Metropolis Of Culinary Delights

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The Dallas dining community has a new culinary leader. Eataly Dallas opened in NorthPark Center last December, offering exquisite plates, delicious products and educational opportunities to Italian cuisine enthusiasts. 

After walking into the first floor of the 48,000-square-foot market, your eye will jump from one unique offering to the next. With three restaurants, a gran bar, a takeaway counter, butcher, wine section and much more, there’s not one right way to explore Eataly. 

Eataly business partner Alex Saper says that Dallas’ vibrant restaurant community made the brand feel confident about expanding into the new market, knowing it would be embraced by the Metroplex’s foodies. 

“After Dallas was named ‘Bon Appetit’s’ ‘Best Restaurant City of the Year’ in 2019, we knew we made the right choice because if you look at the restaurants highlighted in that feature, there were so many unique concepts and global cuisines that we saw Eataly succeeding in that bustling restaurant environment,” Saper says. “And then if you look at Texas, there is such a rich agricultural environment that could supply our store with the local produce that we seek in each of our stores, both to sell as retail and use in all of our restaurants.” 

With three restaurant concepts — Terra, La Pizza & La Pasta and Il Pastaio di Eataly — guests have a plethora of fresh options to choose from. Terra, located on the third floor, centers its dining room around a wood-burning Italian grill, where chefs cook over open flames. By highlighting quality cuts, like the local A Bar N Ranch Wagyu steak in the Tagliata di Manzo, guests are sure to enjoy hearty yet satisfying bites after making their selections. And with fish dishes like its whole flounder and coal-seared Nordic Blu salmon, everyone can find something worth sinking their teeth into. 

Craving pasta? Head to Il Pastaio di Eataly’s bar to enjoy a bowl of one of its delicious regional pasta dishes, created from scratch each day. The Agnolotti del Plin — pinched pasta pouches filled with roasted veal shank, housemade Italian sausage, roasted sugo, soffritto, escarole, coppa and Parmigiano — provides the rich flavors you expect out of the dish. The Tajarin, on the other hand, are crafted with a higher proportion of egg yolks, giving each strand its delicate texture.

More traditional favorites can be found at La Pizza & La Pasta, where pizzaioli (pizza makers) show off their dough-slinging skills before diners’ eyes. Each Neapolitan pizza features fresh toppings, like the Bufalotta that’s complete with Buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, Rovagnati Prosciutto di Parma, Grana Padano, extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil. 

After enjoying a full meal, or for those just coming to shop, the expansive marketplace ensures guests can take home any of the ingredients they fell in love with during their dining experience. 

“An important part of Eataly’s philosophy is ‘we cook what we sell and we sell what we cook,’ so you can purchase the flour we use to make our breads, or pizza dough or the handmade pasta we made for your Ravioli in Il Pastaio,” Saper says. 

There are more than 10,000 imported and local products lining the shelves within the market. And while browsing through the rows of speciality olives and pestos, guests will see more than 500 signs, each offering context and history to the stories behind these items. 

Don’t let the numbers intimidate you. While there are more than 100 varieties of extra virgin olive oil, a plethora of quality cuts behind the butcher counter, countless to-go desserts and more than 1,200 Italian wines to choose from, Eataly’s staff stands at the ready, eager to offer suggestions and helpful guidance to ensure guests walk away with the products they are looking for. 

“You should be ready to learn, because every product you find on our shelves or taste in our restaurants has a story behind it that we want to share,” Saper says. “And you should never leave hungry.” 

So come ready to be transported by this unique culinary experience, complete with the hustle of a traditional Italian market. After making the trip over, it’s safe to say you won’t leave empty-handed.