Joe's Italian Bistro, Bryant

DINNER!  From the Top Center:  'standard' bread, marinara sauce, foccia bread, child's spaghetti and meat balls, cheese manicotti, and side salad,  Oh, and the receipt for $17.33

The salad was standard ice-berg-from-a-bag, but the house dressing, a tomato vinaigrette, ROCKED! The dressing was stout and a little went a long way, but it was full of flavor!  Next up, the foccia bread.  It was not what I was expecting, but it was pretty darn good nonetheless.  I could've made that very same bread at home, but for $3.95, I'd order it again.  I'm on the fence as to whether or not I think the standard bread rolls are made fresh...I suspect they are not.  They are topped with a good garlic butter and they are tasty--and they are free with each meal, so why complain?

I enjoyed the marinara sauce.  I could taste the garlic and I liked the chunky texture of the tomatoes.  The cheese manicotti ($7.95) was simply put--WONDERFUL!  As you can see from the picture above, it is covered in sauce and mozzarella cheese....YUMMY!  The cheese was creamy and the pasta roll was not over, nor under, done.  I only ate one after having some salad and half of the foccia bread.  (Yes, I mean half of the entore order of bread.) I will be eating a seriously good lunch tomorrow. 

I didn't try Christian's kid's meal ($4).  If there's any left, I'll snag a bite of the meatball and follow up. Joe's also serves pizza so that's next on my list.  A Large 16" starts at $9.95 with only cheese.  Dine in Monday thru Friday from 11-3 and enjoy one of the 8 lunch specials for $6.95.  I got my order to go and the take away menu doesn't give the drink list or price.  Also, I didn't notice any alcohol. 

The interior was dim it seemed, even at 4:00.  But it is tastefully decorated.  Tablecloths, glass plates for your bread...no paper stuff anywhere in sight, which was nice.

I'm not sure how long Joe's has been open, but with Saline County only offering Liugi's for Italian food (that I can think of right now), I welcome Joe's and hope they stay in business for a very very long time.  I'm always for eating at locally and family owned places and we'll be back to Joe's.  I want to try the eggplant parmigiana, linuini with clams (w/ red or white sauce, so I'll have to try both), and the fettuccini, and the rest of the menu...

I give Joe's Italian Bistro 4 out of 5 forks.

5311 Highway 5

Bryant, Arkansas

(501) 847-1254