The Perfect Bite of Piccata at Spazo in Allen

In Allen, everyone knows the name Spazo. It’s the little Italian restaurant at the end of a strip mall that has become a gathering place for the community. It's a place where you will almost always see someone you know and enjoy the comforting feeling that comes with good food and service. The restaurant isn't very big, with tables close together in one long row and a small side room toward the back. Notably, the bar is large, almost intrusive, in the front of the restaurant. It's a place where you will always see a friend or leave with a new one.

The heart of Spazo comes from owners Labi and Tina Gashi. They took over the struggling restaurant in 2015 relying on Labi’s restaurant experience and the Italian influences in their home country of Kosovo. This is truly a family-run business, with up to seven family members working at different times.

There is also a rolling presence of high school kids working; the owners want to share their business experiences with others. “We like to teach them how to run a business the right way. We will teach them as much as they want to learn,” Tina says.

The menu has all of the comforting favorites you would expect at an Italian restaurant. The pasta dishes come in generous portions, hot right from the oven. Do not touch the plate. Chicken dishes come in at $14 and include an excellent marsala, a hearty Parmigiana and others. Switch the chicken to veal for a $3 charge if you so desire. Seafood is also quite prevalent on the menu, with nothing exceeding $20.

The pizza here is New York style. The large, thin slices are a little bit crunchy and a little bit drippy with just the right amount of chewiness. Nightly and weekly menu specials are Labi’s creation and can vary from week to week depending on what is fresh, available and in demand from the customer base. Seabass, lamb shank, salmon with crabmeat and osso buco can all be found when the timing is right. Blindly ordering the special every trip would not be the wrong approach here.

On this night we started with some reasonably priced cocktails. The Grey Goose martini is perfectly shaken and dirty for $8, but the star of the show is the smoked old fashioned at $10. The presentation is a real head-turner. Order one at the bar and the next three orders will all be the same. Order it at the table, where they present it tableside, and you will be the envy of the restaurant.

For dinner, we went with the tilapia piccata. This dish is put together well and, if done properly, is probably the best bite in the house. First, twirl some pasta on your fork, then grab a piece of fish — start with the edge where it has become a little crispy in the oven — and give the whole thing a swim through the rich, buttery lemon sauce. With a skilled scoop, your fork should also emerge from the swim with a mushroom, artichoke or caper to complete the experience. Use a chunk of bread needed to keep everything in place. You'll be glad you did.

Spazo has some great lunch specials from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; subs, salads and pastas are all under $10, and you can get a chicken pasta (like piccata) for just $10.99. On Thursdays, half-price bottles of house wine are available.

With a friendly neighborhood vibe and more-than-welcoming prices, not to mention stellar pasta dishes, Spazo is an Allen gem.

Spazo Restaurant & Bar, 1201 W. McDermott Drive, Allen. Tuesday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.