13 Best Restaurants in Jonesboro, Arkansas

An Eclectic Mix of Dining Options

The food scene in Jonesboro serves southern comfort food with modern twists. People in the area love the traditional meat and three vegetables plate, but they also like foods from other parts of the world. The city’s food is a tasty mix of the two types of cooking.

With their soda fountain treats and blue plate specials, historic diners take tourists back in time. At Old Mill and Skillet, you can eat standard food in a nostalgic space. In downtown, The Parsonage serves new American food in a church that was once used for worship.

Jonesboro is close to Memphis and Little Rock, which brings outside effects to the town. A more refined dining experience can be had at places run by chefs, such as 311 Park Avenue Grill and Frank & Ellen’s.

Taquerias and Asian restaurants are great places for adventurous eaters to try new things. Japanese hibachi is served at Stix, and Vietnamese pho is served at Tam’s in a cool setting.

In Jonesboro restaurants, the best products are always the star of the show. Meats and fish that are raised to perfection and grown locally are the building blocks for creative plates. Locals keep coming back for more because the food is always good.

How We Chose the 12 Best Restaurants

To compile this list of Jonesboro’s best restaurants, we consulted local food writers and restaurant associations. Social media reviews and local publications provided additional insight into the most popular establishments. We also anonymously visited highly rated restaurants over several weeks

Important ranking criteria included:

Quality of Food: Flavor, creativity, ingredient freshness and skill of preparation.

Service: Professionalism, hospitality and management competence.

Ambiance: Visual decor and atmosphere reflecting restaurant style or cuisine.

Value: Quality of food and experience versus pricing and portions.

Consistency: Maintaining quality and service across multiple visits spanning day, night and weekend.

Local Favorite: Positive reputation and longevity suggesting consistent community support.

Using this methodology focused on the total dining experience, we are delighted to present the 12 best restaurants showcasing Jonesboro’s food scene.

1. The Roasted Pear

Price Range: $9 – $12 per entrée

Cuisine: Sandwiches and Coffee

Find refuge from busy downtown shopping on a cozy sofa or patio seat at Jonesboro original cafe The Roasted Pear. Lofted ceilings, exposed beams and walls of windows fill the space with natural light ideal for whiling away hours people watching. Serving coffee drinks morning to night, the Pearl caters to caffeine cravings along with sweets like hand-dipped ice cream and chocolate croissants.

For heartier appetites, overstuffed sandwiches on housebaked breads make ideal meals accompanied by creamy soups and snacks like baked brie coated in toasted almonds with blackberry compote. Monthly evening dinners hosted by guest chefs allow local talent to shine with seasonal small plates or pop up menus. With its charming architecture and ingredients sourced from neighboring states, the Pearl sweetens days with purposeful design, community spirit and tasty treats.

2. Skillet Restaurant

Price Range: $7 – $15 per entrée

Cuisine: American, Diner

This fine eating spot, which used to be a parsonage from the 1800s, serves seasonal American food in a historic downtown mansion. Creative foods made with great skill are served on white linens and crystal goblets. Even though the place is fancy, it still feels warm and active. Locals come to happy hour after work because small bites are cheaper and there is local wine and beer.

For dinner, they serve grilled steaks, seafood, and pastas with herbs from their own yard. For those who like to try new things, there are house drinks and a long list of whiskeys. For dessert, try the six-layer chocolate cake with port wine accents. The Parsonage is located downtown and is a great place to eat for a special event in a historic building that will stick with you.

3. Frank & Ellen’s Good Eats Bistro

Price Range: $12 – $25 per entrée

Cuisine: American Bistro

Frank & Ellen’s is a fine dining restaurant in a 1920s tile company that has been turned into a restaurant. They serve steaks and seafood cooked in a variety of ways. Waiters who know a lot about food can talk about how meals like crawfish etouffee, shrimp wrapped in prosciutto, and coffee-crusted filet mignon taste and are made. Each meal starts with a free starter of three-cheese bisque with sherry wine added to it.

Large wine and cocktail lists help make the interior, which is made of exposed brick, or the enclosed garden area feel lively. There is a sweet ending with the seven-layer chocolate cake topped with smooth filling and fresh berries. While Frank & Ellen’s is usually only used for special events or a fancy business lunch, it is still many people’s first choice for enjoying important events because it is both classy and friendly.

