In Arlington, Cane Rosso, a new pizzeria-and-Italian restaurant is close to opening in Downtown

(Eats Beat by Bud Kennedy, dfw.com)  

Cane Rosso’s new Downtown Arlington pizzeria and grill will open this fall. But owner Jay Jerrier, who built the original Cane Rosso into a rare regional success in both Dallas and Fort Worth, is beginning to wonder about 2020.

“Every day is like a fresh new hell,” he said on a recent Eats Beat podcast, available on iTunes.

He’s nearly open in the new Arlington location, 200 N. East St., near where North Collins Street crosses East Division Street. But the old radiator shop keeps needing another fix here and there.

And coronavirus is staggering Arlington restaurants, not only by limiting dine-in seating and keeping Rangers fans home, but also by sending some remaining workers home sick.

If you missed it, last month, two of Cane Rosso’s cousin restaurants, Zoli’s, had to take a few days off and sanitize. Some restaurants keep it secret when they clean up.

Jerrier told his customers.

“I don’t know how I could sleep at night if we just shoved it under the rug,” Jerrier said. “The right thing to do is be open and honest, and hope people appreciate that and come back.”

Cane Rosso is new to Arlington, where traditional pizzerias have reigned.

Jerrier’s flagship brand features a thinner Neapolitan-style brick oven pizza topped with house-made mozzarella and baked over a wood fire that leaves a slightly charred edge. There are 20 choices, but the runaway favorite is the habanero honey and hot soppressata pizza with bacon marmalade. 

The basic pizzas come with a choice of 23 toppings including brisket, Luscher’s sausage, Calabrian chiles, fresh or candied jalapenos, mushrooms, arugula, artichokes and the basics.

There’s also a full menu of pastas such as truffle carbonara or chicken fettuccine Alfredo, and a weekend smoked-brisket lasagna. Cane Rosso also serves a choice of salads and sandwiches such as a chicken-fried-chicken Parmesan or a meatball with provolone.

“We don’t want to be a great pizza restaurant, we want to be a great restaurant where [we] serve pizza,” Jerrier said.

When Urban Union developers approached him, he didn’t take Arlington seriously at first.

“I always dismissed it,” he said. “...It’s Cowboys [AT&T Stadium], and it’s a million chain restaurants, and it’s all tourists .... but I went to check it out and said, ‘Ooh, wait a second, it’s pretty cool here.’ “

Watch for it to open about a block east of Hurtado Barbecue; canerosso.com. He also owns Zoli’s, which has an even broader menu of platters and burgers.
 

Eats Beat story by Bud Kennedy originally published July 21, 2020 in dfw.com. Photo by Bud Kennedy.