tavola trattoria

greatrestaurantif you are stopping by in bentonville.  we had the ravioli and gnocchi formagi.  it was delicious.  you could tell they were busy but so helpful with everything we asked.  the waitress was very kind and attentive.  i hope they keep the quiet atmosphere it was very relaxing and pleasant inside.  we will definitely be back!

fantastic. i have eaten italian food all over the world.....even in many different parts of italy. this is the closest you will come. the meal and service were outstanding and we went on mother's day so therestaurantwas packed. we will certainly be back.

very quaint friendlyrestaurantwith amazing service. prices are a little steep! but over all amazing food quality!

we’ve tried this place out several times over the last 3 years and the past year has shown to be the worst for them. worst customer service ever. i would call and explain to the manager, but they’re always “busy” and the employees don’t give a crap about your feelings. i have never been treated so horribly and rudely in my life. also, their chicken on their alfredo comes with bones in it apparently. they don’t advertise that, so here’s your warning. my husband choked on bones, spit them out, called therestaurantand informed them and the employee said “ok, thanks for telling me.”
we will not be going back there again. horrible service and only “decent” food.

this is our favoriterestaurantand has been for years! we've been going here consistently for 3 years now and the service is always amazing and the food is always perfect. i couldn't recommend this place enough! the mirabella's special is our favorite and the desiree cake is to die for! the mood and feel of therestaurantis soft and relaxing. the staff are wonderful. there's nothing i would change!

thisrestaurantserves " market price" menu items that are canned meat.. we ordered crab cakes at mp ($25) that came to the table stone cold and mushy?
the server told me all their items with crab are from canned crab meat! arestaurantthat charges mp for canned meat has serious financial or moral problems or just another greedy owner disrespecting the customers with cheap low quality ingredients.

tavola trattoria is therestaurantthat people go to when they want elegant italian food in bentonville.  certainly there are many other choices for italian dining in the area, both independent and chain restaurants.  however, when people go to tavola, they are looking for that special experience.  that includes the funky glasses that come in all sorts of odd shapes and convince you that you are tipsy even before the wine is poured.  the unique spongy bread is so delicious and so far from the stale crusty so-called bread that was served by italian restaurants of yesteryear. those things are nice, but people keep coming back to try the many unique recipes at tavola, which one could term nouvelle italian cuisine, except it’s not the least bit snotty!

it is due to these series of unfortunate events that i must give tavola trattoria a one star rating. the entire evening was slightly unorganized and it left us baffled and frustrated. it was just messy and i do not recommend thisrestaurantfor group events. period.

here was our experience…

1. reservations for a large room upstairs were made weeks prior to the event as discussed between our hostess and the owner. good.

2. follow up phone call was made days prior to the event to confirm. things were confirmed. good.

3. come the day of the event….no reservations were found on the guest list. thus, many of us stood waiting around for almost an hour outside while the manager and his team figured out what to do. we were later informed they had put us down for the following evening. going downhill already.

4. thankfully (and i appreciate this very much) an hour later, they were able to accommodate us in a private party room upstairs (the wrong room) but at our request, they moved us over to the correct room.

5. we had one server for a large group of 25. she was a workhorse and, considering the situation, she did the best she could

6. we were served family style with 3 main entrees. there was no salad, no bread, no soup – just 3 types of entrees and drinks. now, this may have been the agreement between the hostess and the owner, but from what i recall, bread is usually free. not to mention, the food was cold. i understand we were a 25 top, but you did not have to prepare 25 separate dishes. we were 9 platters in family style.

7. afterwards, we each received our bill of $27 + whatever drinks we got. our hostess was then charged for gratuity of the entire group. our understanding of automatic gratuity charge is that restaurants cannot do auto-tips due to an irs law that passed a few years ago. upon further research, restaurants will have this large group automatic gratuity be taxed thus many restaurants have opted out of the auto-charge. however, if that was the case, our tip should have been printed on the tab by the register and not hand-written like it was.

to any server/restaurant: if you believe you did a good job serving, you should expect to receive what deserve in tips. perhaps they felt we would not tip you well because of our earlier situation or our ethic background…i don’t know. but i will say that our server received more than what they had initially auto-charged us for.

although our evening ended with a little more conversation with the manager than we had expected or would have liked, the party was over and therestaurantgot their business. thank you, manager and server for being as professional as you could. i am sorry the manager and the server had to be the ones to correct the error and “deal” with our unexpected group, but we got the short-end of the stick as we still had to pay up $$$ for an evening that should have been pristine and planned well.

to the owner: the customer should never have to be penalized for an error on your part.