4. Onto’s Greek & American Cuisine

Price Range: $8 – $18 per entrée

Cuisine: Greek and American

Onto’s brings a taste of the Greek Isles to Jonesboro with fresh spin on gyros, moussaka and spanakopita paired with American pasta and pizza favorites. The family restaurant originated as a pizza shop before expanding into Greek specialties reflecting the ancestral cuisine of owner Jim Ontomen. Alongside pizza slices, the menu tempts tastebuds with pastitsio, a decadent Greek lasagna, and tiropita, triangles of phyllo dough stuffed with feta cheese.

Locals praise the consistency of crispy thin pizzas available with traditional or Greek toppings. Round out a meal with traditional desserts like baklava dripping with honey syrup or rice pudding flavored with cinnamon. Squeeze a table into the cozy, taverna-style space adorned with travel posters and blue and white trim for a taste of Greece without the long-haul flight.

5. Old Mill Steakhouse & Saloon

Price Range: $12 – $32 per entrée

Cuisine: Steakhouse

In operation since the 1960s, Old Mill offers expertly prepared steaks alongside entertainment in an immense Western lodge doubling as the historic Old Mill Tavern performance venue next door. Servers in cowboy hats deliver sizzling mesquite-grilled filet mignon, ribeyes and strips seared to order tableside. Slow roasted prime rib becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender over 12 hours of hickory smoke flavoring.

Seafood, chicken and Arkansas pork round out the menu focused on quality cuts grilled over live fire. Sides like baked potatoes and sautéed mushrooms feel comfortingly familiar while specialty salad dressings and tableside preparations add extra flair. Cozy up in a crimson leather booth or reserve the balcony area overlooking stage shows after dinner service. With flexible menus for big groups and its storied history of serving famous performers, Old Mill Steakhouse brings Vegas spectacle to locally-sourced cuisine.

6. Flay’s contemporary American cuisine

Price Range: $18 – $39 per entrée

Cuisine: Contemporary American

The name celebrates Executive Chef Robert Flay who returned home to Jonesboro after heading up acclaimed restaurants nationwide. Open just three years, Flay’s already earned a reputation for artfully prepared steaks, seafood and game reflecting modern food movements. Menus change bi-weekly but often include elk chops served with local elderberry compote, jerk spiced quail and shrimp po boys plated with housemade bacon.

Year-round, diners praise the bone-in pork chop from hormone-free Ozark Mountain hogs and the grass-fed filet mignon sourced from a farm outside town. Intricate desserts, specialty cocktails and one of Arkansas’ best wine lists attract special occasion diners. For more casual after-work mingling, grab a booth in the sleek blue-hued bar to sample small plates like duck fat fries paired with regional beers and wines by the glass. Flay’s contemporary approach towards local ingredients astounds tastebuds in upscale environs.

7. Bluebird Cafe

Price Range: $9 – $15 per entrée

Cuisine: Southern, Farm-to-table

At this quaint spot just off Main Street, Arkansas native son Brandon Raine sources seasonal meat, eggs and produce from local farmers to create a rotating menu of regional cuisine. Signature items include buttermilk brined fried chicken served with savory waffles and strawberry butter. Locals love the catfish po boy piled high with crispy fillets and housemade pickles. Arkansas blackberry cobbler and homemade ice cream round out the homestyle flavors.

Dressed in sunny yellow and accented with antique farm relics, the cafe invites lingering over farm fresh fare sourced from folks Brandon befriended through his restaurant work starting as a teen. Quality ingredients, personable service and hints of nostalgia make this relative newcomer a fast favorite. Stop in on Friday evenings to catch live folk or blues music on the enclosed patio.

8. 311 Park Avenue Grill

Price Range: $17 – $34 per entrée

Cuisine: Contemporary American

Tucked away on historic Park Avenue downtown, this contemporary American eatery delivers elevated renditions of regional cuisine with an ever-changing lineup of inventive specials. Perennial menu highlights include shrimp gumbo made silky with fresh okra and andouille sausage, potato crusted catfish on corn maque choux and bourbon molasses pork chops. For the full experience, share appetizers like flash fried avocado drizzled with lime crema before diving into the rotating cast iron specials or certified Angus steaks.

