by Jennifer Thomas
Taverna Rossa, the newest concept from {33} Restaurant Group in Plano opens today for lunch and dinner services. Specializing in unique, rustic thin-crust pies baked in a stone-fired oven, Taverna Rossa settles for nothing less than handmade goodness and hometown flavors with a strong commitment to sourcing local and natural ingredients whenever possible.
An extensive list of hand-crafted, signature cocktails such as the Rossa Mule, Rossarita and Preston Rd. accompany twenty four craft beers, on tap with many local brews including Peticolas, Lakewood and Franconia as well as bottle and can selections.
Passionate about creating their own favorite restaurant, Preston Lancaster, Founder and CEO of {33} Restaurant Group along with partners’ Tony Smith and Jimmy Cannon set out to create a fun, local hangout with stone-fired pizzas, music, beer and remarkable service.
Each pizza and entrée is loaded with locally sourced ingredients like smoked Texas brisket and apple wood smoked bacon from Hamm’s Meat Market in McKinney, Lemley Tomatoes from Canton, Luscher’s Italian Sausage and Texas Wagyu sirloin.
The menu, created in collaboration with culinary consultant Brian C. Luscher Chef-Owner of The Grape features a uniquely rustic take on pizza as well as small plate appetizers, fresh salads, oven baked pastas, and hot sandwiches.
Live music three times per week includes singer/songwriter night on Wednesdays (7:30 pm – 10:30 pm) and select country, blues and classic rock bands with local flair Fridays and Saturdays from 8:30 pm – 11:30 pm. Taverna’s large outdoor bar and patio are fully cooled and heated and open to the lakeside terrace and interiors through raised garage doors. Exposed rafters, 100-year old reclaimed barn wood and tin ceiling tiles are accessorized by a Taverna Rossa stag mount and antler chandelier, adding to the casual vibe.
Taverna Rossa is located at 4005 Preston Road, Suite 512 at the Lakeside Market in Plano.
Taverna Rossa is great thin, crisp pizza. They are the same as the Cadillac Bar in downtown McKinney.
Really like the place and how they’ve finished out the space. The pizza I found a bit disappointing. I thought the crust was too thin and overall it was just average. Service from the kitchen was slow but servers were apologetic. Hopefully they’ll work out the kinks and up their pizza game.