Pizza News

Sprinkles' pizzeria spinoff debuts in Dallas, first outside California

Get ready for some celebrated pizza.

Pizzana

Pizza is on with the imminent arrival of Pizzana, the restaurant from the founders of Sprinkles Cupcakes, opening at 3219 Knox St. on November 15.

Pizzana debuted in Los Angeles in 2017, and as a release notes, this is the first location outside California. It stars pizzaiolo Daniele Uditi, who has appeared on Hulu's "Best in Dough" pizza competition series.

They ferment their dough for 48 hours. Toppings blend traditional with Pizzana originals such as Uditi's signature cacio e pepe pizza, which a release claims has been copied by pizza places far and wide. Not in Dallas though! Buck up.

The menu includes pizzas, antipasti, salads, desserts, and vegan options. They're also doing a gluten-free crust.

Much like Shake Shack, they're doing a collaboration with a Dallas local: a pizza with ingredients from BBQ restaurant Pecan Lodge featuring brisket, smoked fior di latte, jalapeño, pickled red onion, fontina crema, cilantro, and San Marzano barbecue sauce.

There's also a Dallas-only dessert, an apple crisp featuring Texas-based whiskey brand Herman Marshall is topped with vanilla ice cream, which the release calls creamy. Creamy is definitely preferable in a vanilla ice cream to icy, grainy, or hard.

"Dallas is a very special city and has always been so welcoming to Sprinkles Cupcakes," Candace Nelson says in a statement. "Daniele, Charles, and I are so looking forward to sharing Pizzana with the Dallas community. "Pizzana’s menu will satisfy any carb carving and everything on the menu is worth the indulgence.”

The restaurant seats 45, with banquettes and signature Mediterranean blue colors. Each table features Pizzana's first-of-its-kind pizza towers, custom-crafted for hot pies to be presented and stacked above the surface of the table.

They'll be open lunch and dinner daily, until 10 pm Sunday-Thursday and 11 pm Friday and Saturday.

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Soul Food News

Dallas celebs are flocking to Soul Shack, new restaurant in Cedar Hill

Soul Shack

Fried chicken, mac & cheese, collards at Soul Shack.

Dallas has a new upscale soul food restaurant that originally hails from Chicago: Called Soul Shack, it’s in the former Turkey Leg King space at 305 W. FM 1382 #502, in the Hillside Village shopping center in Cedar Hill where it opened in late January.

Soul Shack was founded by owner Erik “Rico” Nance, an entrepreneur and veteran restaurateur, and is led by his business partners Theous Griffin and Ronald Edwards III, who serves as general manager. The original was a fast-casual concept in Chicago called Soul Shack Express, which is still open.

The Dallas location is a more ambitious effort, with a full-service restaurant, full bar, and swanky nightlife atmosphere. Nance had previously opened Mikkey's Retro Grill, a hip-hop themed burger restaurant, in Cedar Hill, which closed in late 2024.

"I felt like the city needed a cocktail lounge," he says.

The space boasts a 1920's jazz club atmosphere, with marble floors, circular black booths, chandeliers, crystal bead curtains, and tables topped with a newsprint design. There's a "Soul Shack" sign in white neon, and an Insta-friendly wall with flowers and photo collage of iconic Black artists and performers like Eddie Murphy and Diahann Carroll. They also host live music and DJs at night.

The menu is mostly Southern but with fusion twists: soul rolls (fried egg rolls) filled with jerk chicken, which is their signature dish; plus gumbo, collard greens, sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, lamb chops with a parmesan crust, oxtails, and beef short ribs in gravy.

Tranelle and Ron Edwards with Shaq O'Neal Shaq O'Neal (right) drops into Soul Shack.Soul Shack

"Soul Shack has been an offspring of the things that we've learned from our other restaurants," Nance says. "We're still in soft opening mode, but we've already taken off. We'll have a beautiful nightlife and older crowd."

They've quickly earned notice from celebrities including TikTok phenomenon Keith Lee, who touted them with a review in their first week open (giving it a high rating of 8 out of 10 on his scale); and more recently celebrity Shaquille "Shaq" O'Neal, who dropped in for a surprise visit, posing for a photo with Edwards and his wife, Tranelle.

"We had no idea, he just came in, made a reservation and said he'd heard the food was amazing," Nance says. "When he came in the door, we said, 'We're turning this into Soul Shaq.' We accommodated everything he wanted. I love that man and what he stands for, his philanthropy."

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