Latest visit: Jul 2015
First visit: 1984
According to Prego's website, the restaurant has been open since 1982 (with a building owned by the family since 1951). And that's roughly two years before we started frequenting. I was in college at Texas Tech then, which tells me that we must've first dine there while home for the summer. If truth be told, both my parents liked Prego probably more than any restaurant - including my beloved Pietro's. For a number of years, they had a new location up in Far North Dallas (Tollway and Trinity Mills) that just happened to be pretty close to where I had an office in 2003 and 2004. They had great lunch specials, and I tried to go at least once a month, if not more. Unfortunately that location closed a few years ago. But the original is where most of my dining memories of Prego occurred. It's a single room restaurant, that can get very loud when crowded (which it often is - particularly for dinner). It's hard to imagine today, but Prego, like every restaurant of the time, allowed smoking. And my Old Man made sure everyone got cigarette smoke with their dinner. Not every law the government passes is a turkey. They got that one right! As an aside, valet parking is compulsory (it's free - but with tip of course). I noticed on this visit, they tore down the building next door. Maybe they can finally get their own parking spaces?
So what's so great about Prego? Old school Italian. Done perfectly - every time. If you like a thick and smooth red sauce, with the perfect blend of seasonings, then you'll love Prego. They make their own Italian sausage. Their salad is basic but delicious (a vinaigrette with garlic and onion tops, an olive and hot pepper). Pasta is always al dente. Meat sauce is made from their homemade meatballs. Their pizza will remind you of Campisi's. I'm not a heavy cream sauce guy, but I'll bet their Alfredo is delicious. Italian food doesn't have to be fancy to be good. It's amazing to me how very few really good Italian restaurants there are. Most of the simple restaurants use too much sauce, or can't even cook pasta right. The elaborate ones are so focused on decoration and off-the-wall recipes, they can't get even put together a decent salad. Prego reminds me of everything I like about old school Italian. It's a can't miss proposition. Prego, as mention earlier, is usually very crowded for dinner. And who eats there? Lots of squeaky clean, good looking families from nearby University Park. Regular folks, but regular folks who have way more money to blow than the rest of us. And know a good value when they experience it. As for the RJG - I've been going for 30 years now, and I still look forward to dining here. If any of the above sounds appealing, then Prego is a must.
12/23/94; 4/11/95; 8/12/95; 7/14/12; 7/13/13 (new entry); 7/25/15
Comments
Opted for Chicken Francaise - choice was that or Marsala or Parmesan.
Started with salad - Gorgonzola w/ vinegar & oil - spot on!
Half a loaf of French bread (ok, maybe Italian - but it looks like a baguette to me).
Sitting at the bar - checking the slots out in the crushed red pepper shaker.
This place is loud - as promised.
A commercial occurs on the TV. I can tell by the attitude that Travolta is playing John Gotti before the title is shown.
(And we briefly pause for a moment of silence; we recall where Gotti dined in lower Manhattan during his trial).
Yankees playing on the TV - it is inevitable!
Dinner has arrived ... more to follow!
(license to edit any redundancies - granted!)
As is my normal wont, I parked at the bar. Bartender - Richard - tells me his favorite 2 dishes (actually his and his wife's) are the Francese and the Marsala. Neither of these are staples for RJG and me, but I had eaten a rather large runch at the Lustic (slysdexia - make that Lunch at the Rustic) earlier this same day. And I was just finished with a couple beers at the one and only dive bar in the Uptown neighborhood where I work (Uptown Cafe), so something lighter sounded good. I opted for the Francese as a lighter choice.
One thing I immediately like about Prego is that - with few exceptions - you have pretty uniform list of menu options with a choice of protein (chicken or veal, primarily). So whether you favor parmesan or marsala or piccata - just pick your protein of choice. I did not probe for combinations like a chicken / eggplant combination (a pet menu divergence that I often crave and seldom achieve satisfaction on said cravings). I simply order the Chicken Francese with a glass of Chianti.
We start with a half-loaf of baguette (vaguely remember this topic being my the last thought as I real-timed in my previous post). Bread is good - warmed, crispy outside, still soft but warm inside - served with butter that is soft enough to melt on the bread (preference for this - although I occasionally like the right olive oil and spice concoction as an alternative). A salad arrives, primarily iceberg - like you would expect - but served with a dressing that I believe is simply vinegar and oil with small Gorgonzola chunks. Excellent start! I am not a huge fan of iceberg except in the wedge form, but all good Italian joints seem to follow suit here.
When dinner comes, the portions are, to my now-salivating eyes, a tad on the small side. A few pieces of chicken breast - pounded thin as one would expect - served in a lemon creme sauce. This is accompanied by a modest portion of fettuccine in either an Alfredo or the same lemon creme (pretty sure it is the former). It matters not; I mix sauces throughout the meal.
Surprisingly, what appears to be a small portion is completely filling. Perhaps it is because the sauce is richer? Who knows? I do not even finish the bread (although I use a couple extra pieces to mop up the sauce that strays from the chicken & pasta). Sated, not stuffed, I wash it all down with a second glass of Chianti.
This was a meal exactly as it should have been. I'll be returning upon my next visit to big D to try out either the red sauce or a pizza. Kudos to Prego - and to RJB for leading me there!
As promised, returned to Prego for an encore on my next visit to D, and I decided to risk disappointment and ask for the unreachable, go-off menu combo I always crave. Veal and eggplan parm. Waiter does not even blink: "Sure, buddy - I gotcha covered!" All the buildup matches my previous visit, and the dinner arrives with a not overwhelming plate full of pasta, a couple pieces of veal and a couple pieces of eggplant parm. They had me - right then and there.
This is not a place I would recommend to someone who expresses profound appreciation for Olive Garden breadsticks and salads, nor the guy who like the jugs of wine at Macaroni Grill. But the rest of you should check the joint out - pronto!