An intriguing restaurant with Argentinian roots is coming to Euless: Called Argentina 163, it will offer a unique style of pizza, along with a dedication to soccer games, in the former Italian restaurant Toscana’s Bar and Grill space at 918 E. Harwood Rd. #A.
The restaurant will open very softly on December 5.
Argentina 163 is from Pepe Cabrera, a first-time restaurant owner who has a passion both for soccer and for Argentinian food.
"I wanted to bring it to Euless because the area doesn’t have many options for this style of food," Cabrera says.
His goal is to bring the best of a certain kind of Argentinian gastronomy rooted in Italian food including pizza and a signature Milanesa — the dish featuring a cutlet dipped in egg and bread crumbs and fried, which they'll do in both beef and chicken versions.
"Argentina is famous for beef, but Argentinian cuisine is also heavily influenced by Italian food," Cabrera says.
That Italian influence includes pizza — but a unique Argentinian rendition he calls "porteña pizza," featuring a soft and spongy dough heaped with cheese. Porteña is a word for that refers to residents of Buenos Aires.
“Porteña pizza is cooked in a dish that’s halfway Chicago-style,” he says. “It’s not Neapolitan style, it’s not super thin, and it’s got a bunch of cheese and is cooked in a tray.”
The menu will be a fun mix of Italian and Latin-American dishes including pastas, empanadas made in-house, stuffed with a choice of beef, steak, spinach, or shrimp; and sandwiches inspired by the west side of Argentina called lomo — with thinly sliced steak.
This will not be a churrascaria-style place with endless meats brought to the table; but they will have steaks such as ribeye and entrana, the Argentinian skirt steak served with chimichurri sauce. Desserts include flan and tiramisu.
As far as the vibe goes, Cabrera says there are plenty of TVs on the walls, but its not a sports bar, he cautions.
"It's more of a sit-down, focused theme where you can watch games and have homemade food," he says.
