"Authentic Italian Eateries in Dallas: Our Top Six Recommendations"

We love to look for restaurants that are either new to the Dallas area, or are just new to us. We enjoy pretty much all types of food, Italian cuisine is probably in the top three for us. Here is a a short list of our top six recommendations for some delicious authentic Italian eateries in Dallas

The Charles, a Duro Hospitality concept is located in the Design District in West Dallas . It is one of our favorite spots and a place we have been a few times. I think my husband would go weekly for the, Spicy Creste Di Gallo, which is served with rock shrimp, tarragon, basil and lemon.

This is a place to see and be seen and it seems to always be busy. The menu is unique, the food is delicious featuring homemade pastas, seafood and savory meats plus delicious grilled vegetables. The servers are very informative and helpful and will guide you through the menu and recommend you share some dishes. Plus, the atmosphere is fun! Definitely try The Charles, and highly recommend you make a reservation!

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Dea Restaurant Dallas located near Inwood Village is another amazing concept from Dallas' acclaimed restauranteurs Tracy Rathbun and Lynae Fearing. These ladies know what they are doing when they open a new concept, and Dea will not disappoint! The menu offers authentic Italian dishes, an impressive wine list and craft cocktails. The staff is friendly and the management was very attentive. We sat at the bar and had the best time and an incredible meal. We will be back for dinner soon, plus I heard they recently opened for brunch! Yum! Make a reservation, you will love it!

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Parigi located on Oak Lawn between Lemmon Avenue and Cedar Springs in Dallas has been a favorite neighborhood bistro for forty years. It is a chef driven restaurant that works hard to locally source ingredients for their menu. They don't boast they are an Italian restaurant, but we loved the Italian dishes we tried so much I felt I could include it on this list! They call their menu European- American cuisine.

We enjoyed the warm crab dip with baguette, daily special Risotto and the Orecchiette very much, the Chicken au Poitra was also very good. The staff is attentive but never made us feel rushed. The atmosphere is bustling and very reminiscent of a European bistro, they also have a great little patio. Reservations (by phone only) are highly encouraged, because even after forty years, they are still very popular! They are open for lunch and dinner Mon-Saturday and offer a Sunday Brunch, then close Sunday evening.

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Via Triozzi located in Lower Greenville, is a fairly new Italian restaurant in Dallas and I kept seeing it on all the best new restaurant lists so I was anxious to try it. We felt like the food was authentic and very good, we did have a couple of things that were not our favorite, but most everything we tried was good enough we would come back. The menu offers authentic Italian cuisine, we started with the Coccoli, which is crispy dough, stracchino cheese, 20-month prsciutto di San Daniele and the Ricotta Montata which is whipped house ricotta, grilled zucchini, herb oil and lemon served with bread. We were surprised to find it was cold and both felt it would have been so much better served warm, it was also a little lacking in flavor. We also tried the Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe and the Tagliatelle al Ragu. The pastas were both very good. The wine list is a bit overwhelming since it's entirely Italian wines from mostly small producers, but we eventually found something we both enjoyed. The name of the restaurant is for a street in Scandicci, Italy and the cuisine and concept is inspired by the Chef-owner, Leigh Hutchinson's childhood memories at her grandmothers from when she lived there. The restaurant is small and cozy and the staff was friendly. I believe they still get quite busy and recommend you get a reservation ahead of time.

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Dolce Riviera Ristorante Italiano is part of the Harwood Hospitality Group in the Harwood district heart of Dallas. It is a beautifully designed restaurant with a large terrace, indoor outdoor bar and adjacent parlor. They boast that their cuisine is inspired by classic Italian flavors from the Italian Riviera. We enjoyed our dinner and loved the atmosphere. You will definitely want to ask for table on their beautiful patio with large silk lemon trees. I have heard that their brunch is really good and look forward to trying that soon. The dinner menu offered several things we wanted to try, but we kept it simple and started with the Arancini and then each ordered a pasta, the Fettuccine Bolognese and the Spaghetti Pomodoro. Our server was very sweet, we did feel a bit rushed and were told we needed to order our entire dinner when we placed our order. We were dining early before a game so we were okay with that, but typically not a fan of being told they are busy and want us to order everything at once. I'd love to come back and try the some of the other items I saw like the Pappardelle Al Cacao which is cocoa-infused pappardelle, speck, peas, black truffle or the Paccheri with rock shrimp, carrot puree, Calabrian chili. Overall we enjoyed Dolce Riviera and will return.

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La Stella Cucina Verace located in Dallas' Arts District across from the Dallas Opera and Symphony offers "old-world traditional Italian cooking" in a beautiful dining room with live music most nights. La Stella has been recognized with several awards and claim the honor as "Dallas' highest rated fine dining Italian restaurant."

We enjoyed a romantic date night here, the menu offers authentic Italian favorites, the atmosphere is romantic yet not stuffy. We enjoyed the bar before dinner, the wine menu offered many great options and the pianists made for a perfect evening. Reservations are recommended, but not hard to get.

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Next stop is Italy...or maybe not the next stop, but writing this has definitely made me eager to go try what each of these Dallas restaurants claim as Authentic Italian Cuisine. My next Italian dining experience is actually a couple of other places I have been eager to try, Gemma Dallas and Lucia, both listed as James Beard National Semifinalists.

Gemma is located on Henderson Avenue and Lucia (which is a hard reservation to come by) is located in the Bishop Arts District. Cannot wait to see what all the hype is about!

Buon Appetito!