Pasta News
San Marzano Italian restaurant from NY picks prime Dallas corner for pasta
San Marzano pasta
A fresh pasta palace from New York is coming to Texas: San Marzano, an Italian restaurant specializing in house-made pasta, will open a location in the West Village neighborhood at 3700 McKinney Ave., in the prime spot previously occupied by Public School 214, which closed in late 2022.
Named for the famed tomato grown in Italy, San Marzano has been a neighborhood favorite in New York's East Village since 2014, where it draws locals and NYU students for its well-made pasta and upscale-casual setting.
Their unique twist is their mix-and-match approach where you choose a pasta such as pappardelle, rigatoni, or campanelle, then pair it with your choice of sauce from selections such as Bolognese, wild boar ragù, tomato-vodka, pesto, meatball, or shrimp scampi. You can also add "toppings" like sausage, bacon, artichoke, or grape tomatoes.
Appetizers include Brussels sprouts, eggplant parm, meatballs (made with veal, pork, and beef), and an antipasto plate with burrata, proscuitto, and olives, plus a Caesar and an arugula salad.
There are panini including meatball, grilled chicken, and pesto caprese with mozzarella and sundried tomato; and luscious desserts such as their unique "ricottella," a calzone-like fried dough filled with Nutella and ricotta cheese for a decadently oozy sweet & savory contrast.
San Marzano was founded by brothers and New Yorkers Kamran Malekan and David Malekan; David has resided in Dallas for a decade and knows the terrain and culture first-hand.
"I lived in Uptown, across the street when the 3700 McKinney building went up," he says. "I know the neighborhood very well, and was sad to see Public School 214 close. But that location is such a great space, with an amazing patio, and we have a big brunch program, so it'll be perfect. We got lucky that it became vacant."
They're aiming to open in late summer, and they'll recreate the same model they have in New York: pick your pasta, pick your sauce, at a nice price.
"Although value is an important part of what we do, our dishes are every bit as elaborate as $30+ pastas served elsewhere," Malekan says. "Our NYC location is a quintessential date spot and we expect to create the same atmosphere here."
"For a long time, Dallas didn't have many Italian options," he says. "It's starting to get better, but we still feel like the area is under-served for good Italian — especially for what we do, with all the pasta, all the sauces, made fresh in house."
