When Texas’ first Eataly opens Dec. 9, it will be one of the largest places dedicated to gourmet food and drink that Dallas has ever seen. At 46,000 square feet, Eataly at NorthPark Center in Dallas has three restaurants and a cooking school inside the expansive Italian grocery emporium.
![Pollo Intero is one of many wood-fired dishes at Terra, a restaurant inside Eataly at NorthPark Center in Dallas.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201208010009im_/https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/VRIJhPFspycXYeIIsCOIa2eltoM=/930x0/smart/filters:no_upscale()/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/TLAHZ7MS7BDPVHRJYFXVD77VUI.jpg)
Eataly’s opening is one of the most significant local food moments of 2020 — and it would have been so in any year, even without the coronavirus pandemic threatening the existence of independent restaurants across the city. Eataly’s opening wasn’t without challenges: During construction, there was an accidental fire at the construction site that threatened to delay the project. They pressed on.
“We were ready to open this store,” Eataly business partner Alex Saper says. “We feel we’re safe, and we know how to operate the stores at this point during the pandemic. The biggest thing, for us, is to follow all the local rules and regulations.”
“None of this is easy,” he says. “But it creates jobs at a time when it’s important to create jobs.”
The store will offer third-party delivery for orders at La Pizza & Pasta (via UberEats, DoorDash and Caviar) starting Dec. 10. Grocery delivery and pick-up (from Instacart and Mercato) also begin Dec. 10.
![Italian food emporium Eataly is preparing to open at NorthPark Center in Dallas, where a butchers section like this one will await patrons.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201208010009im_/https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/BpulGvxZuaIceR0SQQXJoujRqPI=/380x285/smart/filters:no_upscale()/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/2KWXTGFJ65DUBEXHYFNGMIJ2GA.jpg)
What they’ve built is a shop that will feel familiar to anyone who’s visited U.S. Eataly locations in New York, Boston, Beverly Hills, Chicago or Las Vegas — but with a few Texas touches.
In Dallas, the butcher counter will sell raw briskets sourced from local ranches, including A Bar N in Celina.
“I know brisket is a big thing in Texas,” Saper says, “and we’re not going to try to make barbecue brisket, but we are going to sell it raw.” Smart.
![Fresh-made pasta is displayed in the gastronomia cooler inside Texas' first Eataly, opening Dec. 9.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201208010009im_/https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/N36R4yVKMFbCWOa_hbcrL9Wpxz8=/1660x0/smart/filters:no_upscale()/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/MM2V36BJIVEYDBVPKU2RUFWBNE.jpg)
The 46,000-square-foot store will be kept at less than 50% capacity, and a dedicated “safety task force” will make sure guests are complying with the company’s COVID-19 protocols. Throughout the Italian grocery, customers will find wine, pizza, paninis, gelato and “all the salumi you could possibly imagine,” Saper says.
The cooking school isn’t doing in-person classes yet because of concerns about COVID-19 and will start with virtual classes at first.
Here’s a virtual tour inside the three restaurants at Eataly.
Terra
![Most of the dishes at Eataly restaurant Terra are cooked on its open-hearth fire and grill.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201208010009im_/https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/GVD--CTfLKwsfzt8phUTocWYyJg=/1660x0/smart/filters:no_upscale()/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/YJ36MLU6M5FJBH6VNHBST2HUWU.jpg)
![The Rib-eye Appesa is prepared with herbs, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt at Terra restaurant inside Eataly.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201208010009im_/https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/EO_kF1NTJNz-RZ-Rxq-LSSc-qz0=/930x0/smart/filters:no_upscale()/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/ECFVJX4KCNHOJDAINQ2W23E6TA.jpg)
Diners can perch on the top of NorthPark Center at Terra, the third-floor Italian restaurant at Eataly. Terra’s food and the dining room are centered around the wood-fired grill, and diners are expected to feel “immersed” in the flame-licked food that comes out of the kitchen, Saper says.
Although Eataly operates restaurants named Terra in Boston and Los Angeles, Saper says the Dallas restaurant has new menu items that can’t be found elsewhere.
The restaurant felt like a fit for Dallas diners in part because of the meat-focused menu, he says.