Lavish desserts like white chocolate bread pudding or handmade ice creams cap evenings in the moody, elegant space outfitted in dark woods, polished brass and black and white photos of early Jonesboro. Part supper club, part progressive kitchen, 311 Park Avenue Grill showcases both Jonesboro’s roots and creative cooking potential through market-driven menus and polished service.

9. Stix Japanese Hibachi Grill and Sushi Bar

Price Range: $12 – $30 per entrée

Cuisine: Japanese

Arkansas may seem an unlikely locale for sublime sushi but locals swear by the rolls churned out at this hopping Japanese grill. Watch cloaked chefs theatrically prepare fried rice, noodles and vegetables on big circular griddles while your food sizzles. For those who prefer raw fish, an ocean’s variety of sashimi and specialty rolls are ready to eat.

The fiery Dragon Roll stuffed with eel and avocado competes in popularity only with the Caterpillar Roll mixing smoked salmon and cream cheese. Beyond seafood, hibachi steak and chicken deliver smoky sweetness kissed by soy sauce during the cooking demonstrations. Stix nails the teppanyaki showmanship and savory Japanese fare often found lacking this far inland. For colorful menus, flashy cooking and bright decor, its the number one destination for celebrating special events with a taste of the Orient.

10. Cape Flattery Seafood and Grill

Price Range: $12 – $26 per entrée

Cuisine: Seafood

Come hungry for heaping servings of expertly fried seafood served Cape Cod style in red plastic baskets lining newspaper-topped tables. Whole lobster tails, butterflied jumbo shrimp and breaded catfish stand up to the generous portions of fries and hush puppies. Tartar and cocktail sauce flavor matters without overshadowing the impeccably fresh fish.

Those craving surf and turf can upgrade to 8-ounce sirloin steaks or baby back pork ribs slow roasted to fall-off-the-bone tenderness. Cape Flattery’s nautical theme sets a New England mood with faux lighthouses, fish nets and surfaces painted blue and white. On temperate days, enjoy patio seating watching Porta Pup food trucks come and go next door. Affordable and abundantly good, Cape Flattery lands a bullseye on fried favorites served in heaping baskets by the Arkansas’ faux shoreline.

11. Tam’s Downtown Cafe

Price Range: $8 – $15 per entrée

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Tam’s brings the vibrant flavors of Vietnam to downtown Jonesboro in an artsy, modern cafe focusing on pho noodle soup and banh mi sandwiches. Knowledgeable owners Tam and Tuan Nguyen prepare every dish using family recipes reflective of their ancestral Saigon food traditions. Each bowl of pho starts with homemade bone broth bubbling for over 24 hours to achieve intense depth of flavor.

Customize spice levels on signature pho options like eye round steak or meatball before adding fresh herbs, chili sauce and lime. Crispy spring rolls with ginger dipping sauce make great starters before banh mi loaded up with cilantro, pickled carrot and your choice of grilled meat or tofu. For afters, Vietnamese coffee and teas help cut the lingering heat. With authentic cooking techniques and familial care towards ingredients, Tam’s presents proper Vietnamese fare with genuine hospitality.

12. The Parsonage

Price Range: $11 – $30 per entrée

Cuisine: New American

This fine eating spot, which used to be a parsonage from the 1800s, serves seasonal American food in a historic downtown mansion. Creative foods made with great skill are served on white linens and crystal goblets. Even though the place is fancy, it still feels warm and active. Locals come to happy hour after work because small bites are cheaper and there is local wine and beer.

For dinner, they serve grilled steaks, seafood, and pastas with herbs from their own yard. For those who like to try new things, there are house drinks and a long list of whiskeys. For dessert, try the six-layer chocolate cake with port wine accents. The Parsonage is located downtown and is a great place to eat for a special event in a historic building that will stick with you.

Conclusion

From soulful Southern plates to global cuisine, Jonesboro’s best restaurants fuse comforting flavors, quality ingredients and skilled preparation into memorable fare. Foodies find plenty to savor amongst historic diners, contemporary kitchens and ethnic eateries reflecting the city’s openness towards outside influences.

As Jonesboro’s dining scene continues to progress, these 12 restaurants lead the way in outstanding execution and rootsy recipes true to Northeast Arkansas.