Top chef Carla Pellegrino opens Italian restaurant in Victory Park, sugar factory closes and more restaurant news from Dallas

TThe Dallas restaurant scene is constantly evolving. To help you stay up to date, we’ve rounded up the hottest new openings, the unfortunate closings, and any other restaurant news we think is relevant. The Dallas Dish is your weekly dose of essential North Texas restaurant news – and will hopefully point you in the direction of your next great reservation.

The latest restaurant news from Dallas

Urban Italia Rendering — Urban Italia will debut in Victory Park in early 2025. (Rendering courtesy of ID 4 Studio)

A top chef opens her new Italian dining concept in Victory Park in Dallas.

Award-winning Top chef Former chef Carla Pellegrino will introduce a new Italian concept at Victory Park in early 2025. Urban Italy will move into the former WFAA studio – a massive 560-square-foot space. Dallas-based ID 4 Studio is designing the restaurant, which will offer a “warm and inviting space,” according to Urban Italia CEO Sanjay Joshi in a statement. Pellegrino is a renowned chef in New York and Las Vegas who came to North Texas earlier this year to open Grapevine’s Teatro. Urban Italia’s menu includes wood-fired pizza, homemade pasta, risotto and more.

“Chef Pellegrino aims to combine the old-fashioned charm of Neapolitan cuisine with the innovative spirit of American-Italian classics, offering something for everyone. The restaurant will have an open kitchen so guests can experience the culinary magic as the pizza is cooked in a traditional wood-fired oven imported directly from Naples.”

Quarter Acre Interior 2 Credit Emily Loving — The Quarter Acre restaurant in Lower Greenville was designed by Coeval Studios. (Photo by Emily Loving)

A top Lower Greenville restaurant is launching an exclusive new dinner series this fall.

Chef Toby Archibald of Quarter Acre kicks off the Drifter Dinner Series on Friday, August 16. Once a month through November, the Lower Greenville restaurant will host a top chef from around the country. At each dinner, Chef Archibald and the guest chef will collaborate to prepare an eight-course tasting menu paired with cocktails and wine. Chef Diego Galicia of Mixtli in San Antonio will kick things off. In subsequent months, Dallas chef Matt McCallister, chef Gavin Kaysen of Spoon & Stable (Minneapolis) and chef Aaron Bludorn (of Navy Blue in Houston) will be the guest chefs. There are four seating times for each dinner and tickets are $495 per person. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Baylor Scott & White Dallas Foundation, Tinies Texans – a cause selected by Chef Archibald. You can purchase tickets here.

Rainbow Sliders at Sugar Factory — The Sugar Factory’s menu includes appetizers such as fried mac and cheese pops and the Sugar Factory’s Rainbow Sliders, a colorful take on the American classic on small buns in every shade of the rainbow.

An extravagant Las Vegas concept is closing in Uptown but plans to move to a new location.

After opening its first Texas outpost in Dallas in 2021, the Las Vegas-based Sugar factory has closed on Cedar Springs Road. A sign on the door indicates it will move to a new location, but no further details are available about when or where. The flashy shop is known for its out-of-this-world desserts and celebrity sightings at its locations in New York City, Miami Beach and other cities. (Nick Cannon was on hand for the Dallas opening.) The menu includes a Flamin’ Hot Cheetos burger, plus rainbow-colored sliders, cocktails served in smoking goblets and insanely sweet milkshakes. Sugar Factory just opened its third Texas location in Houston.

Perch Bistro & Bar Dallas — In the former space of Dea, Perch is a new neighborhood bistro by Lynae Fearing. (Photo by Chase Hall)

A European-inspired restaurant near Inwood Village is transforming into a new concept.

In 2022, Lynae Fearing and Tracy Rathbun (co-owners of Shinsei and Lovers Seafood and Market) introduced their newest concept, Dea near Inwood Village. It was an upscale Italian eatery serving steaks, fish, and homemade pasta. Now Fearing has renamed the concept to Perch Bistro & Bar, a neighborhood bistro. The menu still features Italian fare, including wood-fired pizza, crab cake arancini, beef rib-based Genovese rigatoni, and duck confit. Perch is open for dinner Monday through Saturday.

Matt Balke & Hannah Davis, Encina, photo courtesy of HEB Dallas Restaurant News — Matt Balke and Hannah Davis of Encina were named winners of the HEB Quest for Texas Best. (Courtesy of HEB)

The owners of Encina were named winners of the HE-B Quest for Texas Best.

Matt Balke and Hannah Davis, owners of the jewel of Bishop Arts Encina, has just received national recognition for its blue corn and butterscotch pancake mix, which just won third place in the 11th annual HEB Quest for Texas Best. Only four small businesses from over 450 entries will win a share of the $70,000 total prize and the chance to sell their products in HEB stores across Texas.

best pizza in dallas — Partenope Ristorante is a popular pizzeria in downtown Dallas. (Photo by Emily Loving)

A local Italian restaurant is among the 100 best pizzerias in the world.

More exciting restaurant news from Dallas: One of our favorite places for pizza and pasta, Parthenopehas been consistently listed among the 100 best pizzerias in the world in recent years. 50 Best Pizzas has named chef Dino Santonicola’s downtown Dallas concept (which just expanded to Richardson) the 12th best pizzeria in the country this year. Husband and wife team Dino and Megan Santonicola will return to Naples (Dino’s birthplace) for the international ceremony.

Last year Partenope was ranked 16th and the year before that 17th, which shows that the restaurant is getting better and better. This year is the first time the restaurant has made it into the top 100, as you have to be 12th to be included.