Cosa Nostra

I had an amazing experience at Cosa Nostra.
The sauces were flavorful and had so much body. I honestly have never had better Italian. We both had pasta dishes, garlic knots, and it is BYOB. we grabbed a beer box from the grocery store next door.
Full truth the service was so attentive and polite. I was impressed with the server remembering the order of everyone at our 18-​top take without writing anything down. IMPRESSIVE! I was also floored by their politeness in letting us stay for an hour after closing times.
This is a true family Italian restaurant and a must try in the DFW area!

This place — I think — is really overrated. It’s like Olive Garden made love to a Johnny Carinos this place popped out.
It’s not bad, it’s just like every other Italian place down here!
Prices are decent but place it small.

Awesome food. But the hours posted for Sunday’s are wrong. Went there at 1:00 pm and they were closed. Twice it has happened to me.
Will not stop me from going other days though. Best Italian food I have had in the US.

Food is prepared close to where you’re seated in this small store front restaurant that really doesn’t look like much. Until you taste the food. Incredible flavors, fresh ingredients, beautifully presented. The service is a little slow, but this is a restaurant where you need the time to enjoy each dish. I will be back as often as I can, bring your own bottle of wine and enjoy!

This use to be better. I visited here once again with my family and it was pretty pricey and just not as tasty as I recalled my very first visit. The rolls are good but I just wasn’t impressed with my meal as much as I use to be. The owner is very nice and you can bring in your own alcoholic beverages. Not too fond of the bathroom when needing to go because it’s smells like backed up sewage, I guess from bad piping laid in that area. It’s not just there because I noticed the pizza place next to a neighborhood Tom Thumb close by is the same way. Also no diaper changer, so that’s a negative in my book because it’s not easy changing a baby on the floor even if you have a baby changing mat handy and it’s not sanitary.

We went to Cosa Nostra last Saturday for my husband’s work party. We were a pretty big group and while there were a few of the usual glitches that go along with being in a small place with a big group everything was outstanding. The food was incredible which is most important and the servers were hustling to get everything just right!

We asked for mushroom ravioli as appetizer. Fabulous. Served in the pan that cooked it. Sopped it up with garlic knots.
This ain’t no red sauce joint.
Put this restaurant in uptown and you’d pay double.
Next trip I will try seafood. Signature pasta was good and so was 12″ pizza. Took home all the leftovers.
Bravo Dino.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place! Love their chicken piccata but this evening thought I’d tried a lighter dinner –the spinach salad and it was incredible! Love this place and I don’t even mind bringing my own wine! The best part are the owners! They’re awesome, welcoming, engaging and never forget a face. They make you feel right at home. It’s a local little quaint dive. Highly recommend.

PERFECT FLAVORS! We ordered the Lobster Ravioli and the Chicken Cacciatore, and they both were amazingly delicious. Would give 5 stars, but the cutting board that the veggies for my Greek salad were cut on was filthy and probably needs to be replaced.

I may have to re-​scale my other reviews after eating at Dino’s. Everyone else gets bumped down a star, especially the italian places.
This is as fresh and real italian as it gets in this neck of the woods. Not only is every dish just as delicious as the last, as i’ve not been able to pick my favorite thus far, but Dino is such a wonderful owner– he’s hands-​on, greets the customers himself, and if you’re a regular, he’s been known to cook for you, and it’s always amazing.
It’s BYOB, so we often go down the shopping center to either the grocery store or the new liquor store for a bottle of wine to enjoy with the meal.

Service:
Friday night. Do not want to go out. I ordered out. I was told on the phone from a jolly voice that the wait to pickup an order would be forty minutes. I said that I did not have that much time and my hubby was across the street running errands. The friendly man said come on, we will get the food out fast and make it work. Fifty minutes later we had our food.
Food:
We ordered the cheese, lobster, and mushroom raviolis, capreese salad, and gnocchi. The total bill was $ 60. I honestly really liked the tomato sauce for the cheese ravioli. It was very fresh, chunky, bright, and a little sweet. The fresh herbs were so flavorful.
Will come back. In my opinion, the best Italian food this side of Dallas.
Do not order or come in a rush. They run on Italian time :)

When you first enter it seem like a old run down place. The room is pretty dark and décor is outdated.
The service is okay. They are not very attentive but they are no hard to get there attention.
Food is okay. I got the chicken parmesan. They cook the noodles perfectly but the sauce didn’t seem to hold much flavor. The chicken was cook nicely.
The calamari was nice and crispy.

Authentic Italian food with a family style atmosphere. The owner was there cooking and greeting every customer that came through the doors as if they were family members. Braided bread rolls with garlic, butter, and Parmesan cheese was served as we looked through the extensive menu. I ordered the chicken parm with a Caesar salad. Best Caesar salad I’ve ever had, hands down. The Caesar dressing is home made and it’s oh soooo good. My chicken parm was delish! My friend got the scampi and ate the whole thing! I couldn’t have asked for a more friendly atmosphere and the service was fantastic! BYOB with no corking fee is also a plus. One of the best parts… our meal was extremely affordable!

