Four-star Dining Offered at Ella’s Restaurant

Ella’s Restaurant
rInn at Carneall Hall
r465 N. Arkansas Ave., Fayettevillerr

We recommend carpooling for lunch at Ella’s Restaurant in the historic Inn at Carnall Hall. Parking at the University of Arkansas is difficult during the week, but the hotel parking lot east of Carnall Hall is available for Ella’s lunch crowd.r

The main dining room of Ella’s is small enough to see who’s coming in the door, but large enough for a group to experience some privacy on a crowded day. r

An interesting see-through repetitive glass portrait of Ella Carnall hangs in the middle of the dining room and the newly reconstructed walls are elegant but are covered with food photography reminiscent of a fast-food joint. r

After taking our order the waitress brought us a combination bread and breadsticks plate with a dish of oil and vinegar for dipping. r

It’s hard to mess up this combination at any restaurant. Both diners enjoyed the French bread and the oil-vinegar mix, but we both loved the breadsticks which are the same as served at Ella’s chef’s other restaurant, James at the Mill. r

Our diners decided to split an appetizer of Caprese salad with mozzarella, yellow and red tomato ($7). The presentation was nice with this dish as it came drizzled in balsamic vinegar and spread out on the plate in a semicircle. r

The vegetables were good and fresh, a little surprising this late in the year, and overall the salad was light and refreshing. We were particularly impressed with the yellow tomatoes.r

One of our two diners ordered the Tuscan turkey sandwich on Focaccia ($8). The menu listed other ingredients as balsamic grilled onions, provolone and pesto aioli, which was delicious, but it also came with tomatoes and spinach. The turkey was an above-average quality, warm, tender and juicy. The bread was savory and held up well under the amount of oil on the sandwich. The size of the Focaccia bread makes this a double-fisted feast, so that one has to squeeze it down to bite size. So fair warning, this may not be the appropriate entrée for a delicate business lunch.r

A generous portion of golden “home fries” was served on the side, cooked to not-too-crispy perfection and without any of the grease that we’ve become accustomed to expect with fried potatoes. r

Overall, the tastes between the sandwich and the home fries blended well, but our diner was unable to distinguish which supplied the pleasantly mild spicy taste. r

The other diner at our table had the Pavia pizza ($9), which consisted of tomato sauce, mozzarella, thinly sliced Parma ham and mushrooms on a thin crust with just the right amount of crispness. He said it may have been the best pizza he’s had in Northwest Arkansas and was a perfect size for lunch.r

For dessert, we split a piece of water-baked chocolate cake with strawberries ($5). For chocoholics, this dessert is Nirvana. Strawberry sauce drizzled on the plate was perfect for dipping.r

A quick look around the Inn at Carnall Hall reminded one of our diner’s of when he attended the university and had a professor with an office in the building. r

At that time the floor boards were extremely creaky and wind seemed to blow right through the walls. The building now seems to be as tightly sealed as any new construction and the hardwood floor is as hard and creakless as concrete.