Russo’s Coal Fired Italian Kitchen

Too bad because today January 14 we went to eat and they are closed permanently. Sad they had good food.

Russo’s in Conway has closed. The following note was left on the door:
«1÷9÷16. Attention Russo’s Guests: It is with a heavy heart that today will officially be our last day. We appreciate all of your patronage from our loyal customers for the past three years, but with the economy we have decided to close the Conway location. So it is with great regret that we have to say our final goodbyes, we do wish everyone a great New Year in 2016. Thank you, management.»

We were seated promptly and waited several minutes before our server arrived for drink orders. There were five tables worth guests on our side of the restaurant. The other side had a large party checking out. After drink (water) orders the wait was long enough that we were looking to find our server. Salad & soup was slow to arrive but fresh and good. My pasta order was incorrect and I had to tell the server to bring back a menu so I could show her what I ordered. She apologized for her mistake but the «corrected» pasta was in correct as well. Not wanting to wait any longer I picked out all the ingredients that I did not order. I would come back and hopefully have a better experience.

I was hungry for Italian so decided to give this place a try. There were several cars in the parking lot, so that was encouraging. First negative, front entrance is not obvious. It is actually the back of the restaurant that you see from the main highway, front entrance faces McAlisters. No one was at the front to greet us but as soon as she became aware of us she seated us. Décor is very modern, no carpet and just a dark brown warehouse type ceiling. Ecoustics are very poor so noise level is very loud. Bathrooms are not marked so you have to ask where they are located. (Back in a far corner) Next negative, my sister and I ordered ice water, hers plain mine with lemon, the waitress mixed them up and gave me ice water. They bring you herb and garlic flatbread to munch on while deciding what to order. Bread was ok but would have been better with some olive oil or marinara sauce for dipping. It took forever for the waitress to return to take our order. We had finished eating almost all of the flatbread waiting for her to come back and take our order. When she finally did take our order I requested more flatbread, this time she brought a basket FULL of bread, easily twice as much as the original basket. The lunches came with soup or salad, she offered salad never mentioned soup. If I had not read the menu closely I would not have known soup was an option. I ordered soup, my sister salad. Again we had to wait a really long time to get our soup and salad, again she mixed up who requested soup and which one asked for salad. Soup was nice and chunky and had lots of veggies. Downer here? Their Parmesan cheese is just plain ol Kraft grated. Our lunches finally arrived, very small portions and my sister did not receive what she had ordered. When my sister let the waitress know the order was incorrect the waitress was a little argumentative to the point where my sister asked for the menu and pointed out what she wanted. I requested chicken Parmesan with spaghetti, chicken was very thin (maybe half of a half of a chicken breast) spaghetti was maybe a cup full with marinara sauce that had a little bit of flavor not exceptional. The second dish they brought my sister still was not what she ordered and had a hair in it. Do to the slow service and mistakes with order I was given a slice of tiramisu free. Would I go back? Probably not, would I order out? Maybe. Oh yes they have bar stools by the pizza station so you can watch them making the pizzas, I THINK you can even order pizza by the slice.

Love their menu. Service is always fast and friendly. Dessert options will make you forget you’re supposed to be on a diet!

Our server Joushua was most wonderful and gracious, his hostess Mia got us a seat within moments of walking into the establishment.
We took our seat after exchanging pleasantries, and Joshua asked us what we would like to drink, he was fairly knowledgable with regards to their alcohol selection which helped me decide to try one of their beers they had on draft.
We ordered a calamari appetizer that was absolutely delicious, followed by my custom calzone that was cooked to perfection and my girlfriends clam chowder which was superb.
Overall it was another wonderful experience at one of our favorite restaurants, also learned tonight that they deliver!

I love this restaurant so much! People there are awesome and the music is great!
Food is really good and there are many different options to suit different tastes :)
I personally always get a bowl of their clam chowder and dip my bread in it, it’s cheap but delicious and I always walk away full!

We stumbled on this place almost by accident… it was close to our hotel, so we tried it. Great find for us… the food, service, and atmosphere were all great. Our server made sure we had everything we needed, and took care of things in a very timely fashion. The food was delicious, and while not cheap, was reasonably priced. All in all, we were pleased to have stumbled over Russo’s…would definitely eat here again!

