Chilean seabass ($40) is cooked in lemon wine sauce with artichokes, red peppers and capers. It is served with steamed broccoli, carrots and angel hair pasta. (Karen Chaney/Community Impact)
As a family owned and operated business, the Krasniqi family places high priority on providing a family-friendly environment at Venezia Trattoria.
“My mom is a wonderful lady. Whenever we train [new hires], she'll train them and show how hospitality should be run,” said Tony Krasniqi, manager of the McKinney location of Venezia Trattoria. “The main thing is making sure everyone feels like part of the family.”
Benny and Mandy Krasniqi opened Venezia Trattoria in Dallas in 1997. The married business owners relocated the restaurant to Richardson in 2011 and opened the McKinney location in 2024.
On the menu
Krasniqi said lasagna is widely considered in the restaurant industry to be a barometer of an Italian restaurant’s overall quality. He said their lasagna is their top-selling item and credits the made-from-scratch sauce as the reason for the success. Their Chilean seabass ranks second on the popularity chart and is one of Mandy Krasniqi’s favorite dishes.
“Whenever we describe the sea bass—it melts in your mouth and has a lemon wine sauce—that one is very easy to sell,” Krasniqi said. “We have a lot of people who only get that.”
As for the third top-selling menu item, Tony Krasniqi said that is hard to pinpoint and believes pizzas, chicken parmesan and chicken picatta vie for that spot.
Margarita pizza ($14/10”) features tomatoes and basil. (Karen Chaney/Community Impact)
The backstory
Prior to opening Venezia Trattoria over two decades ago, Benny and Mandy Krasniqi worked in a variety of restaurant kitchens in New York. They chose to move to Texas to start their business because although North Texas was growing, it wasn’t nearly as busy as New York and they had relatives living in the area. As their three children, Tony, Albiona and Albion Krasniqi grew up, they worked in the family restaurant in Richardson.
The Richardson restaurant is in a shopping center with limited parking spaces.
Krasniqi said one of the main reasons his father bought the building for the McKinney location—which was formerly a Steak ‘n Shake restaurant—was for the ample parking and to have the flexibility to create an ambiance to his liking.
“We think of it as a nice, quiet place and we keep it a little bit dark. We did a lot to dampen sound like paintings that have acoustic paneling to help with the noise,” Krasniqi said. “We have a family-friendly personality where people can enjoy their Italian food and just have a good time.”
