A new Italian restaurant is coming to Burleson with oodles of pre-opening buzz: Called On The Rocks Italian Bistro, it's in soft opening mode at 135 W. Ellison St. #101, in Old Town Burleson, next to the Mayor Vera Calvin Plaza, in a space previously occupied by Razzoo's, which closed in December.

On The Rocks is a sibling to La Bistro Italian Grill, a fine-dining restaurant that's been open in Hurst for 42 years. It was originally founded by restaurateur Robert Pjetrović in 1984, then taken over in 2016 by Sid Benouared, and now his son Jason Benouared and Jason's wife, Renee.

Jason says their vision for On The Rocks was to "create something a bit more elevated than the typical casual dining experience — an inviting, upscale atmosphere with great service, quality ingredients, and a place you’d choose when you want the night to feel special," he says.

The couple has partnered with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun, who says he's had "a great time working alongside the team to help bring this restaurant to life in Old Town Burleson."

Rathbun is the acclaimed chef whose resume includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark at the Melrose Hotel, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network and other national shows.

"The menu has a few nods to my past including a new take on the lobster shooter from the Abacus days, but we’re also building something completely new here," Rathbun says. "Great steaks, Italian influence, a little live-fire attitude, and food that’s meant to be an experience. [I'm] proud to be part of the team and looking forward to what’s ahead at On The Rocks."

The menu has not been released, but will include house-made pasta, steaks, and seafood. Diners who've visited during the soft opening are raving over dishes like chicken pesto, chicken parm, spiral lasagna, Delmonico ribeye, and salmon with polenta and asparagus cream. Plus whipped ricotta with pistachios on toasted ciabatta, chicken cavatelli with pistachio pesto, lobster bisque, butternut squash soup with pomegranate, and gelato in flavors such as pistachio.

The signature is their Lobster Arancini "Cappuccino" — their update of the signature lobster shooter that Rathbun created for Abacus, his award-winning restaurant in Dallas (which closed in 2019), featuring a chunk of fried lobster swimming in a broth. On The Rocks is serving it in a small espresso cup, to be consumed in one shot.

The restaurant has a full bar and also a unique "farm-to-table" feature: a growing rack on the patio, loaded with pots of herbs they're using in the kitchen.

On The Rocks will open at the end of September but in the meantime, they've provided a master class on how to open a restaurant and generate instant buzz. During their soft opening mode, they've opened a limited number of reservations for a four-course menu for $25 — a brilliant bit of marketing that has transformed the restaurant into just about the hottest reservation in town.