Authentic Italian Comes to Allen at Numero 28

There’s a good chance that the first person you’ll see when you walk into Numero 28 is the owner himself, greeting his customers. “Hospitality is very important in Italy," Leo Gravino of Ancona, Italy, says. "We want to treat every customer like they were coming into our own house.”

The restaurant is cozy, with brick walls and photos of pasta throughout, except for the wall with the giant Aperol Spritz mural perfect for Instagram. We had an early reservation (they accept walk-ins as well) and were seated immediately. It was clear that there were both regulars and newcomers throughout the restaurant, and we overheard the table next to us tell their server they had heard about it through word of mouth. We deliberately went on a Tuesday, which means half-priced bottles of wine. 
For appetizers, we selected both the arancina vegetariana and the trio bruschette. Arancini is traditionally a small ball of rice stuffed with cheese, coated in breadcrumbs and fried. This was exactly that but super-sized and easily enough for two people. It was extra-crispy coated cheesy rice with mozzarella, tomato, eggplant and basil, and there wasn’t a crumb left on the plate. The three bruschetta options included mozzarella, tomato and basil; eggplant, olives and onions; and our favorite, artichoke and Parmesan.
For our main entrees we selected the melanzane alla Parmigiana (or eggplant parm), which is prepared lasagna style and is a solid, gluten-free option. We also selected the cacio e pepe, which is homemade spaghetti alla chitara, Parmesan and black pepper mixed inside a giant wheel of parmesan table side. This particular dish appears to have a domino effect within the restaurant. As a new table sees the creamy concoction being served to another table, they inevitably order it as well. We considered ordering a side salad but decided on a side pizza instead. We devoured the reliable plain cheese pizza, and next time will go for the four-cheese pizza or upgrade the add-on of buffalo mozzarella.

Desserts are made in-house, and we chose the tiramisu, the chocolate nutella cake and the cannolis. We were a table divided about which was the best but we were unanimous that we’d order any of them again. We finished off our reasonably priced meal with an espresso and limoncello and never felt rushed to leave.

Numero 28, 190 E. Stacy Road, No. 1404, in The Village at Allen, 972-678-0384. Monday – Thursday, 4–9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, noon – 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon – 9 p.m.