In the beginning, there was Carlos “Papo” Campisi. Papo emigrated from his motherland, Italy, to south Dallas via Ellis Island in the early 1900s with the American dream twinkling in his eye.
He started a small grocery store and a family, which included “Papa” Joe, as he would later be called. In 1946 Joe started the Egyptian Lounge on Mockingbird Lane, the title of which was later changed to Campisi’s Egyptian Restaurant after it began to serve food along with the drinks. The “Egyptian” part of the name came from a sign that was outside the establishment before the influx of Campisi’s that had too much caché to take down and forget about. This staple of the Dallas food world boasts bringing not only the first Italian and pizza restaurant to the area, but also the first post-prohibition liquor license.
Today, the restaurant is run by Joe’s son Corky and his wife Marie, along with a slew of other third and fourth generation Campisis. Needless to say, Campisi’s Egyptian Restaurant is not only an institution of Dallas, but also of SMU, due to its convenient location.
My first experience with the Italian eatery came when a family friend, a woman of a certain age and an SMU alum, invited some friends and me to eat there as a “welcome to campus” dinner. With a little bit of research I found out that Campisi’s is pretty much the only place to have a “welcome to campus” dinner, except for maybe a picnic on the boulevard itself. Knowing nothing at all about the place, except for the fact that it had an Italian flag as the backdrop for their logo, I got into a huge argument with my roommate as to whether or not the Dallas legend was an Italian or Egyptian restaurant. (Once I actually got there I was even more confused when the front of the menu read: Campisi’s Egyptian Restaurant with Italian Food.)
As soon as I passed the well-known padded front doors surrounded on all sides by current and former students, my family friend let out with a smile, “This place hasn’t changed at all!”
“It even smells the same,” her friend added. I was a bit afraid of what it would smell like if that smell hadn’t changed in however many years, but as it turned out the aroma was exactly what it should have been: pizza cooking in the right kind of oven, freshly warmed garlic bread, and heavily sauced pasta. The restaurant prides itself on staying the course with Joe Campisi’s idea of serving traditional southern Italian dishes as they were meant to be served in the old country. The hip and trendy style is just fine for these new establishments trying to re-invent the avant-garde, but stubborn tradition seems to be working very well for the Campisi family.
The interior of the front room looks like it was frozen in the 1950s and defrosted just in time for your reservation. Whoever said that those “good ol’ boy” family eateries from the hippie era are all extinct clearly hasn’t been to Campisi’s since then. The time machine fast-forwards a few decades once you venture on to the next room, which was annexed in 1998 to make room for 100-plus more seats and a pair of large flat screen TVs. This second room still keeps the old family restaurant experience with the added benefit of being able to watch whatever important game is on at the time.
The family claims to have the best pizza in all of Dallas, which I would have to disagree with – but not too strongly. They don’t go overboard, but right to the edge with their novel of a menu. Pizza choices include all of the traditional toppings in addition to their specialty, gourmet, and “veggie” options (not to mention delivery and my personal favorite, “Take and Bake” pizzas). The rest of the menu is predictable, which is far from a bad thing. If you are looking for chicken parmigiana, shrimp scampi, lasagna with meat sauce, or any other Italian favorite, then Campisi’s is the place to go. I would not place the cuisine alone on a pedestal too high, but food is hardly the most important part of the experience, and it is good enough to enjoy yourself immensely in the overwhelmingly delicious atmosphere.
When any sort of place is in existence for more than 50 years, one welcome side effect is countless amusing anecdotes to tell with a smile over some spaghetti and meatballs. Probably the most famous of these is the fact that Jack Ruby, the killer of Lee Harvey Oswald, ate at Campisi’s on the eve of Kennedy’s assassination. In more recent history, Morgan Fairchild ate there after filming Fox News’ 10th anniversary edition of Hannity and Colmes in McFarlin Auditorium here on campus. In more recent history that SMU students are sure to remember, the “Prison Break” crew parked outside and frequently ate at Campisi’s during their shoot on campus in August.
I cannot speak for the upperclassmen on campus, but the general view of Campisi’s Egyptian Restaurant by the imported freshmen seems to be that they’ve heard of the place, but never been there. I am not too worried about them eventually eating there, because decades of first-years have stumbled across it before.
Simon Lang is a first-year Business Administration major and may be reached for further comment or question at [email protected].
