Verona Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Benton

Being raised on Italian food from chain establishments, I never cared for authentic Italian food. While I know there is an Italian grandmother somewhere clutching her pearls, this is my truth. However, this idea abruptly stopped after enjoying a spur-of-the-moment lunch at Verona Italian Restaurant in Benton, Arkansas. Not only did I fall in love with the food, but the affordability, the atmosphere, and the impressive staff service blew me away. The variety of meal selections, from appetizers to main courses, cater to various tastes and preferences, making every dining experience at Verona a delightful adventure. The original building in which Verona is housed was Bo’s BBQ. Growing up, this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant had the best BBQ on this side of the Mississippi. However, walking into the restaurant would make you think twice about whether or not you wanted to take a chance on the place. The owners of Verona took the original building, expanded it, and completely renovated it. When you walk into the restaurant now, you enter a bright, cheery space with beautiful dark-stained trim and cream-colored walls brought together with large iron light fixtures hanging throughout the restaurant. There is a lovely bar area where you can walk in and be seated immediately. The restaurant also offers several tables and booths for other patrons. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, perfect for a casual lunch or a special dinner. The menu offers various food choices and price points for each individual, regardless of their preferences. A basket of delicious homemade rolls is brought to the table upon sitting. Then, each patron can choose one of the many appetizers available. This can be as simple as Garlic Cheese bread for $4.99 or Fried Calamari for $11.99, with the latter being their highest-priced appetizer. Verona offers a variety of salads, homemade baked pastas, spaghetti specials, and hot sandwiches. The central part of the menu is separated between chicken, seafood, and specialty pastas. All three of these sections come with a side salad and bread. My recommendation is to go with the house dressing for your salad. I have never had a vinaigrette with so much flavor. All of their pasta is also homemade in their kitchen. The pricing of their main menu items is also as low as $12.99 for their Fettuccini Alfredo, and their highest is $21.99 for their Seafood Combo #2. I have eaten at Verona three times, with one of those times being a lunch. All three times, I had so much food left over from the given portions that I could have lunch the next day. You can’t beat a delicious meal for a great price, especially in this economy. While I have not had experience with the children’s or dessert menu, I have family who state they are just as impressive. My sister makes special trips to Verona just for a piece of their Carrot Cake. Every time I have been to Verona, the staff have been just as impressive as the cuisine. I have always been seated immediately upon arrival, even during busy times. When the restaurant was not busy, I was even given a preference for where I would like to sit. All waitstaff promptly came to the table to introduce themselves and take drink and appetizer orders and returned quickly with our beverages and to take our main orders. We are checked on a multitude of times, and not just from our direct server. They work as a team to refill beverages, grab napkins, etc. My favorite part of the staffing is that each time I have been there, the restaurant owner has come to my table to check on everything, ask about our meals and waitstaff, and strike up a short conversation. This personal touch brings the atmosphere’s ‘ma and pop’ feel full circle, making every visit to Verona a warm, familiar experience. When you want to try a new restaurant, try Verona in Benton, Arkansas. I promise you won't be disappointed. Between the food selections, pricing, and staffing alone, you’ll fall in love with the little family-owned restaurant, and I’m sure it will quickly rank up with your favorites....

Great food, my wife and I have been to nearly every Italian restaurant from Hot Springs to Conway. Do yourself a favor and go. We've been to the $ low end Italian places up to the $$$ Italian restaurants, and this is a good as any we've tried. I got the Lobster ravioli, that's the most lobster I've ever had on that dish from any restaurant I've ever ordered it from (and I try it from every place that offers it). The calamari appetizer is huge! My wife opted for the combo dish which has lasagna, cannelloni and manicotti, all three were good. This part is nothing more than a personal opinion. I love bread appetizers. I can make a meal out of bread. I would have enjoyed some sort of sliced bread with some olive oil dipping sauce to snack on, as opposed to traditional dinner rolls. However, as other diners have noted, they really enjoyed the rolls. Don't get me wrong, the rolls taste just fine. Bruschetta is also something I absolutely love trying at Italian places, but it's not on the menu.....yet ( I'm hoping maybe it will be someday soon). The desert was outanding as well. I'm no food critic or claim to be some food expert, I'm a terrible cook and have no clue how to run a restaurant. I'm just a local guy, trying to give others peace of mind when considering this restaurant. The service is top notch as well. Give it a fair try, you won't be disappointed. Hopefully this helps others and doesn't leave a negative vibe about this establishment. I say these things because I foresee these guys being around for the long haul and I only want to see them get bettter. My wife and I were very pleased with our experience and we will certainly be going back. ...

Servers aren't that friendly. They're not necessarily rude, but they definitely are not attentive. No refills on drinks or bread were offered. We weren't checked on to make sure everything was ok. The side salad was horrible. They were skimpy with any vegetables other than the lettuce and it tasted unwashed. The shredded cheese tastes like a cheap imitation cheese. Chicken Alfredo was rather lackluster in flavor and pretty oily. Kids alfredo, which is just sauce and noodles, lacked enough sauce to cover all the noodles. It was just a dry and sticky mess. The Chicken Piccata was lacking in lemon flavor and mostly just olive oil. It tasted like overcooked noodles covered in olive oil. The capers were mush, and the chicken heavily tasted of something full of TVP (textured vegetable protein) and like it's from a bag you buy at walmart with grill marks already on it. It only had marks on one side which is oddly suspicious of being fresh. To sum it up, it's way overpriced for a meal that has overcooked noodles, too much oil, and not enough sauce. The meat is tv dinner quality. The bread, which is just "yeast" rolls lack any flavor even that of the flavor of yeast. We left unhappy, feeling nauseous from too much oil, and angry at paying $60 for a meal I can make better at home....