by Steven Doyle
A new restaurant just opened in the former Opa Grille location at 12827 Preston Road in north Dallas. We stopped in for a bite of lunch pizza recently to check out the new digs and speak to the owner Luigi Nicci and his family. The restaurant has been open for two weeks and served up what might be considered typical Italian fare. You have your pizza, pastas and the ever loving eggplant parm.
This is not the Nicci family’s first rodeo. They have owned many successful restaurants including Leonardo’s Italian Restaurant in Frisco and Luigi’s Pizza and Pasta. Both of those locations were sold off to make way for the new Mangiamo .
“We wanted to come into Dallas, it is more metropolitan and we have a lot of customers from this area. Our first restaurant got four stars from Dallas Morning News,” said Luigi.
That no doubt means that they have moved to one of the busiest intersections in Dallas and hope to get even more business, which we are sure they will. The food is great and the location even better.
Some of the specialties include the pizza. We tried the white pizza which is loaded with creamy ricotta cheese and plenty of garlic. Luigi says that he plans to sell plenty of pasta and he does a superb job of those dishes as well.
Our first time. You know it’s a great Italian Restaurant when the spaghetti is the BEST I have tasted in a long time. Their Calzone, HUGE as well as their Antipasta Salad! Friendly atmosphere. Family owned so of course, fantastic service. BYOB. Our new favorite restaurant.