A dish called rib-eye appesa (which means hanging rib-eye in Italian) is a wagyu tomahawk steak grilled and cooked over coals, finished with olive oil and salt, and served with polenta with charred mushrooms and white truffle. In Dallas only, the chefs will make pollo intero, a dish that serves two. It’s a three-day-brined chicken that gets steamed, smoked and scorched on the hearth.
Reservations are required at Terra. Indoor and patio dining available. Terra is located on the third floor of Eataly.
La Pizza & La Pasta
![La Pizza & La Pasta is located on the second floor of NorthPark Center in Dallas and has a sizeable menu of pizzas and pastas.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201208010009im_/https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/A841xaS0I9Y9phk0wAvpHY2rhDs=/1660x0/smart/filters:no_upscale()/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/NB4AFSWN5ZFHTHQOWTKRDA5PX4.jpg)
Diners who want an education about pizza and pasta from Naples, Italy, can grab a seat at La Pizza & La Pasta, which is designed to feel like a modern osteria.
Pasta comes two ways: fresh and dried. And while some diners might think fresh is the obvious choice, Saper explains why La Pizza & La Pasta offers the option:
“In the U.S., fresh pasta is always considered better. That’s not the case in Italy,” he says. “The bite you get from dried pasta you can’t achieve with fresh pasta.” Eataly’s dried pasta, sourced from Gragnano, Campania, is dried for 48 hours — longer than most — and holds sauce better than fresh pasta, Saper says.
For pizzas, the menu includes a vast selection of options like norcina (black truffle and mushroom cream) and margherita verace (San Marzano tomato sauce with buffalo mozzarella, basil and extra-virgin olive oil). The restaurant, known as Pizza Pasta for short, will also sell fried pizza, made with fried dough topped with tomato, mozzarella and fresh ingredients. Fried pizza is a Naples tradition that isn’t available at most pizza shops in Dallas, and Saper says it might make for a fun appetizer for anyone who wants to give it a try.
He warns: “It’s very, very delicious.”
Diners will also find Italian dishes in a second section of the menu with chicken cacciatore, chicken milanese, and beef and pork meatballs called polpette.
Reservations are required at La Pizza & La Pasta. Indoor and patio dining available. Food can also be taken to-go starting Dec. 10. It’s on the second floor of Eataly.
Il Pastaio
![Paola Saglietti, chef de cuisine of Il Pastaio restaurant, makes agnolotti at Eataly, the new Italian gourmet grocery at NorthPark Center that opens Dec. 9.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201208010009im_/https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/nD5oy8bBJP0qHyZElRY6lDONaHY=/1660x0/smart/filters:no_upscale()/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/5V4MMPKGSFD53LKN2RXMBMHBBU.jpg)
Whereas Terra and La Pizza & La Pasta are traditional restaurants, Il Pastaio is a sit-at-the-counter pasta and wine bar. Customers can order fresh pasta and watch chefs make it right in front of them.
![Il Pastaio is a pasta and wine bar at Eataly, with seats at a counter so customers can watch chefs make their food.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201208010009im_/https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/b7aCI2nVRVM8n5rbzOl4YER9pZ4=/930x0/smart/filters:no_upscale()/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/PBOA73LNDVGAJEGYHR6ANCIMYU.jpg)
“It’s a show, it’s a spectacle,” Saper says. “Everything there is authentically Italian, coming from a recipe coming directly from Italy.”
He notes that customers will probably see pasta shapes “you’ve probably never even heard of.”
“It’s a moment for education and shows our simplicity and authenticity with fresh pastas,” he says.
No reservations accepted at Il Pastaio. Indoor dining only; no patio. Il Pastaio is on the second floor of Eataly.
Saper says Eataly’s move into Texas is significant because Texans are the second-most-common online sales customer, behind New Yorkers. He’s especially interested in tapping into the restaurant-obsessed culture blossoming in Dallas-Fort Worth.
“There’s a real pride and a real respect for food,” he says of Texans. “When you look across America, it’s hard to find that deep, long-standing culture.”
“[And] they really like Italian food, as far as we can tell.”
Eataly opens at noon Dec. 9. Customers will be asked to wear masks, avoid unnecessary contact with servers and use cashless payments when possible.