I received an unacceptable service today. We waited for almost ten minutes and the host brought us their grilled bread. Another ten minutes，a waiter came to us and asked what do we want to drink and he took both our appetizers order and entrée order at the same time. It’s okay theoretically. However he never brought us the drinks nor any food in another 10 mins of waiting. In total, we waited for 20 mins at least for nothing. Even the people came after us had received their food. There were only 4 tables and 3 of them were done eating by the time we were there. The waiter did not apologize whatsoever. Russo’s was one of my favorite restaurant, however the service today was unbearable! I don’t know is it because we are Asians or what? And waiting for at least 20 minus for a cup of water at 2pm is not right! We end up leaving the restaurant after waiting for another 10 minus and left $ 5 on the table for their «really good» service!

Well you know me. I’m not big on the whole chain thing but when you’re on the road, sometimes you just have to settle.
I would like to start things off by complimenting our server, Kendra. I would all but guarantee she is the best that’s ever happened to this place. Drinks, bread, food, personable, and she never missed the mark. If I weren’t just passing through, I’d come back just for the experience of having her as my server. I just wanted to take her with us. I think she actually would have come along. Now on to the food.
I can’t speak for Jerry’s calzone or the bread since I’m a glutard but my Greek salad was awesome. All the standards: tomato, cucumber, onions, black olives, feta. Excellent salad.
I enjoyed the atmosphere here. It was warm and inviting and I seem to remember a fireplace somewhere but I could be wrong about that one.
When you’re on the road and hungry and you spot the huge sign from the highway, you just do it. We did it and it was a good choice. I can’t see ever passing through here again unless I absolutely have to but if I did, I’d eat here again.
Kendra. You have a standing invitation to visit us in Boston. Go ahead, do it. We’ll have a great time. I’d even help you get the hell out of Dodge if that’s what you needed :)

I try to give everyone ample opportunities to make a good impression. Tonight was the third opportunity. Sorry. Food was room temp at best. Service was very good! Kids screaming in corner booth. Air conditioning was on. Everyone at our table wore coats throughout the meal. My daughter even borrowed a heaver coat to make it through the meal. Sorry folks I won’t be back

I’ve had a lot of Italian and this is now in my top 3 best places to go to. Highly recommend trying it out!

Quality with kinks to work out. You can get food just as good elsewhere for less.
My server was pokie but did not listen. I ordered the pasta with prosciutto and it was excellent but I asked for nothing extra (as per his suggestion to add chicken) and I was delivered extra chicken with an extra charge. It was phenomenal but not worth the price. Neither was the extremely expensive (simple) pizza worth $ 17 but it was good.
The quality of the food is good but not close to worth the money.

Great fresh salad. Cannelloni! It is so hard to find it and this was wonderful. The veal was really good as well. Eat half, box it and get the chocolate cake.

I’m not sure about the rage of this place… I’e had much better Italian and would have preferred eating anywhere else.
Bread isn’t that great… avoid the shrimp with lemon pasta dish like the plague. Way too much lemon — it overpowers the dish. Spinach artichoke was alright, but served with their bread makes it really meh. bruschetta tastes more like they garnish diced tomatoes on bread; it should have some basil and olive oil… seasoning to flavor it!
You’ll love it here if you like mediocre.

Pretty darn good food all the way around. The pizzas were good and everyone of the 7 people I was with were happy. Nice place and good atmosphere.

My husband and I moved here from California and one of the first things we noticed is that Conway it littered with so much fast food! Russo’s is a step up-​a BIG step up! We got a coupon in the mail that initially got us in the door. But no doubt we will be back for more.
It was about 6:45 when we walked through the door. Happy Hour ended at 7 so we got a couple drinks for $ 3-​$ 4 and an appetizer for $ 5. The bread they give is like a garlic toasted flatbread. Very delicious! Our food was excellent as well. I got chicken parmesan and it was nice and hot, and equally delicious.
I highly recommend this place. The food is great and our waitress was nice: occasionally checking in without being too overbearing. I would encourage anyone to check this place. If you have a bad experience– hey, at least you gave the place a shot. But try something new instead of just going to the fast food chains.

I eat here a few times per month when I’m in Conway and really enjoy the calzones and the garlic knots. The custom calzones are great and the garlic knots come out hot and buttery. The staff here is always friendly, they go the extra mile and the happy hour offers great prices on their best stuff.
I recommend it and will continue to go back. I have heard the pasta is «so-​so» and the desserts are just «OK», but my order is always on point.

Delicious. Stop thinking about where to eat and just come here. This is food done right. Fresh ingredients. Can’t go wrong.

Excellent all around! Food was prepared and presented well, tastes fantastic and bread was addicting! Dessert will have to be reviewed later, I’m too full! I’ll be back!