New restaurant in south Fort Worth brings pizza, Roman-style
Fort Worth’s new, smash-hit Italian restaurant is getting a hip new neighbor.
Felina, serving the cracker-crust-style pizza tonda from Rome, will open in January at 411 Bryan Ave. in South Main Village.
It’s new from the founders of Bocca Osteria Romana, one of the standout new restaurants of the past year in Fort Worth and drawing large crowds regularly to its location down a side alley at 411 S. Main St.
“Neapolitan pizza has taken over the pizza world, but we grew up in Rome eating Roman-style pizza,” co-owner Alessandro Salvatore said this week, putting final touches on the new restaurant in a fomer brewpub.
“Rome is very near and dear to our hearts. That’s where we spent our summers. The pizza is so different, crunchy, very thin and light. ... It’s a pizza with a personality.”
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Salvatore and his brother, Alfonso, started in McAllen, Texas, and spent summers with family members in Rome before opening Bocca, one of the leading Italian restaurants in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
They chose Fort Worth for their second Bocca and opened in — of all places — a decorated walkway in South Main Village called “The Squeeze,” behind Emporium Pies.
Bocca serves pastas and Italian grill dishes, so Felina will serve everything else — pizzas, charcuterie and cold cuts, with local beers, wine and cocktails all on tap.
The former Funky Picnic brewpub is redecorated for a more “homey, rustic” vibe, Alessandro Salvatore said.
South Main Village has lost some of its early restaurants, but has gained new spirit with the success of Bocca and Felina’s next-door neighbor on Bryan, Ichirō Izakaya Yakitori Diner and Bar.
“I think it’s only just begun to grow,” Salvatore said.
The name Felina is an Italian reference to Fort Worth’s 150-year-old nickname of “Panther City,” Salvatore said. The restaurants are also three blocks from Michelin Guide-listed Panther City BBQ.
Bocca opens at 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; 817-386-4812, boccaftw.com.
This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 4:43 AM.
