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Urbano Paninoteca is Reopening in East Dallas as Urbano Cafe

Posted on March 27th, 2009 11:11am by Nancy Nichols
Filed under Openings, Restaurant News

The former Urbano Paninoteca is reopening in east Dallas as Urbano Café. Talk about good neighbors, Urbano is at the corner Fitzhugh and Bryan sandwiched (so sorry) between Jimmy’s Food Store and Tom Spicer’s FM 1410. Here’s the skinny from owner Kristen Kauffman:

“It’s a much smaller space, but in this economy it makes sense. Mitch found the extremely distressed spot while hanging out with Tom (they’ve known each other for 20 years) in the early days after our Uptown spot closed and he didn’t know what to do with himself. Tom was storing plant foods and other items for his shop in the space and Mitch noticed it had a grease trap and a Vent-a-hood. The leasing agent for the space was also a longtime friend, one thing led to another and we open in a couple of weeks after we finish renovations that include restoring the old pressed tin ceiling, transom windows and storefront woodwork.”

Let’s talk about the food, Kristen.

“We’ll still do panini, pasta, salads, and soup at lunch from our old lunch menu, plus some new items. We’ll also have dinners Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to start. We’re still developing the menu with our chef who we will announce soon. We’ll have a core menu, with seasonal dishes driven by whatever Tom is growing out back. It will be BYOB –with the economy, we think customers will like being able to save money by grabbing a bottle of something at Jimmy’s, Whole Foods, or from their home collection to enjoy wit their meal.”

Win. Win. Win. Nice to hear some good news for a change.

17 Comments to “Urbano Paninoteca is Reopening in East Dallas as Urbano Cafe”

Sarah Eveans @ March 27th, 2009 at 11:22 am

Yay. This makes me happy.
DGirl @ March 27th, 2009 at 11:29 am

Excellent news. See you in a few weeks.
J.B. C. @ March 27th, 2009 at 11:51 am

Yay! Match stick fries and great italian dressing!

this was one of my favorite lunch spots in Uptown…
Margie @ March 27th, 2009 at 12:03 pm

this is excellent news! I’m offically getting excited about it. I love the BYOB thing.
Mitch @ March 27th, 2009 at 12:04 pm

Trifecta!
Jay Jerrier @ March 27th, 2009 at 2:55 pm

That is awesome…although I was trying to get that space too!!
Kathy @ March 28th, 2009 at 8:41 am

Can’t wait!! It will be worth the trip into the city to come back to Urbano. You already have my order.
nancy wilson @ March 28th, 2009 at 9:38 am

Yeh!!! Can’t wait…One of our families favorites..
Suzanne @ March 28th, 2009 at 5:55 pm

I had the best steak of my life a while back at the Uptown Urbano, and it sounds like the BYOB is a great idea for these times. I’m looking forward to seeing the new place on my next trip back to the states!! Great news!
Durkin @ March 29th, 2009 at 12:06 am

Best of luck to the Kauffman family. I have full confidence in your success! See you soon.
Stephanie @ March 30th, 2009 at 11:32 am

UMMMMMM, Parmesan Crusted Chicken Salad, UMMMMMM!
Corey @ March 30th, 2009 at 11:40 am

Great news! Love the food and Kauffmans are great people. Plus it will be in my neighborhood.
Heather B @ March 30th, 2009 at 11:53 am

And to think, Jimmy’s has been my “close enough to Urbano” lunch choice since they closed! Looks like the smoked mozzarella panini will be making a comeback in my lunch rotation! Thank you for coming back, Urbano! Tears were shed, I won’t lie.
LisaS @ March 30th, 2009 at 12:55 pm

This is fabulous news! Can’t wait. I’ll be counting the days.
Lauren @ March 30th, 2009 at 5:28 pm

This is GREAT news!!! I absolutely love the Parmesan Crusted Chicken!
Harold @ April 19th, 2009 at 1:53 pm

OMG I am so happy to hear that they are reopening. I heard from friends that they had closed and I was devistated. I will have to make a special trip to Dallas for the reopening.
Andrea@DeafMule @ April 28th, 2009 at 10:53 am

Deaf Mule loves you guys and can’t wait for the opening!!! We have miss ya’ll