Our Story

When Jim DeVito saw Northwest Arkansas, he knew right away he wanted to stay. Since then, DeVito’s has become a name in the Harrison area that locals recognize as incredible, award winning cuisine and memories that last a lifetime. DeVito’s offers experiences from upscale dining to fishing for trout.

This is the story of how a fourth-generation Italian cook turned the DeVito’s name into an Ozark Mountain tradition.

A Wisconsin native, Jim DeVito grew up in Illinois before joining the Army during WWII and serving in Germany. After the war, Jim was transferred to Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. It was there that he met his wife, Mary Alice Raney. A native of Harrison, Mary Alice was a student at the Baptist Hospital. The two of them were married in 1947.

In Jim’s final post with the Army, he served as professor of Military Science and Commandant of Cadets at Campion Jesuit Academy in Prairie de Chien, Wisconsin. In 1970, with 29 years in the service, Jim retired from the Army. He was only 47 at the time but says that it was not considered an early retirement – as he puts it, “Its not the age, it’s the miles.” In fact, Jim served in the Army nine years longer than he had to build up his pension.

Upon retiring, Jim and Mary Alice moved back to her hometown of Harrison. The couple had considered other places but chose Harrison for the clean air and beautiful vistas. Jim says, “I came through here during World War II and fell in love with this country and throughout my whole tour of duty traveling all over the world, I never found anything to compare to Northwest Arkansas.”

To keep active in their retirement, the DeVito’s had planned on dealing in antiques. Then, in June of 1970, the very month Jim retired, his father-in-law gave the couple a trout farm to operate. Working together with his brother-in-law, Gene Raney, DeVito built the Bear Creek Springs Trout Farm into a thriving business and still managed to open an antiques shop. Jim adds that since the couple still had three small boys to raise, the added income was a strong motivation to succeed in their ventures.

Retirement also provided more time for DeVito to spend on a real passion of his – cooking. Coming from a long line of Italian cooks, Jim came by cooking naturally. He was the oldest in a family of 11 children and says, “We all had to learn to cook.” Over the years he mulled the idea of operating an Italian restaurant but had never acted on it. Now, with the success of the trout farm it was something he thought more about.

By the time, the DeVito sons, James, Steve, Chris, and Joe had all finished college at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and came home to partner with their parents.

Fortunately, Jim DeVito’s sons inherited the family passion of serving others through delicious meals. After much prodding, Jim finally opened the doors of the DeVito’s Restaurant in 1986. With this fifth generation of Italian cooks at the helm making everything from scratch, DeVito’s was an instant success. The restaurant was such a success that just two years later, their oldest son, James, opened a second location in Eureka Springs.

The original DeVito’s restaurant was destroyed by fire in 2000. This didn’t stop the DeVito’s. They rebuilt and opened back up the following year stronger than ever. The DeVito’s have had the pleasure of serving a substantial number of hungry friends and family {or just people} from all over the world.

Today, the restaurant is still going strong. DeVito’s is owned and operated by the brothers Steve, Chris, and Joe. They actively work within the kitchen and out on the floor to ensure your dining experience is held to the DeVito standard of perfection. Come see for yourself why/how the DeVito’s Restaurant has rightfully earned their seat at being an Ozark Mountain tradition.