Patrizio Osteria looks like Vegas, but tastes like -- well, like the Texas 'burbs.
The newest and by far most elaborate restaurant in the Dallas-based Patrizio empire is open in Southlake, serving the same $10 pizzas and $14 lasagna platters found in the familiar Highland Park or Fort Worth locations.
But this Patrizio's home is a $4.5 million, 8,900-square-foot monument to excess, including a two-story-tall champagne-bubble chandelier and a second-floor cocktail lounge with red leather booths.
If it sounds garish, it fits perfectly on Texas 114 next door to Southlake Town Square and across from a church the size of an airport terminal.
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Wisely, Patrizio stuck with its regular prices.
The Southlake location is often cheaper than two mundane chains nearby, Florida-based Buca di Beppo and Ohio-based Brio Tuscan Grille.
But if you want something showy, an extra Osteria menu offers orecchiette calabresa (spicy pasta with sausage and mushrooms) or a pork shank with mushrooms on a Gorgonzola polenta, plus specialties such as an aged-cheese-and-salumi appetizer with organic honeycomb.
Yet one recent evening, diners in every direction chose Patrizio basics such as pizzas or the chicken-mushroom lasagna.
An upgraded pizza with pepperoni, ham, mushrooms and olives is served on a hand-tossed crust, the server assured. But it wasn't that different.
The choice of nine desserts includes Patrizio's familiar chocolate-chip-rum-raisin bread pudding and seasonal choices such as a white-chocolate-pumpkin cheesecake.
The Southlake Patrizio is open for lunch and dinner daily, with bar service until midnight; 1281 Texas 114 E., 817-251-8798, patrizios.net.
Another former "osteria" has changed to a plain "kitchen."
Inzo Italian Kitchen is the new name for chef Daniele Puleo's Brix in both Fort Worth and Roanoke, which originally opened in Dallas as Daniele's Osteria.
Inzo's includes Brix's pizzas and adds dishes such as linguine with meat sauce (bison) or a pork chop marsala.
It's open daily for lunch and dinner at 101 S. Oak St., Roanoke, 817-890-4280, and daily except Sunday lunch at 2747 S. Hulen St., 817-924-2749; brixpizzeria.com.
Follow that burger: A new Love Shack burger stand is near opening at 3505 Blue Bonnet Circle in Fort Worth.
Meanwhile, the Denton location will switch to serving steakhouse fare.
Bud Kennedy's Eats Beat appears Wednesdays in Life & Arts and Fridays in DFW.com Weekend. 817-390-7538
Facebook: Bud Kennedy's Eats Beat
Twitter: @eatsbeat
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