Dallas finally has its Italian moment, and it just opened in the Design District.
Ospi, the celebrated Southern Italian concept from Top Chef contestant Jackson Kalb, made its Texas debut on May 1, 2026 at 1621 Oak Lawn Avenue.
Expect handmade pasta, ultra-thin Roman-style pizza, tableside-shaken martinis, and that already-legendary spicy rigatoni alla vodka. It’s the kind of opening Dallas foodies have been waiting on for months. 🤌
How Ospi is quickly winning Dallas hearts
The hype was real before the doors even opened. Chef Jackson Kalb cut his teeth in serious kitchens — Mélisse in Santa Monica when it held two Michelin stars, Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas, Alinea in Chicago, and Danny Meyer’s Union Square Cafe — before launching the first Ospi on Venice Beach in 2020.
Four California locations later, Ospi Dallas marks his first restaurant outside California, taking over the iconic former Meddlesome Moth space. The name itself is short for ospitante — Italian for host — and that’s the whole philosophy. 🍷
The vibe sealed it. Despite landing in the flashy Design District next to Carbone and Delilah, Ospi keeps things low-key — chefs wear aprons instead of coats, and as Kalb told the Dallas Morning News, “we come from a Michelin background, but we don’t put pretension in our food.”
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The team pulled the bar into the center of the dining room and reshaped it into a horseshoe so guests can see each other across the room.
Add in the now-famous spicy rigatoni — the dish that put Ospi on the map in Venice — plus a starter dough Kalb literally carried from California in his checked luggage, and Dallas was sold.
Food Highlights 🍝
- Spicy Rigatoni alla Vodka: The signature dish — rigatoni cooked exactly right, pulled through a vodka sauce with real kick and a richness that doesn’t quit. Every server recommends it; every first-timer orders it.
- Malloreddus with Beef Cheek Ragu: Hand-rolled Sardinian pasta with thyme-scented beef cheek ragu, finished with grana padano — the dish serious eaters return for specifically.
- Ceci e Tria: Fried pasta with chickpeas and lemon — sounds simple, but reviewers call it a quiet masterpiece.
- Soppressata Pizza: A Roman-style romana-tonda thin-crust pie with soppressata, honey, and chili — sweet, spicy, salty, perfect.
- Burrata Focaccia: An entire focaccia section anchors the meal, including the 48-hour focaccia with burrata and prosciutto that fans rave about as the ideal opener.
Atmosphere 🪑
Inside, Ospi feels like the dinner party at your most stylish friend’s house.
The dining room is California-relaxed, Italy-rooted, with that horseshoe-shaped center bar so guests can see one another across the room. Approachable rather than flashy, it’s designed for lively dinners, leisurely lunches, and recovery brunch on the weekends — all in the same warm, buzzing room.
Bottom Line 🍷
Book a table for the famously addictive spicy rigatoni, handmade Southern Italian pasta from a Michelin-trained chef, blistered thin-crust pizza, tableside martinis, and a warm, unpretentious Design District hangout that already feels like a Dallas classic. 🌟
Address: 1621 Oak Lawn Ave, Suite B, Dallas, TX 75219
📞 (214) 484-2842
🕔 Open Mon–Thu, 11 AM–9:30 PM; Fri, 11 AM–10:30 PM; Sat, 10 AM–10:30 PM