Small intimate family restaurant. Has been open for a while, décor is dated. Menus shows age and might need to be replaced.
Food is hit or miss here. I had both Costa nostra spaghetti and the mushroom ravioli. The spaghetti is definitely a 5 here, one of the best I’ve ever had. Mushroom ravioli on the other hand, was lacking mushrooms and too much cheese.
Friendly owner. Waitresses seems distracted. But overall, it’s a decent place.

Middle of the road. My girlfriend and I came here on a top from a friend of our’s. I looked it up and saw it had great reviews so I figured it would be awesome.
Dino was very nice and greeted us as the front register and it looked like we just beat the dinner rush by getting there at six.
My lobster ravioli was good but my girlfriends tortellini dish wasn’t quite as good, the smoked mozzarella took it over. But oh well every place has something you may not care for.
The reason for the 3 star review is the service, my drink was never refilled, and it was almost like the lady waiting on us was avoiding us once we got our food.
I would probably go back, but at the moment I can get the same experience from Rockwall’s Luigis for cheaper.

Cute little place in a strip mall. Glad I had Unilocal to point it out as a place to go.
Service was kind and fairly prompt. They did get very busy very quickly. But all of our needs were taken care of.
The garlic bread was a tasty treat to tide us over until the main course arrived. If you are
not a big garlic fan, it might be too much. I loved it.
As for the main course, I had the carbonara and was very pleased. It had a nice sauce that mixed well with the pancetta bacon and noodles with just enough egg. Will be something I order again.
Overall good food and will be returning.

Great food! We tried several things since it was our first time. The wait wasn’t horrible but the place is small so it can take a min. We tried the garlic knots, pepperoni pizza, lasagna, 6 cheese mac, ceasar salad, canoli and tiramisu. Everything was on point! My husband dreams about the lasagna now! Be prepared to be in there a while waiting on your food and you may only get one refil of drink unless you get up and get your own. Everyone is moving and working so it doesn’t bother me much. This guy needs a bigger place and larger staff for sure. But overall it was such a fun experience and the food was incredible. Will be back…

I can’t drive past this place without being reminded of the first time I came here. It was on a first date with a guy in which the relationship ended on very bad note. A place and time I’d rather forget, but I digress…
This is a BYOB kind of place. You have to get there EARLY before the dinner crowd arrives, otherwise you’ll be standing in a cramped line for a very long time waiting for a table to open up. If it’s freezing cold outside, expect for people to cram inside the small vestibule and be packed in like sardines. Nice, if you’re standing next to someone you don’t mind being pressed up against — digressing again…
The owner is super-​nice and was OVERLY apologetic for the long wait. He must’ve apologized at least 4 times for the wait — it was a Friday night. Said he was short staffed (which was obvious). Meanwhile, you can get a good view of the kitchen and watch the cooks prepare the food and pizzas while people squeeze their way through the packed line and crowd in front of you to pick up their to-​go orders.
After about an hour, we finally get seated at a table in the very back of the restaurant (thankfully!). Service, as slow as it was, was good. Again, I was on a date and we were in no rush to get out of there. The food we ordered was good — not what I would call awesome, but decent.
Fast forward 24 hours to the next evening. It’s a Saturday afternoon about 4:30 and me & my son arrive early to avoid the long wait experience from the previous night. There’s only us and another family in the entire restaurant. The owner recognizes me from the night before and greets us enthusiastically. We ordered the calamari appetizer and the osso bucco which another patron sitting next to me ordered the night before. By the way, the seating at this place is VERY intimate. Tables are packed close together so expect to be all up in your neighbor’s business while you’re dining.
While waiting for our food to arrive, an employment dispute of some sort was unfolding. From what we could tell, a young waitress who had apparently quit or called in the night before (when they were so short-​staffed), walked in with her mom to collect her wages. An argument ensued and someone in the kitchen turned up the music in a not-​so-​subtle effort to drown out the commotion. This girl apparently had some grievances she was airing with the owner and was in tears. He eventually paid her some money and she left but it was not a good scene and made me wonder how he treats his employees.
As for the food, the calamari was a total disappointment. It was tough and chewy and over-​fried. The osso bucco was just marginally better. The food here is just OK in my opinion. Maybe the pizza would’ve been a better choice? All I know is that this place conjures up bad memories and the food was not good enough to keep me coming back. I’ll have to keep looking for good Italian fare.

The food alone is worth the trip from anywhere in Dallas. Hard to beat this guy’s food!
As far as the service, it always puts a smile on my face to see the owner/​waiter/​host/​singer/​entertainer because he’s always in such a good mood. After the first time coming here, I felt like we were friends, haha! He sings randomly and nothing is ever a problem. I think this place is a perfect hole in the wall and it’s only a matter of time before he gets a bigger place. People hang around just because they don’t want to leave. I hope this guy a ton of success, because eating here is what eating out should be!
5 stars all the way my friend!
***update***
Do yourself a favor and call ahead to see if they’re busy. The service is not lightning speed and this place gets PACKED! Not a ton of room here, so it may be more enjoyable to come outside of the busy eating hours.
Oh and don’t forget to bring your bottle of wine with you, it’s a byob type place

Very poor service
Rude waitress
Food heavy on oil, low on seasoning
Look elsewhere for Italian in Rowlett