CONWAY -- The restaurant space at 915 Front St., now an Italian restaurant called Pia's, used to be an Italian restaurant called Amore. (Another former occupant was the Brazilian Chicken.)
   Pia's offers a fine pasta-centered Italian menu, and most of the pasta is made on the premises. The food is good, the atmosphere is pleasant, and if the folks who run it wished to follow in the footsteps of neighboring Mike's Place and got a liquor license so they could sell a little chianti (Faulkner County is dry, but... ), it would be a true delight.
   The main aspects of the decor -- earth-tone walls sparsely furnished with for-sale artwork and framed reviews; solid wood tables and chairs; and brownstained lattices separating the dining room from the kitchen and waiters' prep area -- put customers right at home, and you know the owner (not Pia -- she's the chef ) is on the premises because she occasionally waits tables (as she did on a recent lunchtime visit).
   It's possible to eat yourself into a coma for fairly little money, too. Sure, you can blow almost $30 on the 20-ounce Pia's Porterhouse, but most of the pasta entrees are under $10. A dinner trip for two in which we each crammed down an appetizer, a large salad, a good-size vessel of soup (entrees come with choice of soup or salad and we couldn't choose), a large entree portion and a nonalcoholic beverage cost about $45.
   Start with Pia's signature appetizer, the Farfalle fritte con spinaci e carciofi ($4.25), which is the fancy Italian way of saying bow-tie pasta, lightly breaded and deep-fried, served with a fairly rich spinach-andartichoke dip. The fried pasta wasn't as crisp as we would have liked, but it was tasty, with or without the dip; on our first visit it was a little cheesier than the second.
   The Ravioli Fritti ($4.95), small cheese ravioli lightly breaded and deep-fried, were just the right consistency, and came with a good-size portion of rich marinara sauce for dipping.
   Many restaurants have a soup of the day; Pia's menu offers Zuppa del momento -- soup of the moment ($2.25 cup, $3.95 bowl). Our minestrone was good but not exceptional; the Asiago cheese bisque was somewhat rough in texture (bisques are usually smoother) with some surprise bits of ham, and would have perhaps been a lot better hot (ours was tepid at best).
   Pia's marinara, the kitchen's main red sauce (meat sauce is also available), is made from real tomatoes -- you can find goodsize chunks -- with just the right amount of garlic and spices.
   It formed a large bed for the lasagna of the day ($10.95), this day made with slightly sweet chunks of Italian sausage between layers of firm noodles and generous amounts of ricotta and mozzarella cheeses and (surprise!) a layer of bell peppers and onions ("We always put vegetables in our lasagna," explains the owner, although the menu doesn't give you any clue).
   On a recommendation from a restaurateur of our acquaintance whose advice we trust and who raved to us about Pia's, we tried the simple spaghetti and meat balls ($7.95), with your choice of marinara (our choice) or meat sauce (you can get sausage instead of meatballs if you want). The spaghetti was firm and close to al dente; the meatballs, handmade in the kitchen of fairly coarsely ground beef, were a little on the herbaceous side but otherwise excellent.
   The big winner was the Ravioli Florentine ($8.25), oblong pasta pockets filled with a blend of three cheeses and spinach, served on a bed of spinach fettucine (sort of pasta overkill), all in an exceedingly rich, very cheesy (cheesier than the bisque, in fact) and exceptionally delicious Alfredo sauce.
   The kitchen-made dressing on the Caesar salad ($4.25) was a little strong and there was just a little too much of it, but the kitchenmade croutons, redolent with garlic, were superb. The Pomodoro, Mozzarella, Balico salad ($7.75), fresh mozzarella, sliced Roma tomatoes and large leaves of fresh basil stacked like sandwiches and drizzled with balsamic vinegar, was wonderful and would have been enough for two.
   A complementary fresh loaf of bread comes with honey butter lightly accented with Italian spices.
   Dessert? Don't be silly.
   Service was very good on both visits. There's no grated cheese on the tables, and a request for some -- we thought we'd accent our minestrone, and it came in handy on our pasta -- surprised our waitress; surely it's not the first time a customer has asked. The parmesan is grated in the kitchen as well.
   PIA'S

RISTORANTE ITALIANO Address:
915 Front St., Conway

Hours:
11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 5-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday

Cuisine:
Italian

Credit cards:
V, MC

Alcoholic beverages:
No

Reservations:
Parties of six or more

Nonsmoking section: Smoke-free Wheelchair accessible:
Yes

Carryout:
Yes

(501) 513-9944

This story was published Friday, June 09, 2006