Roma Italian Bistro - Shreveport, Louisiana — Restaurant in Shreveport

This was our first time back to this particular Roma's since Covid. A little disappointed.

We were immediately recognized by a waitress that was trying to get out pick up orders. We were told we could sit anywhere we liked. We sat ourselves. The waitress brought us menus and the small bread loaves they bring out when you're first seated. They were hard. They tasted old. They had a slight, but noticeable rank taste. If you know how old cooking oil tastes, that was the taste it had. (At the neighboring table, one of the gentlemen poked their bread. I heard him say theirs was "hard as a brick." He asked the waitress to bring them some soft bread. She told him, "I will try". When we left, she had never brought them new fresh bread.) My party and I ordered a Giant Chicken Alfredo Pizza with added Canadian Bacon to split. While it was delicious, it didn't have much chicken for a CHICKEN Alfredo pizza, nor did it have much Canadian Bacon for paying extra for it. There were a couple of slices that didn't have but a couple of small pieces of chicken on it.

Now for the rest of the restaurant itself:

I hated to see what used to be a very nice restaurant looking a bit disheveled. The walls are painted a charcoal color. There were VERY noticeable places on the walls where the paint and sheet rock has been chipped. (white is pretty noticeable on charcoal!) There was one place a small container of spackle from The Dollar Tree would be plenty to patch. The paint needs to be touched up. Numerous bulbs in their multiple bulb lighting fixtures need to be replaced. The clear panel at the top of the wall that divides the main dining room from what I believe to be a meeting or party room was noticeably dusty dirty. The ladies room had a foul odor. Some boiling water and vinegar poured down the floor drain periodically would probably help immensely. It could also use an air freshener. The handicapped stall could use some attention. The toilet paper holder was broken. The bottom of the door, the formica on the bottom has come unglued and is hanging. Other than that, it...

We visited on a Sunday evening for the first time. Our server, Nura, was superb! He was knowledgeable about the menu, inquired as to whether we needed suggestions, and was attentive without being overly so. He was quite observant and made certain drinks were refilled, that the food tasted great, etc. He was polite and communicative. The food was delicious. Their fresh Italian bread is excellent. Served warm with butter. Yum! I got the chicken francese and my husband had the veal marsala. The chicken was cooked so well. Lightly breaded and so tender. The creamy lemon sauce was bright and flavorful. And the pasta - although not housemade - was cooked to perfection. My husband really enjoyed the veal marsala. The veal was tender and had excellent flavor. The marsala sauce was rich and savory. We were both very pleased with these entrees. We will definitely come here again. Update - 8/11/24 - service was a little slow but I think they may have been short on staff this particular evening. Both ordered the cannelloni. Bread was different than we remembered but it was still hot and piping fresh. They now serve it with butter AND olive oil/Italian spice dipping oil. Sad to discover that the entree doesn't even come with a side salad so it was just bread and pasta. The food tasted great and was served hot. But about 30 minutes after eating we both became very bloated and I got a headache so I'm not certain if there's something different in the bread or pasta because I had the same reaction previously when I had food with "MSG" (monosodium glutamate) in it at other...

Definitely a subpar restaurant. Staff were friendly but not very attentive at refilling drinks after our entrees were served. Normally fountain drinks aren't something that even need to be critiqued but unfortunately one of my friends ordered a Sprite which was extremely flat and another ordered a water and what he got was a disgusting mixture of flat sprite and water combined to create a slightly sweet carbonated water. For the appetizers we had the fried calamari and the mozzarella sticks. We were given small plates for the apps, one of which had a dead baby roach lying in the middle of it. The Fried calamari was the worst i've ever had. Tasted like flavorless fried rubber and the sauce barely helped it. After one bite into the bland mozzarella sticks the entire block of cheese comes out and you're left with a socket of fried bread crumbs in your hand and a block of gloppy processed cheese hanging outta your mouth. Definitely not freshly made. Both apps were clearly frozen and re-heated, likely in the microwave. The entrees (we had a pizza and calzone) were much better than the apps but definitely nothing great or worth returning for. Calzone was a little too greasy and watery on the inside for me but at least the taste was better. Prices here are very reasonable but reflect the quality overall. Overall maybe a decent place for families with young children to eat but for adults or anyone looking for a genuinely "good" meal I can't recommend it. I give it a generous 2 stars only bc the entrees...