he says. "We'll be open so that downtown people can come visit us in the next week, and bring back some of the classics like the Monte Cristo sandwich, that we served over the years."

downtown nightlife closings