Cafe Lucca, an all-day restaurant, is scheduled to open in Highland Park in 2024. Café Lucca is a project by friends: former Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, former NFL quarterback Babe Laufenberg, and Highland Park restaurateur Julian Barsotti. Barsotti is building a stronghold for Italian cuisine in the area as owner of Barsotti's, Nonna, and Fachini.
They named the restaurant Cafe Lucca after Laufenberg's son, Luke Laufenberg, who died of a rare blood cancer in 2019.
Caffe Lucca is slated to open next to Barsotti's, the Italian restaurant on Oak Lawn Avenue formerly known as Carbone's. The restaurant will move to the former TJ's Seafood, which closed in October 2023.
“It just clicked,” Barsotti said of the open restaurant space. He was already looking for real estate with his friends to open an Italian cafe serving breakfast, lunch, cocktails and dinner. Cafe His Lucca may also sell Italian dishes such as homemade ricotta and meatballs.
“We're already telling the Italian-American story on this corner,” Barsotti said of Oak Lawn and Wycliffe streets. “Let's keep it going.”
Plus, Laufenberg had wanted to open a coffee shop for years.
“One of Babe's favorite sayings is, 'Let's go get coffee,'” Garrett said. “It's not about the coffee. It's about the experience.” (But, Garrett admits, “It's also about the coffee. We have the best coffee in Dallas.”)
The former coach turned NBC Sports analyst likes the idea of creating an intentional place for Dalasi people to gather, whether they drink coffee or not. This is Garrett's first time opening a restaurant.
Garrett said Barsotti is the “right person” to run the all-day cafe. He met Barsotti in Nonna more than a decade ago and bonded over a shared love of football and community.
“I like people who know what they're doing,” Garrett says.
Caffe Lucca is scheduled to open in mid-2024 at 4212 Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas.
