The restaurant is described as a quick-serve version of Saint Rocco’s, an old-school Italian restaurant also located in Trinity Groves, and is named for the dog belonging to the Catholic saint for whom the original restaurant is named.
Trinity Groves started as a restaurant incubator facility near the foot of Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in West Dallas. There are seven restaurants now — emphasis on now — as things change out quickly here. A few staples include the ill-named Sum Dang Good Chinese, Beto and Son's, and Saint Rocco's, which has held down a large corner spot facing the Trinity River since 2015.
This year Cake Bar moved out and the Instagram-ready space Lexie's closed. Temakeria, a 2D sushi restaurant with "Take Me On" video vibes, closed before its first anniversary this year.
The Dallas Morning News reported the restaurant park is reinventing itself again — for the fourth time. The newest identity includes pickleball courts and an arcade: more emphasis on things to do, less focus on restaurants.
The menu at Oreste’s New York Pizza & Bocce, its full Christian name, includes 12 kinds of pizza, from basics such as cheese and pepperoni to specialty options like wild mushroom and rosemary, as well as "pazzinis," pasta, desserts, Italian street food and “buckets o' salad.” Pizzas go for $16–$18.
There's also a bocce ball court (a highly underrated sport) and a dog-friendly patio overlooking downtown.
Breakfast, from 8 to 10:30 a.m., includes breakfast pizza, pazzinis and pizza waffle sandwiches.
Big Ass Pizza Challenge
If friendly sports competition or enjoying a view with your dog sounds too tame for you, Oreste’s also offers the “BAP (Big Ass Pizza) Challenge.” If you and two friends can finish a 28-inch pizza and a pitcher of beer in 20 minutes, you’ll get one month of free slices and a T-shirt.
One slice of the pepperoni BAP is $9.
Oreste’s New York Pizza & Bocce, 3011 Gulden Lane, No. 102. Sunday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Breakfast, 8–10:30 daily.
