Alright, let us get started with our very first review here on Hot Springs 365!
I chose to start with Belle Arti because it was the first place I ate at when I was house hunting in Hot Springs earlier this year. We were trying to stay on a budget during our weekend vacation but wanted to try something we couldn’t get back in Oklahoma. As we walked the downtown strip, I was essentially hypnotized by the smell of calamari leaking through the crevices of the window front.
We mulled it over, perused the menu outside and realized, “Hey, this isn’t actually all that expensive… we should eat out for lunch instead of dinner more often.*”
So we walked in and I was instantly flashed back to the Italian mafia days. The entry was so dark and the hostesses looked a bit like the people who might take you to your seat on the Hollywood Tower of Terror. Refusing to be petrified by the grumpy server who sat us, we looked around to realize we had just walked into a beautiful Italian wonderland.
Imagine if you were invited to Beauty & the Beasts’ wedding, that’s kind of what it looks like inside… but if Beast was named Scarface. There’s this really funky old piano in the middle, a bar in the back of the restaurant and a nifty little hideout or two tucked into the property.
So the food, right? Okay. Bomb dot com. I had a caprese salad, but you can go very wrong on a caprese salad. Every ingredient tasted fresh, the tomato was the perfect ripeness and the cheese, augh no words. Their basil was fresh, probably some of the freshest I’ve had in an Italian restaurant. My other half indulged on the chicken alfredo and could not get enough. Seriously, to this day he raves about it.
Our family has vacationed in Hot Springs and has enjoyed plenty of meals at Belle Arti, great every time. Belle Arti is somewhat pricey at night but they run great specials during the slower times of the year. They have a reasonably priced lunch menu, we both ate for under $25 and were satisfied with our portion sizes.
I have heard mixed reviews about Belle Arti but have never been dissatisfied. Their service staff isn’t the best, but it’s a cool place to check out, a hidden gem often overlooked by the chain restaurants in the area. Give it a go and tell them Hot Springs 365 sent you!
*we have yet to make this switch
365 Days of Hot Springs 