Loveria Caffé was already a good Italian restaurant. Now, it’s good for online orders
Loveria Caffé is a rarity: an Italian restaurant actually owned by native Italians.
Architects Stefania Bartozzi and Andrea Matteucci came to Colleyville in 2017 from Ravenna, south of Venice in an Italian region now hit hard by the coronavirus.
So, weeks before Texans knew what was coming, they bought to-go boxes and added online ordering.
Now, Loveria Caffé is not only one of Tarrant County’s best Italian restaurants, it’s also one of the best at fine-dining-to-go.
On-site dining may return this weekend. Colleyville Mayor Richard Newton, defying state law and county orders, declared restaurant patios will reopen Friday as long as tables are kept apart., although state officials said such restaurants risk losing their liquor licenses.
Loveria Caffé’s menu still features its signature spinach lasagna alla Bolognese ($12 lunch, $19 dinner) and other pastas, chicken and seafood dishes.
But now, there’s also a family dinner pack with giant helpings, such as the lasagna for nine people ($71.99) or a choice of 10 other entrees, such as salmon with a basil-lemon-dill sauce, chicken cacciatore or chicken Amalfi in a lemon-white wine sauce.
“We knew this was serious — it was not the flu,” Bartozzi said.
So, they teamed up with a Dallas online media company to set up new menus, ordering and curbside pickup.
Bartozzi called the switch to pickup “pretty shocking.”
For one thing, Loveria’s faithful customers see them only over masks, and nobody can stay and chat.
“What we actually miss more is the relationship with our customers,” Bartozzi said.
Loveria has been developing that relationship for three years, which is one reason Colleyville rallied strongly around the restaurant.
It’s not an easy place to run a restaurant. Colleyville is a quiet, luxurious residential suburb.
But residents make a special effort to support local restaurants, from Loveria on the high end to simple places like El Paisa.
Like some cities that give restaurants tax rebates, Colleyville gives residents $35 gift cards to spur spending.
Bartozzi said she knows business won’t be “normal” for a while, “and this will be possible only through little steps.”
First will come new rules: dining rooms with tables pushed further apart, masks, lots of sanitizer.
“Little by little, respecting the rules as everyone is doing, we will be able to go back to normal life,” she said.
Besides lasagna, the most popular orders have been the chicken Amalfi, braised beef cheeks Guanciale or cappelletti al ragù.
Yes, there’s tiramisu, but the dessert menu also includes a chocolate torte made with garbanzo flour.
Loveria is open only for dinner nights except Mondays; 817-893-5880, loveriacaffe.com
