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Remember Dallas restaurant Sfuzzi? It’s coming back — again

The pizza joint helped define the restaurant and bar scene in Uptown Dallas in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Sfuzzi, a restaurant we said was “one of the great Dallas brands of the 1980s and ‘90s,” is reopening in Dallas once again.

Its operators are Brandon Hays and Phil Schanbaum, two Dallas bar owners. Hays revived Sfuzzi once before, in 2009. The two are resurrecting the long-ago pizza bar for nostalgia’s sake, mostly.

Let's hop in the wayback machine: Here's Sfuzzi in Dallas in 1995.
Let's hop in the wayback machine: Here's Sfuzzi in Dallas in 1995.(DMN file photo from 1995)

“So much has changed in the past, and that can leave you longing for something familiar,” Hays told The Dallas Morning News. “Sfuzzi reminds me of my start on the restaurant side of things.”

“So many friendships and memories came from these times. Selfishly, I want to feel that fun again.”

“Oh, and damn, I miss the pizza.”

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Hays and Schanbaum have hired Peja Krstic, Sfuzzi’s executive corporate chef from 2011 to 2013, as the consulting chef. Krstic currently owns and operates Vietnamese restaurant Mot Hai Ba in Lakewood Dallas.

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Hays and Schanbaum own a handful of bars and restaurants in Dallas, including High Fives and The Whippersnapper (which are both nearby on Henderson Avenue), and Ferris Wheelers Backyard & BBQ in the Dallas Design District.

Sfuzzi, then and now

Sfuzzi opened in 1987 and eventually grew to 20 restaurants by the early 1990s before its owners filed for bankruptcy a few years later.

Brandon Hays, left, and Phil Schanbaum will operate Sfuzzi on Henderson Avenue, in place of...
Brandon Hays, left, and Phil Schanbaum will operate Sfuzzi on Henderson Avenue, in place of Capitol Pub. The two worked at Sfuzzi in 2009. Hays was the operating partner.(Kathy Tran)

It was resurrected from 2009 to 2013 and again became a “gangbusters” place to hang out on McKinney Avenue.

Was it a pizza place or a party spot? It was both.

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Sfuzzi reopened yet again in Dallas, in 2015 — but only for a hot minute, from February to August.

Sfuzzi’s latest owners will play frogger across Central Expressway, relocating it to East Dallas.

The new Sfuzzi will take the place of Capitol Pub on Henderson Avenue.

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Sfuzzi got hot again in Uptown in the 2010s, when it brought a lot of the same pizza party...
Sfuzzi got hot again in Uptown in the 2010s, when it brought a lot of the same pizza party vibe from the '80s and '90s back to McKinney Avenue. Here's the scene in 2012.(Jerry McClure / Special Contributor)
The original Frozen Sfuzzi made the menu again when it re(re)opened in Uptown Dallas in...
The original Frozen Sfuzzi made the menu again when it re(re)opened in Uptown Dallas in 2015. Sfuzzi is expected to be resurrected yet again in 2022, and yes: There'll be a Frozen Sfuzzi.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

In a sift through News archives, we found that Yankees player Derek Jeter ate there more than once with restaurateur Robert Colombo. So did Courtney Kerr, who was the frontwoman on a reality show called Courtney Does Dallas. And Jessica Simpson. And Dallas Cowboys cornerback Larry Brown. It was even mentioned in a New York Times article in 1988 highlighting Dallas hot spots.

The restaurant’s name is pronounced FOO-zi. (Maybe this restaurant review from 1987 will help you remember: “Sfuzzi’s sfound a sfantastic sformula. It’s funky and fashionable, and it has fresh, feisty, reasonably priced ‘fun Italian food,’ ” critic Waltrina Stovall wrote.)

The Sfuzzi is an actual menu item — a bellini that once cost $2.75 back in 1987. The “Ridiculous” size — shareable as long as everybody has their own straw — was 60 ounces for $12.

It’ll return, of course. (Prices will surely be higher, though.) Fernanda Rossano, a barback in 2009, created the cocktail list at the new place.

The new Sfuzzi menu will have pizza and pasta, as it should. The restaurant and bar will have room for 80 people inside, 120 outside.

Sfuzzi will be at 2401 Henderson Ave., Dallas. It’s expected to open in early 2022.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.