Our first trip to Kenny's Italian Kitchen was a complete surprise. I myself am not a huge pasta and/or Italian food fan and typically don't go out of my way to eat it. My wife and I were in Dallas on one of our numerous discovery trips trying to find a place to live since my company was moving from Oklahoma down to the Dallas Metro area. We decided to get a little dressed up and check out the Addison area which most know abounds with a plethora of restaurant choices.
We drove up and down Beltline Road trying to find something that sounded good with not much luck. We ventured into a little shopping center just East of the North Dallas Tollway off Beltline. We found a number of restaurants back there including Kenny's. It was around 6:30pm on a Saturday night and being from Oklahoma, we were not used to having to make reservations very often. We walked in and told the hostess that we did not have a reservation. We thought it was not a big deal since we saw a number of open tables, no big deal right??? I looked at my wife Lori extremely worried that she might have a gaping flesh wound of some sorts, because that is how the hostess looked at her and I. But, to our surprise they were able to seat us at a table within just a couple of minutes. Side note, a friend of ours was on a trip to Dallas about a month later and he and his wife tried to get in to Kenny's at the same time on a Saturday and they told them it would be about a 2 hour wait. So, long story short, the food gods were looking upon us clearing our paths to be able to eat here.
The tables were covered in your traditional white a red checkerboard tablecloths and the walls were decked out with Sinatra-ish pictures of all kinds; Italians, rat-packs, etc... All the waiters and staff were extremely friendly and we felt at home almost right away.
My wife Lori ordered a glass of Chardonnay and I ordered a Scotch on the rocks. Our waiter asked if I wanted one or three ice cubes with my Scotch, as if those were the only choices for a true Scotch drinker...I asked for three by the way.
We decided to forgo an appetizer and dive right into our main courses. I convinced Lori to get the fettuccine carbonara over the fettuccine alfredo telling her she would not regret it. I decided on the linguine with white clam sauce. Like I said I'm not a huge pasta guy but linguine with clams is one of my favorites.
We saw who appeared to be the restaurant manager talking and greeting almost everyone in the place as if they were all regulars, which they might have been...another good sign.
After only waiting 15 minutes our so, our food arrived. They set my wife's plate down in front of her and it was just a hair shorter than an aircraft carrier, I kid you not. She literally got enough fettuccine carbonara for three meals. My plate was no less small and even more awesome, complete with freshly steamed clams still in there shell, freakin sweet! My clams were perfect and succulent. Lori's fettuccine was amazing, creamy, and rife with pancetta. Ya, this was a great meal!
My second trip to Kenny's was a couple of months later when I was in Dallas again working on my company's new office. I met my brother and a friend of his at the restaurant that were in town for a banker's conference, exciting stuff I know :) I really cannot remember what they ordered because I was too enthralled with my meal. Once again we bypassed the appetizers and headed for the deep end. This time I ordered the veal saltimbocca. I had never had this dish before so I thought I'd try it out since it sounded really good. Well guess what, I was NOT disappointed! Saltimbocca normally includes prosciutto and some sort of cheese. This dish was again the size of an aircraft carrier; including a ton of linguine and even more veal. The luscious veal was topped with real prosciutto, then copious amounts of fontina cheese, and then all of it was covered with a velvety Marsala wine sauce which just happens to be one of my most favorite sauces. I was only able to finish about half of my veal, but oh my gosh it was so good!
So needless to say, Kenny's Italian Kitchen is a great and amazing restaurant that I would highly recommend if you are ever in the Dallas area.
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