Opening Del Pietro’s last year meant more to Gjergj Delia than bringing an Italian restaurant to Frisco; it meant leaving something behind for his family. Delia named the restaurant after his son Peter—whose name is Pietro in Italian—and hopes to hand the business over to him someday. “[I want] to give him an opportunity to make something of himself and get responsible,” Delia said. “… We are an entrepreneur kind of a family; we like to own our own business.” Delia’s whole family is involved in the restaurant, including his daughter, who is a baker and created the desserts on the menu. Delia himself has been in the restaurant business for more than 30 years. He spent 22 years in New York working for various restaurants. He owned a pizzeria after moving to North Texas, but he decided to sell it and open Del Pietro’s after seeing the booming economy in Frisco, he said. Del Pietro’s offers a selection of pizza, pasta and meat entrees. The Neapolitan-style pizzas are 12 inches wide. Customers can choose a pizza from the menu or add any number of toppings for $2 per topping. For pasta Delia said the Italian Tour is one of the most popular dishes the restaurant serves. It is a sampling of three pastas: chicken parmigiana, lasagna and fettuccine Alfredo. Other pastas on the menu include spaghetti, linguine and tortellini. The restaurant also offers delivery, catering and a daily happy hour. Delia said he plans to open a second location of Del Pietro’s sometime next year in McKinney. Because Del Pietro’s is a family restaurant, Delia said he wants it to feel like home. “We know how to cook reasonable; we know how to cook upscale, all the styles of the cuisine,” he said. “I didn’t want to make it a really fancy place because I want it to be family-style Italian restaurant with a bar, so you can have a little bit of both.”
Del Pietro’s 5480 FM 423, Ste. 100, Frisco 469-362-1000 www.delpietros.com Hours: Mon.-Wed. 3-10 p.m., Thu.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.