01
Sicilian roots
Rinor Neziri and his cousin Tony Avanzare are both from Sicily. The food at La Bocca starts there: simple, generous and made by hand.
Our story
Two cousins, one family kitchen.
La Bocca is a family-run Italian restaurant and pizzeria in Jonesboro, Arkansas, owned by cousins Rinor Neziri and Tony Avanzare.
02
Cooking with family
Rinor grew up helping his mother and grandmother in the kitchen. That is where the recipes came from, and where the habit of making everything yourself started.
“I always had a passion for cooking and so I used to cook with family and just to be able to bring those recipes in America is amazing.”
03
Six years in Northeast Arkansas kitchens
Rinor came to the States and stayed. Before La Bocca, he spent six years at Avanzare Italian Dining, Tony's restaurant in Paragould: two years in the kitchen and four as manager.
04
Why Jonesboro
Diners kept making the drive from Jonesboro to Paragould, and they kept asking for a place closer to home. Rinor lives in Jonesboro. So the cousins opened La Bocca on Kazi Street in early 2025, a sit-down Italian dining room with white tablecloths and a light at every table.
05
What made in-house means
The sauce is made here. The meatballs are made here. So are the meat sauce and the lasagna. It is more work, and it is the reason the food tastes the way it does.
“Everything is made in the house.”
06
La Bocca today
In its first year, Jonesboro Occasions readers voted La Bocca Best Italian Restaurant and Best New Restaurant of 2025. In 2026 Jonesboro did it again: Best Italian and Best New Restaurant in the Northeast Arkies, Best Italian in Best of Northeast Arkansas, and Premiere Italian in the Jonesboro Premiere awards. The room is still built for long dinners and good conversation, with Sinatra on the speakers and the piano for special nights.
