Urbano Paninoteca on McKinney in Uptown Dallas closed

by Teresa Gubbins

DALLAS — Urbano Paninoteca, an Italian mom-and-pop on McKinney Avenue in Dallas' Uptown district owned by Mitch and Kris Kauffman, closed over the weekend after 6-1/2 years.

"We don't blame the economy, though it certainly didn't help, for the closing," said Kris. "Catering was way down as some of our top clients went through layoffs, and others simply cut back to deal with the reality. But for us, the real issue was that we couldn't make dinners work."

Urbano started off in a small spot on Fairmount Street before moving to its current spot across the street from the now-razed Hard Rock Cafe, which was previously occupied by Le Paris Bistrot, another independently-held restaurant with excellent that struggled to find an audience. But the Kauffmans don't blame their location.

"I think it was probably because our lunch identity -- with counter service, sandwiches, pastas, and salads -- fought with our dinner concept which offered table service, grilled meats, seafood, risotto, and a great wine list.

The couple is considering its next move, which could include reopening as a breakfast/lunch place downtown, re-concepting in the current space, or doing something else somewhere else.

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