How David Campisi Keeps Growing the Family Business
By: Danielle Abril / Photography: Jonathan Zizzo
David Campisi treats diners who walk through the doors of his restaurants as though they’re guests in his own home. And in a way, they are. If walls could talk, those in the original Campisi’s Egyptian Restaurant in Dallas would tell nearly 70 years of stories about four generations of Campisis, the famous guests who dined there, and the family’s Sicilian recipes that remain unchanged. The iconic, dimly lit eatery on Mockingbird Lane is the spot where “Little David,” as his family calls him, earned his first dollar. It’s where he knocked back beers with his cousins after a long night’s shift. And it’s where he learned how to make the restaurant’s signature rectangular pizzas that were first crafted by his grandparents back in the 1940s.
Since taking the company’s helm 23 years ago, Campisi, 48, has found a way to replicate the feel of the Dallas institution in nine additional locations in North Texas, plus one in Lubbock, which began serving customers in September. He also set up licensing partnerships to create limited-menu versions of the restaurant at Southern Methodist University and Love Field Airport.
This article was originally published by DMagazine in November 2016, click here to read the article in its entirety.
Note: Our Lubbock location is now closed.