good food but...... drove into town late and checked into 21c. we come up here a lot and always wanted to try tavola trattoria. we checked with therestaurantand they said they served until 10. we arrived at 9:30. we placed our wine and food order fairly quickly as we were hungry. the food came and we were happy with the quality and taste. my meatballs were awesome. about when the food came out around 9:50 most of the tables had left but we had just started eating. all the staff started cleaning up, sweeping, cleaning silver ware, making a ton of noise, training a new bus boy, etc. etc. they paid zero attention to us and our enjoyment of the atmosphere and food. it was extremely annoying. we were right across from the silver ware station and a girl started wiping down a bunch of silver ware and throwing it into the holding trays. no attention paid to us or being somewhat quiet about it. first of all that station should not be in the middle of therestaurantnext to tables. then a girl starts sweeping a mat/rug that was right across from our table. kept at it for about 5 minutes and it simply was not a big mat. we were tired and really just wanted to eat and not make any comments. but the waitress came by and i made a comment that it was hard to enjoy our food when it appeared the staff had no concern for our experience. to her credit she immediately went and got the manager. she came out and apologized. didn't offer to comp any of our food, which would have been a nice gesture even if it was just a glass of wine. she immediately went to the back part of therestaurantwithout talking to anyone. then immediately after she left a young man started at the silver ware area again. unbelievable. their staff needs to be trained and policy needs to be implemented. they were a young staff and all they wanted to do was get off work. if they don't need our business and will not show us respect and appreciation we simply will not go back. i am also posting this on my arkansas food blog, eallittlerock.com it is unfortunate that this happened as we really did enjoy the food. not sure if we will go back though, it was that bad.

the italian representative in this new wave happens to be next door to the latter, the airy and distinctive tavola trattoria. opened in 2011 by the folks that brought the esteemed table mesa modern latinrestaurantto the bentonville square in 2008, tavola's sleek lines and even sleeker dishes are respectable upscale dining.  honestly, here's your date night right here. carl garrett's second venture offers a new take on traditional italian classics, and he's dubbed the efforts "modern italian cuisine." this week, while michael roberts with  eat arkansas  and the arkansas times delves into great italian food in central arkansas, i’ll be looking outside the are

very satisfied customers. we have been in thisrestaurantno fewer than 10 times. never disappointed. very tasty and ample meals. have made a point to try something different each time. laid back atmosphere and quick preparation when seemingly full. cant say enough positive things.

poor service. my food was cold when it out and the young lady managing the lunch hour acted like she didn't care to make my first time experience at therestaurantworth it. never going back.

really great food! i had the spaghetti and meatballs (i am an italian and i kinda live judging italian food joins based on their execution of classic recipes. definitely did not disappoint! they are, however, a more contemporaryrestaurantfeaturing dishes that are similar to those found in mediterranean cafés or greek restaurants as well. my boyfriend ordered crab mac and cheese and loved every bite. even used the bread to eat the last bit of sauce off the plate! we dined for lunch, and i can imagine it is busy for dinner. downside is slower than ideal service, but for the price you really can't complain. i will definitely go back!

never again!!!!. my husband ordered the crab cakes which were recommended by out server. very strong taste and mostly filler. i had the cheese ravioli , very bland to the point of being boring. very lou's in therestaurantso we ate outside with the flies!!!!! surely they can do better than that!!!

tavola-how dining on the square should be. i don't visit downtown bentonville much, really not at all. i can't believe how i've been missing out! bentonville square, on a thursday night: lots of people dining outside, various musicians playing for tips scattered about, some guy with a smoker, with something smelling close to heaven, passing out samples. this is how a square should be, look, smell....makes fayetteville square seem like a ghost town, sadly. on to dinner.....
parked right in front of therestaurant(no paid parking here). had called for preferred seating for 7:30, arrived at 7:45 and immediately shown to our table. very friendly front of the house. the gal had even called me when we didn't show at 7:30.
started with delicious antipasto misto. perfect. crispy eggplant was the best i've ever eaten.
dinner (me): u district pizza (figs, mascarpone, goat cheese, prosciutto, arugula, parmigiano - reggiano, balsamic, truffe oil.) black mission figs, i think. yum. fresh arugula! (i don't know what they dress the arugula with on the antipasto plate, but i could eat just that all day.) best crust- light, perfect thickness, crispy. i've had my share of pies with this beautiful mix of ingredients-except for the arugula. my pizzas shall never go arugula naked again. arugula! arugula! and forget about the price. $13 bucks for that? i'd have paid $33 and been happy to do it.
my companion had the crab mac n' cheese. blue crab: tasted as fresh as any you'd eat on the coast-and he's from the new england coast. parmesan sauce was smooth, creamy, not too overpowering..and let the crab be the star...
we ordered the dessert platter which consisted of homemade tiramisu, desiree's cake (do not leave without trying this one) and homemade ice cream. and a pot of french press.
dinner service was excellent! i've forgotten the young man's name...i just couldn't concentrate with all that deliciousness in front of me. but really a sweet and excellent dining experience. thanks you.
i highly recommend tavola...casual with creative plates and superb service and atmosphere on the square combined for a magnificent evening. thanks tavola!