Roma Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Jacksonville

When Central Arkansans want great Italian food, we usually don’t look for it in Jacksonville. Don’t get me wrong. Jacksonville is a wonderful city loaded with friendly people. It has a variety of good restaurants and buffets. But Roma Italian Restaurant is a cut above the rest.

Roma was recommended to me by a friend. So, I’m recommending it to you. If you’re ever in the area, check out this restaurant.

It’s located in a converted strip mall store which, at first, made me question if the food could really be any good. It just didn’t look like an Italian restaurant. But as the saying goes, “looks can be deceiving.” Once inside, you get a real Italian feel. The service staff is very attentive and greeted everyone like they were part of “la famiglia!”

I had the Ribeye Steak which is a 16 oz steak advertised as marinated overnight, seasoned and grilled. I can’t vouch for how long it was marinated but it was seasoned and grilled to perfection. I like my steak well-done. Unfortunately, most restaurants think a well-done steak means a burned steak. This was not the case at Roma.

Along with the steak, the dinner includes sautéed vegetables over pasta with marinara or alfredo sauce. All this for $19.95!

My husband had the lasagna and he loved it! He said it was seasoned really well. The restaurant makes its own pasta which adds to the flavor of the dishes. The only complaint he had was the meat sauce was a little on the oily side for him. Are you ready for the price? $8.95.

My friend who recommended this restaurant to me just kept going on and on about the complimentary rolls. She said, “you’ve just gotta try the rolls.” I’m not really a bread person but she raved so much about them, I just had to try a piece of one. Well, that piece ended up with me eating the whole thing! They are large, home-made yeast rolls bathed in real butter, garlic and other Italian seasonings. Delicious!

We will definitely visit this...

After several people have mentioned Roma to us, we finally had a chance to check them out. And wow they did not disappoint! On a weekday night the place was a very popular place. But let me go ahead and warn you…. Go Hungry!!!

since this was our first time visiting it took us a bit to read through the menu, and honestly, I wanted to try a little bit of everything, but decided on the Lobster Ravioli and the Chicken Milano. And those were great choices. Looking around at some of the others in the restaurant, I did notice the pizzas looked amazing, the salads are humongous, and you can’t forget about the bread and seasoned olive oil they bring to the table while you are waiting for your food. Everything was fantastic, and you could tell that it was freshly made, nothing seemed to be “out of a box”. The only thing that I am a little disappointed with was the fact that I was so full and could not eat another bite, that I was not able to try out some of their desserts!

if you are looking for some fantastic tasting Italian food you really need to check out Roma, you will not be disappointed. We plan on going back soon, just so we can try some of the other items that were on their menu. And when you are there, ask for Kaylee, she was our server and she made sure that we had everything...

The service (Madison) is fantastic. She was very observant and timely with being present. The food is equally amazing. I got the Chef’s Special (actual name of the dish) with tortellini. My wife got a stuffed eggplant rollatini dish. It was good and not extremely heavy. I’ll continue to try new things there bc the menu is very extensive & others at my table have raved about how flavorful their dish is. My wife has a gluten intolerance (celiac) and the waitress was very informative about what contained gluten. If she didn’t know, she asked the chef. They customized a dish just for her to accommodate. I once rated this place and the experience 4 stars but I was wrong in doing so. Honestly, the best and most diverse Italian food around central AR with a menu that if for some reason you aren’t happy with your dish, I am confident that they will come up with something that caters better to your palette. I didn’t snap photos this time bc I was to entertained by my company but I assure you, all dishes look phenomenal. Btw, the bread is out of this world & not like Olive Garden, it’s real deal made fresh made rolls. The atmosphere is outdated but it adds the character of it being a relaxed environment and not somewhere you would feel...