Spiedini Italian Grill - Restaurant Review

Spiedini Italian Grill

3878 North Crossover Road
Fayetteville, AR
(479)287-4198

Need directions? CLICK HERE

Type of dining experience: Casual / Italian

I have had the pleasure of eating at this establishment numerous times, and have found the food to be very good overall. And I have had the opportunity to speak to Robert, the owner, also on several occasions.

The one thing I can tell you for sure, is that a restaurant will not succeed unless the owners and staff have a passion for food. That is one of the first key factors in any good eating establishment. And Robert has that passion in spades!

You can tell that he puts the highest priority on his customers getting good quality food, for a reasonable price and backing that up with good service as well.

Facility

Spiedini Italian Grill is located in the Signature Bank strip mall, at the end of Joyce Blvd, if you traveling east on Joyce and come to the Crossover Rd intersection, they are on your left. It is hard to see from that intersection, but just drive into into the strip mall and you will see them. They are on the north side.

The facility has always been clean and tidy when I have gone there, as have the bathrooms. You can tell the staff takes pride in their establishment.

Next, I want to talk about the most important part of this review, the food!

Italian food has such a rich history, pun intended. Its roots can be traced back as far as the 4th century BC. The soul of Italian cuisine is in its "heartiness" and the rich bold flavors that make the dishes what they are. Chefs that cook Italian cuisine do rely very heavily on the freshness and quality of ingredients.

Having eaten there numerous times now, I can honestly say that these folks make really good food! So if you have not had the chance to get by there, make sure you do.

Roasted Portobello and Tomato soup

I wanted to start off with one of their soups, and the house soup for the day during this visit was a roasted portobello and tomato.

This soup was executed perfectly. The roasted portobello's were great, and the soup base was very rich and flavorful.

This is one of those great soups that just warm the heart and soul of any foodie!

Minestrone Soup

Due to the variations of Minestrone soup, and the fact that there really is not a "set" recipe, it will vary from restaurant to restaurant.

So, you really can not compare it with a Minestrone soup you had the other day at another restaurant. You have to grade it on its own merits.

And I score this one high. It was well put together, and the seasoning was spot on. The broth was perfect, and that is not a word that comes out of my mouth often, but is being used on this offering from them.

Lasagna Rotola

One of the most important aspects of a good lasagna is the meat sauce, as well as the cheeses and pasta. You can choose either the Marinara sauce or their Bolognese sauce.

They make both of their sauce's from scratch, and you can tell the taste difference. While the pasta is a bought in one, it is of a high quality, and this dish was prepared very well.

This lasagna is stuffed with ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella and is rolled up instead of "layered". This is one I will have again!

Tortellini Rosa

This is a cheese tortellini with prosciutto, mushrooms and artichokes in their creamy Rosa sauce.

The sauce was spot on, with an excellent flavor profile. The prosciutto adds a wonderful flavor to this dish.

Overall I liked this dish and will have it again when I go there.

Shrimp Scampi

This one is very vibrant, and the lemon garlic sauce was spot on. And look at the size of the shrimp!

For those of you who like shrimp scampi, I would suggest you give this a try.

Pepperoni Peperoni Pizza

This is a spicy red pizza made with pepperoni (the meat), red peperoni (Italian for bell peppers), red onion, tomatoes and crushed red pepper.

For those of you who like a made from scratch pizza, that has some zing to it, well this is your choice!

Everything was spot on in this pizza, the crust was perfect and the seasoning was spot on. It had just the right amount of kick.

Definitely one that I will have again soon!

Cannoli

For dessert I had to try one of their cannoli's. And this was a very good one, I enjoyed every last bite!

In summary I have to say that I really do like going to Spiedini's Italian Grill. I have enjoyed really eating there, and the one time I had an "off" dish what really impressed me is that without hesitation they wanted to know what was wrong and what they could do to take care of it for me.

Consistency is a huge factor in the success of a restaurant, in conjunction with the quality of food and the level of service.The overall quality of the food offerings there is very good. And I have always had great service, and in addition, whenever I have been there I always seen them give good service to the other patrons.

And as mentioned before another thing that impressed me is how they handled my complaint. I can not tell you how many places I have been to and you tell the wait staff about a legitimate complaint, and you never hear anything else from them or any of the other staff. I have had only one dish that did not meet my approval, and when I passed on my concerns and thoughts to the wait staff, those concerns were immediately taken to the back of the house.

And then they came back out and informed me that my complaint did have merit, what the issue was, and then offered to correct the issue for me. Now that is impressive.

What was also very impressive in the handling of the complaint is the fact that they found out about the issue, only because the wait staff came by frequently to ask me how the food was. And this is something I see them do with all of the patrons. They do not "hover" and make you feel uncomfortable, but they are proactive in making sure things are good. There have been places I have gone to and gotten sub par food, and did not say anything to anyone, but instead waited to see if the wait staff would come by and check on me and they did not.

Some patrons will just never say anything, because they are not confrontational people. For me, when I frequent somewhere and something is off, I will make sure to say something to them. But when I first go into an establishment, if something is off I want to wait and see if the wait staff is going to come to me and be proactive and ask me how things are. So when you see an establishment that makes sure their wait staff is proactive, that is a really nice thing!

This is a restaurant that I would strongly suggest folks try out. Robert and his staff do strive to make sure that their patrons have a good experience and get their monies worth. It is definitely worth the try!

You can check out even more photo's of their great food here: http://www.nowthatscookin.com/photos/restaurants/spiedini-italian-grill-fayetteville/

Review by Frank Elder