The Colony’s Grandscape retail and entertainment center has recently welcomed another Chicago-based eatery to its restaurant offerings.
Quartino Ristorante & Wine Bar opened its first new location in the Dallas area last month after serving guests in Chicago’s River North neighborhood for two decades. Its parent company, Gibsons Restaurant Group, had worked for eight years to open the new restaurant in The Colony’s Grandscape complex, marking Quartino’s first expansion.
Located at 5754 Grandscape Blvd., Quartino specializes in handmade pasta and pizza forged with quality ingredients but priced reasonably.
The restaurant spans 15,000 square feet, split across two floors. Diners can opt to sit in one of the two dining rooms or find a spot in its ample indoor and outdoor bar space.
Pasta dishes include freshly made tagliatelle, tortellini, and more paired with artisanal cheeses and meats for prices hovering around $14.
Neapolitan-style pizza options starting at $12 feature Italian classics like the margherita and quattro formaggi and some creative inventions featuring crispy kale and veal meatballs.
Wine is available by the glass, quarter-liter, half-liter, or bottle for prices as low as $8.
With Quartino’s arrival, The Colony now houses two top Chicagoan eateries — both of which are newcomers to Texas and testing out their fare on Dallas area residents.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express earlier in the year, Portillo’s, a Chicago-based hot dog restaurant, opened its doors to plenty of fanfare.
In its first days, customers waited up to an hour outside the 7,900-square-foot restaurant just to order a hot dog or specialty Italian beef sandwich, according to The Dallas Morning News. While the wait time has since shortened, the eatery remains popular.
Quartino may end up benefitting from the hype, but the establishment’s main mission of keeping prices reasonable might end up distinguishing it from high-end but pricey Italian restaurants like Carbone, Lucia, and Nonna.
“The customer cannot afford to not eat or drink here,” Quartino’s co-founder and executive chef John Coletta told DMN.
