Venesian Inn

What a great place! I had the lunch special which was two pieces of fried chicken (I suspect pan fried) with chicken ravioli and spaghetti and meat sauce. This came with a salad and a roll. The salad was strictly an iceberg affair, nothing else. This lettuce was soaked (I believe that is the term) in an oil and vinegar type dressing with a strong garlicky flavor that was excellent. I’m nit a big salad fan but I really enjoyed this. The chicken was great. It would have been easy to have eaten four or five pieces alone. In this case the crispy two pieces were a breast and wing. Nice and crispy, not too greasy, just right. The chicken ravioli was underneath the spaghetti and meat sauce so it was a little hard to get a good look at it. It was quite good. The filling was sort of puréed chicken. I suspect the large sheet (that’s what I really think it was) of ravioli was made from the same last as the spaghetti. It was a perfect al dente’, although maybe slightly on the chewy side for some. The meat sauce was fantastic, I loved. Frankly, next time (and there will be a next time) I’m planning on trying a chicken or veal or whatever parm because I suspect that sauce with that chicken crust and some cheese would be an incredible combo. The roll was a large lite wheat cloverleaf affair. Somewhat sweet and served with a dish of bitter and honey on the table. It serves as a nice dessert. I really enjoyed my meal and could recommend this place to anyone. The only thing I wished I had was some nice crusty garlic bread to have at the sauce with. Maybe I can figure some out for NEXT TIME…

I’ve been in the Springdale AR area for work for 3 months. The locals kept telling me about this place so I finally gave this place a try and I’m so glad I did. The pasta is fresh. The fried chicken is the most succulent, juicy, perfectly seasoned chicken I’ve ever had. Probably in the top 3 on my best fried chicken list. The portions are huge and very fairly priced. If your ever in the NWA area, I highly suggest you stop and enjoy some down home Italian food.

I love this restaurant. If I am anywhere in NW AR I will go here to eat. Today we were in horrible traffic and anxious to eat before a concert. The service was superb and super fast! The fresh pasta I perfect. Mine was so good that I asked for another serving to take back to the hotel to eat later.

AMAZING!
We loved the atmosphere and just could not get enough of the authentic homemade Italian family-​style food!
The bread was simply delicious and followed by the Sampler which was filled with Fettuccine, Lasagna, and killer meatballs!
It’s a must visit!

Love this place. The chicken and pasta is very good. Always friendly and servers go out of their way to make you feel at home.

I am a fan of the Venesian Inn for nostalgic reasons. Growing up in Springdale it’s one of the few restaurants that’s been around all my life and still going strong. I seem to recall that this place had a reputation for having terrific rolls and being a place you bring your own alcohol into. That having been said, it is telling that although it’s always been an option for me and my family, I probably haven’t eaten here more than a dozen times over the course of my entire lifetime.
Why is that? I haven’t thought about it before now, but I guess the answer is that I never really enjoyed the atmosphere. It was always crowded (and I know that’s a good sign) and loud and the crowd seemed to be made up of locals that knew each other and this left me feeling like a bit of an interloper. If not that, at least a bit of an imposter because I never could get caught up in the hoopla that this was supposed to be a great place. It always just seemed average to me, and if given the chance I would always travel down the street to Mary Maestri’s.
I prefer Mama Z’s, but again, I’m a fan of this place because it has such staying power and it’s a tribute to the Italian roots of the Tontitown community.

The lasagna here stands with the best I’ve ever eaten. The house salad is simple, but perfect. The yeast rolls are something that everyone seems to anticipate for their next visit — awesome. The atmosphere is very simple, and is like stepping back to 1947. It hasn’t changed in the four decades that I’ve eaten here. This is a local business of true Italian heritage. You can eat at Olive Garden or Carraba’s in any of the larger towns, but if you’ve eaten Italian in NW Arkansas, and it wasn’t the Venesian Inn, you’ve cheated yourself.

If you want a steak go somewhere else. If you want fried chicken its so so. But, if you want lasagne, spaghetti or ravioli this is the place for you. Decent prices and good service.

Went here last night with a friend and had the chicken and spaghetti combo. I like their spaghetti with meat sauce, the pasta tastes homemade, the sauce is just a little tangy and just a little sweet. All in all its a decent place to eat. The chicken was crisp and fried perfectly, I had to pay a little extra to get only white meat, otherwise they give you a thigh, leg, and breast. I got two breasts and a wing, I don’t eat wings, so I left that untouched, but the breasts were very good.
The real star of that meal was the appetizer, we had the sampler with the fried ravioli, cheese sticks, and onion rings. The ravioli was forgettable, the cheese sticks were ok, but the onion rings, they were what brought my review from a 2 star to a 3 star. They were terrific! I would go there for the onion rings alone.
Don’t expect some outstanding, write home to mom, give up all other chicken and spaghetti places you now frequent, amazing meal when you come here, because you will be let down. Expect a down home, decent meal, not over the top pricey, but not cheap filling meal. It was good, but I’ve had better.

I am stunned that I am the first person to review the Venesian Inn. This place has been around since Moses parted the Red Sea. My guess for the lack of reviews is the average age of the person eating here is mid 60s. Probably not your typical Unilocal user.
I ate here once in the mid 80s when I was a teenager. Got the steak which back then seemed to be of mythical size and flavor. I remember standing in a long line waiting to get a table. Even though I lived in NW Arkansas in the early 90s, I never made it back to the Venesian Inn.
So I made it back to the famous Venesian Inn last fall (2011) when I was in town for a Razorback game. I had to see if it was as great as my faded memory recalled, and to check it off my adult bucket list (yes, I know, I’m pathetic). Well, the restaurant looked the same and it still had a long line out the door. Most of the patrons were senior adults. As far as I know, they do not take reservations so you better get there early or you will be waiting in a long line (first come, first serve).
The bottom line is the Venesian Inn is one of those local legends that will always draw large crowds. If you love steak then you will be very disappointed. I have had better quality cut of steaks from Wal-​Mart. Sad but true. My teenage memory was severely flawed. The Itailian food is okay. If you are expecting Chef Mario Batali quality then you will be very, very disappointed.
Your parents and grandparents will probably love this place but for the rest of us, you can find a better steak and Italian food elsewhere.