Sinatra and the rat pack on the jukebox. Jack Ruby ate here the night before John F. Kennedy was shot. It's dark and it's rumored to be a MOB hangout of old. Great-great granddaughter Amber appeared as a Playboy centerfold.
Yes, you are at
Campisi's Egyptian Restaurant in Dallas.
Everything about this place demands a little story to be told, and therefore should actually be on everybody's travel itinerary if you visit Dallas. So you can experience the mystery there is or only might be.
An Italian restaurant named after another country, what does Egyptian have to do with Italy, besides the fact that Cleo and Cesar had a fling and a common son.
When grandfather
Joe Campisi moved his already existing, 4 year old Italian restaurant and pizzeria, the first in Texas, from a location on McKinney to Mockingbird, most of the money was spent buying and renovating the place. The building used to be the home of the Egyptian Lounge. There was only enough money left, to get rid of the "lounge" part of the name and change it to restaurant on the already existing sign.
For years there were rumors, that the Campisi were part of organized crime, especially the Dallas Mafia. The assassin's assassin,
Jack Ruby ate at Campisi's the night before
John F. Kennedy got shot. To no surprise, the fact that Joe Campisi visited Ruby in jail, did not hush the hearsay per se. But this little encounter substantiates every conspiracy theorists daydreams, even if there may be no reasoning behind it. That this dark candle-lit place only accepted cash and checks for a long time way into the '80s kept the tittle-tattle going too.
Even though at one point, everybody entering the establishment was photographed by the FBI, it didn't hurt the business too much. "Au contraire," people starting showing up, trying to catch a glimpse of a famous mafiosi and trying to rub elbows. Regular customers as
Bob Hope or
Tom Landry helped spread the news as well.
By now, the restaurant cashes in on the supposed MOB connection, it quadrupled in size and beginning in the '90's started to expand into satellite branches.
David Campisi, grandson of patriarch Joe, now rules over 11 stores, all but one (Lubbock) in the DFW area.
Asked by the Dallas Morning News during a recent interview about the expansion plans and the Mafia connections David was quoted:
"My grandfather, he always used to say when your last name ends in a vowel people look at you a little bit different. We have a great story behind us. Some things true, some not.”
The Dallas Mafia was never considered to be a big deal; the metroplex didn't start to explode in size till after World War II. Compared to New York and Chicago, Dallas seemed more like a quaint town on the banks of the Trinity. Yes there were the Piranio, Civello and the Campisi families. But most of the crime was related to
Lester Ben "Benny" Binion, who in his early days pretty much controlled the gambling in Big D. He later became the owner of the Horseshoe in Las Vegas, had to serve five years in Leavenworth for tax evasion and started the now famous "World Series of Poker." He also ran some bootlegging operations during the prohibition, but with law enforcement more or less ignoring the state and national amendments he had pretty free range. A writer for Collier's magazine actually summarized the efforts as "Dripping Dry Dallas" after he was able to buy drinks across the street from the famous Adolphus hotel.
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| Playboy model Amber Campisi @ambercampisi |
"L'occhio del padrone ingrassa il cavallo." - as long as you as the boss, keep your eyes focused they will fatten the horse. This old Italian mantra describes part of the success of the Campisi famiglia in Dallas. Combined with their own credo of "Handshakes and Hellos" they were able to build a brand, that they are now successfully expanding into other locations, even outside of the DFW area.
And while we're talking about the Campisi, we can't forget that Corky's daughter
Amber Campisi participated in Playboy's Ultimate Playmate Search.for their 50th anniversary edition.
"My customers at the restaurant told me I should try out,” she said. “I was done with school, and I thought, why not? I was one of the first girls in line.?
She was featured in that special edition and two years later, was awarded the centerfold as Miss February 2005.
With a degree in communications from SMU, she owns her own business as a Plexus energy and weightloss drinks distributor and naturally also helps in the family business as one of the managers.
The food is no mystery - it's "onesto italiano."
Actually it is "delizioso," the sausages and peppers as an appetizer are spicy, but not hot. The salsa di pomodori is not overwhelming, it's smooth and accompanies the sausage perfectly. The Veal Parmigiana and the Center Cut Pork Chop, chosen because it was served with sauteed Spinach, were both cooked to perfection and very "gustosi". I normally have to add a little bit a salt, which I had to do with the pasta, that came with our dishes. The Tiramisu and the Sicilian Cream Cake came home with us and we loved every bite of the two desserts the next day. I gotta be back at
Campisi's Egyptian Restaurant for Pizza. Si mangiano in famiglia. Alla prossima.
Food:
🍴🍴🍴🍴🍴/🍴🍴🍴🍴🍴 (4/5)
Sources: www.campisis.us/, Dallas Morning News, @ambercampisi, Playboy
