Crudo Taverna Bravely Moves Into Cursed Preston Center Space

The former Mi Piaci space at Preston Road and Northwest Highway has a new tenant on the horizon: Crudo Taverna.

This wil be the restaurant's second location; the first is in a swanky Frisco strip center on Lebanon Road near the Dallas North Tollway. Crudo describes itself as a family-owned, upscale bistro "with an Italian flair"; the menu at the Frisco original includes pappardelle with lamb ragu, smoked Kobe beef with butternut squash ravioli, and more casual fare like a margherita pizza and a burger with truffle fries.

If one were superstitious, they might suspect that 8411 Preston Road, Suite 132 carries some bad juju: Scott Reitz proclaimed the most recent tenant, Cucina Neighborhood Italian, "a bad restaurant in a bad space." Prior to that it was briefly home to Mi Piaci, which sputtered and failed after relocating from its long-time Addison home, and before that, the Southwestern-ish Ocho Kitchen & Cocktails, which closed soon after eliciting a rare zero-star review from Leslie Brenner.

Crudo general manager Giancarlo del Aguila says the restaurant is eyeing a January 2016 opening.