After more than a year of waiting, Fort Worth pizza fans may finally get their hands on Partenope’s award-winning Neapolitan pies by the first week of December. The Naples-style pizzeria has been working to open a restaurant at 2949 Crockett St. in the West 7th Entertainment District, and new pizza ovens shipped straight from Italy have arrived.
Partenope first announced its Fort Worth plans in July 2025, but the project has taken far longer than expected to come together. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, construction on the space wrapped up in January 2026, and the restaurant’s pizza ovens arrived shortly after. Partenope has acknowledged the slow timeline, saying in a statement that “Unfortunately, we have experienced several delays due to circumstances beyond our control.”
The restaurant has not detailed what caused those setbacks, but it says it is doing everything possible to move things forward and open as soon as it can. A listing on fortworthfounded.com still describes the location as “still upcoming, but one to keep an eye on as it opens,” per the Fort Worth Founded directory.
New Ovens From Naples, Even Though the Building Already Had Some
Notably, Partenope shipped in its own multi-thousand-dollar Stefano Ferrara Forni pizza ovens from Naples, Italy, despite the Crockett Street building already having wood-fired ovens installed from a previous tenant. The Star-Telegram’s report notes that former tenant Fireside Pies used the building’s ovens for 12 years, while the more recent tenant, Si Tapas, used them to cook suckling pigs before closing in 2025.
That attention to detail tracks with Partenope’s reputation. Its pizza is AVPN-certified Neapolitan pizza, meeting standards set by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the organization dedicated to preserving traditional Neapolitan pizza-making. The pizzeria’s signature Montanara pie, a flash-fried then baked crust topped with mozzarella, marinara, and basil, won gold at AVPN’s Olimpiadi della Verace Pizza Napoletana, often described as the Olympics of true Neapolitan pizza, back in 2012.
A Growing List of Accolades
The accolades have kept coming more recently, too. Partenope was ranked No. 18 in the United States this year by the 50 Top Pizza Italian guide, marking six consecutive years the pizzeria has earned a spot on that list. Food & Wine has also named Partenope the best pizzeria in Texas, and the restaurant has picked up recognition on D Magazine and Dallas Observer best-restaurant lists several times over the years.
Partenope’s roots trace back to downtown Dallas, where owner Dino Santonicola, a Naples native, first opened the restaurant in 2019. Santonicola previously served as executive chef for Zoli’s and Cane Rosso before launching his own Neapolitan concept. The pizzeria has since expanded to Richardson, and the Fort Worth location on Crockett Street will mark its third outpost.
For now, Fort Worth diners will have to keep watching the Crockett Street storefront for signs of life. If the early-December timeline holds, the West 7th Entertainment District will soon have its own taste of the Naples-born pizza that has already won over Dallas and Richardson.
