DALLAS NIGHTLIFE ENTERTAINMENT

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Sfuzzi

Facts
Address :	2533 McKinney Ave.,Dallas
Zip :	75201
Phone :	(214) 953-0300
Hours of Operation :	Not Mentioned
Type :	Italian
Neighborhood :	Uptown
Website :	CLICK HERE
Operation Time :

Low Down
Veteran restaurateur Robert Colombo, head of the Dallas-based La Reve group which owns Trece and Villa-O, is re-launching Sfuzzi's, the slick, upscale Italian chain he co-founded in the late '80s.

The new Sfuzzi's is slated to open in April in Dallas' Uptown district, in the spot on McKinney Avenue previously occupied by Split Peas Cafe and before that Urbano, which moved to Fitzhugh (and which coincidentally is owned by former Sfuzzi's manager Mitch Kaufmann).

"So many people have asked over the years, 'Why don't you re-open Sfuzzi's?' and I'd always said no, that was something I loved," Colombo says. "But a combination of things made me reconsider."

He was initially approached in 2009 by the folks who own the property. Eventually, they made a deal with Split Peas Cafe instead. But it planted the seed, and Colombo watched as San Antonio-based Split Peas came and left, as well as the increased activity on the street.

"My office looks out on that corner of McKinney and Routh, and I began to notice that McKinney Avenue is experiencing a revival," Colombo says. "On Friday or Saturday, it feels like Mardi Gras. And that particular location has what may be the most perfect patio in all of Dallas. Half of it sits on McKinney and then it wraps around the building and faces palm trees on the Routh Street side."

Learning that the name Sfuzzi's had returned to the public domain, he reclaimed it.

"We started out calling this 'Sfuzzi Encore,' and the 'encore' is still part of the thought process," he says. "But it really just ended up being Sfuzziâ€™s."

In its heyday, Sfuzzi's was a "chic destination spot" and "the hottest thing since sliced bread", says this 1998 story. It was one of the first places in town to introduce concepts like putting arugula on your pizza; combined with an intoxicating night-life component, it formed a template of sorts of the classic glossy Dallas restaurant that still exists today. At one point, Sfuzzi's had 21 branches in Addison and Uptown Dallas, as well as California, New York, Colorado, and Georgia. The chain changed hands in the mid '90s and eventually went bankrupt.

Dallas has become a more pizza-savvy city since the '90s, and Colombo acknowledges that the restaurant landscape has changed. But he's not worried about being influential; he just wants to do good food.

"It's going to be like an old New York City pizza-pasta parlor, with some of the influences from what Batali did in Los Angeles with [Pizzeria] Mozza, and there'll be a lounge side to it," he says. "When I say lounge, I mean more 'in-your-living-room place to drink and listen to some indie music and oldies,' and that fabulous patio."

He can't not bring back the signature frozen Sfuzzi cocktail, but there'll be a serious beverage program, though with prices that fit the younger vibe of the neighborhood.

"In all honesty, a lot of the influences and the direction of the food at Villa-O came from Sfuzzi, but with a much more focused commitment to organic and locally grown products," he says. "The new Sfuzzi will reflect a lot of what the old Sfuzzi had but still incorporate my personal desire to only sell healthy food, as much as we can. If you can sell something fresh or organic, why not do that? That didn't exist when Sfuzzi started 25 years ago."