Joe's Italian Grill — Restaurant in Springdale

We found Joe's Italian Grill by accident. We are from out of town, staying at the Doubletree, and just happened to drive by earlier in the day. At first glance the place does not appear to be anything that special on the outside, and definitely does not look the part of a great Italian restaurant. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the looks, so that is not meant as an insult, but addressing the outside for those who may question, as we did when we drove by. We debated on whether it was worth the drive back later for dinner, and I have to tell you, we were sure glad we did.

As soon as you walk in the door you are greeted by an amazing smell of fresh bread and garlic. The atmosphere was cozy, and we were greeted and seated by a very nice hostess. As soon as you are seated you get the comfortable feeling of what you would want from a family italian restaurant. We ended up having one of the better waiters I have had in quite a while, so if you are blessed enough to get Tony, you will be pleased.

We started off with the amazing parm topped bread, served with oil and vinegar. We decided to try an appetizer, and was delighted with the seemingly home made mozzarella sticks. These mozzarella sticks did not have the frozen and reheated feel you get from even the best Italian restaurants. These had more of a floury breading, that I will admit I questioned at first, but they were great! Wife and I ordered the salad with our meal, and we were again not disappointed...but by this time we were starting to get a little full, and the best was yet to come.

My wife ordered the four cheese ravioli with the spicy sauce, and I ordered the chicken-parm cremera. To describe them beyond "wow" is difficult to do. Both were very good, and would easily be fan favorites. We both loved how much of the amazing sauce they each had, and I was pleased that chicken parm was served with thin spaghetti.

If you have the opportunity to eat at Joe's Italian Grill, you need to make it happen. You will not be disappointed. It is likely that my wife and I drive back from Tulsa with this place...

Fri, 9/25: 4.5 stars on 500+ reviews is not easy to earn! My wife and I were excited to try this place out, with the great reviews, the décor, the aromas and the passion demonstrated by the Host the night looked good. However, the experience can best be described as "unfilled potential".

Having traveled extensively in Northern Italy, the dinner at Joe's was tasty, but not authentic. 4 of 5 appetizers on the menu are fried, which one doesn't see in Italy. But hey, American Italian is good too.

I had the one non-fried appetizer, Spicy Italian Sausage. The flavor was great, good spices, served hot, but it came drowning in sauce. A slightly different presentation, say served dry with herbs & spices with a side of dipping sauce, would have been a home run. My wife had the Fried Calamari which was fairly good.

For dinner I order the Sampler, which included manicotti, lasagna & meat ravioli. It came in a 1" deep serving dish covered with red sauce and LOTs of cheese, served piping hot (the heat on the cheese creates the grease many other comments mention when ordering take-out, but its great if eaten hot). However I can't tell you where in the dish was the lasagna, or the manicotti, and I'm not sure I ever found the ravioli. Maybe I thought it was part of the lasagna? Again, the flavors were great, the herbs & spices, the temperature, but I would have preferred this on a plate where I could identify and enjoy each of the 3 items.

My wife ordered a chicken & spaghetti dish, well flavored, but the meal was soggy, sitting in water. Served dry and al dente this would have been great.

We had good, engaging conversation with the host and bus boy, but our server was difficult to connect with and mostly absent. The owner's passion for an excellent experience, as demonstrated in replies to comments, isn't trickling down to the customers.

All these items are easily fixed. To earn a 4.5 stars on 500+ reviews Joe's must do well many nights with many diners. But for us the pieces just didn't come together to deliver the WOW we...

Well let me just start by saying normally i love this place. . unfortunately i had a bad experience. .i know that our waiter was new. . as the more experienced seemed to ditch us off to her . .overhearing the veteran tell the young girl " you got this one. . as she came to the table nearly having a heart attack with anxiety. . we were given our menus brought our drinks and were given time to order. . so far a little shaky but manageable. . so understand when you go out to eat and the fault is on the restaurant. . that not only does it upset the customer but it ruins the entire experience. Now people that intended to go out and not mind to pay for having a nice evening together. . end up spending money on something they did not recieve or eat. . ultimatly potentially causing an argument between the couple and so forth. . Get my drift. The young lady apparently recieves my girlfriend's order flawless. . spaghetti and meatballs 1 for 1 who could get that wrong its Joe's itiallian im pretty sure you guys are supposed to specialize in italian . . hand wrapped. . gifted. . on a platter botta beem botta boom done. . and on to the mans order. . now mind you we have been here several times. . except i cautiously and normally go with the spaghetti and meatballs. . but oohh noo not today. . today i was gonna live a little. . i chose the " Pizza Roll"im pretty sure they should remember me ( as i was charged full price for neither a item i completely ate or received) Lets just pretend they saw this coming well Here it is. . anyway. . instead of a pepperoni pizza roll i was brought a cream cheese filled shredded cheese and air filled coulhzone i dont even know if i spelled that right. . whatever you get the point. . sorry Joe's love the bread and vinegar stuff but this situation in my opinion was not cool. . all and all out of ten being the best i give this experience a solid 3 and im being...