Scouting for a New Lunch Spot? Try Princi Italia’s Two-Course Power Lunch

When we last visited Princi Italia, Dirk Nowitzki was a 20-plus-points-per-game scorer with eight seasons remaining in his illustrious Hall of Fame NBA career, and Barack Obama was still in his first term as president.

It’s been a while.

Princi, led by Patrick Colombo and executive chef Jose Gutierrez, is a scratch-made, authentic Italian eatery with a modern riff on execution and technique. Colombo is also the president and CEO of Restaurant Works, Inc. (the outfit behind Victory Tavern). Princi has two North Texas locations: Dallas (Preston Royal, where we ate) and another in Plano (West Plano Village).

We visited for lunch, but there’s also a dinner menu that offers a lineup of pizzas from Margherita to Tartufo (chanterelle mushrooms, truffle butter, shaved black truffles, fontina and mozzarella), herb ricotta ravioli, braised leg of lamb ragu, porcini and chianti braised short rib and oven-roasted branzino. There are daily dinner specials such as a $27 Monday Cioppino shellfish stew (lobster, shrimp, clams, calamari, saffron broth) or veal osso buco Milanese served with saffron risotto on Friday. The wine list is extensive.

We started with a glass of Daou Rosé ($13). The setting at Princi leans upscale but is still approachable – it’s classy while maintaining a casual atmosphere. We ordered a couple of starters: roasted mussels in a tomato fennel broth ($16) and a fig and gorgonzola bruschetta ($13). The roasted mussels were a fine appetizer, but the bruschetta, peppered liberally with fig and crumbled gorgonzola, really shined. (We hear the fig and gorgonzola pizza is also a crowd favorite at Princi.)

A dining partner went with the grilled salmon ($19). It comes with an excellent, creamy pea saffron risotto topped with crispy onions and a tarragon grain mustard sauce to complement the salmon, which was cooked beautifully. We’ve been on the receiving end of too many mediocre, overcooked salmon dishes at restaurants, and this was a happy exception.

Pro tip: If you’re visiting for lunch, consider the power lunch option. For $17, you get two courses – an appetizer (Ceasar salad, chef’s house salad or tomato basil soup) and an entrée (capellini marinara, penne arrabbiata or spaghetti Bolognese). By today’s standards, it’s a steal of a deal. We opted for the tomato basil soup, which was nice, and the meaty spaghetti Bolognese (a big seller at Princi). If either of Princi’s locations is close to your workplace, this is a spot worth looking into for the power lunch deal alone.

Brunch is available on Sundays. You can find Princi’s lunch, dinner and brunch menus here.

Princi Italia, 5959 Royal Lane, Ste. 707. Monday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.