bella's italian cafe

a favorite lunch spot!. bella's lunch menu is reasonably priced, the service is impeccable, and the food always fresh and delicious. dinner is pricey, but worth it for the quality.

the only con is the bartenders (specifically larry) - he ignores his customers, walks away as you are in the middle of ordering, and doesn't seem to care about providing good service to all (even when you are a regular). the other bartender (cannot remember her name) is always attentive, kind, and makes a killer cocktail.


-----21 feb, 2011-----

excellent!. each and every time i dine at bella's the service is excellent and the food is great! highly recommended!

this “south tampa” staple has been turning out consistent food for many years. it was great to see larry, who has been with bella’s for the duration! their bruschetta and chopped salad have been pleasing palates for years. last night was no exception.

quiet, and low key for lunch. certainly a great place to stop by for a tasty meal and a relaxed get together. right when we sat down our waiter hooked us up with 2 tasty pieces of bruschetta with freshly chopped tomato and delicious basil. the bread was lightly toasted and we still warm. we didn’t get it as an appetizer, but if you are going to dinner i would recommend it. my sandwich was quite tasty . the chickens breading was spot on between crispiness and flavor. none of it got stuck to the bread it preserved all of the juiciness of the chicken. the provolone and artichoke-lemon-basil butter gave it a hint of buttery bitterness which was mellowed out by the provolone. the only thing i wasn’t crazy about was the bread, it was a panini, but i think i would have preferred it on italian bread. it was still delicious , that’s just a personal preference. i seem never be to impressed with the bread used on paninis. over all great place for lunch and i have heard even better things about di

oh my what great lasagna!! and the basil tomato sauce with grilled shrimp over linguini was yummy. long wait but worth it.

we gave this place a second try because so many people really like it. we came same conclusion as we did the first time. it's just not that good and for a nice restaurant they cut some corners that seem unnecessary and lower the quality of the food. for example salads are pre-made and refrigerated including the cut tomatoes, dressing comes in plastic cups, meatballs didn't taste fresh and were way too salty. we won't be back.

there’s a lot to like about bella’s – the décor and ambiance are bistro chic, the food was really quite good. ours is a judgmental group headed by my cheftastic husband whose opinions are coming from a place of great food knowledge and experience. how do you take a fabulous italian who cooks fabulous italian food to an italian restaurant and expect not to hear his opinion? so i’m taking him out of the mix entirely because for the remaining seven in our group there was definite thumbs up approval. i love dining in this trendy soho area of florida – if i squint i can almost imagine myself back in new york city (and yes in this dream sequence i’m about 30 years younger and absolutely fabulous). there’s a lively energy to this part of town and we see it mostly as we’re leaving for home around 8 and the young’uns are just arriving decked out for a night of fun. kudos to them. i enjoyed lasagna with bolognese sauce that was cooked perfectly. others in our group tried the standard spaghetti a

love this place!. loved everything i've tried. not too expensive and way better than the chain italian restaurants! fresh pasta is awesome.

great place. fresh pasta, great service and a wonderful relaxing place.

yumm. this is a really great italian restaurant. the lighting and ambiance of the entire place is super cute and can be really romantic. the lasagne is really amazing along with the bruschetta as a complimentary starter. definitely worth the try if your looking for something new.

more, than we expected.. i had the shrimp scampi and while the flavor was outstanding, there was more to it then i’m used to with the tomatoes and croutons and the shrimp alone were good enough. there was nothing really gained with the tomatoes and croutons that could have made the shrimp any better.

i like asparagus soup and tried the zuppa di asparagi and well, in the cheese world of never ended makes and models, found the marscapone cheese really a kick to the overall dish. it’s a go back for more soup for sure.

at this point, i’m starting to top out on room for food, but must forage on.

meianzana parmigiana - as an eggplant lover, short of dragging an eggplant recipe through the mud, you can do no wrong. i found this was just another great eggplant dinner to add to my list. just try it.

by now my italian fare for the evening was topped out and for dessert, good ol’ apple crisp was the desert. couldn’t eat much of it as it was way too good and i didn’t need to go into sugar shock.

all told, this was a special night out that will have to be relived in a time down the road after november 2nd and the economy improves as this is a great place but on the higher end price wise. i can afford it, but with other things on my list of things to do, that i can have and will last more then till the next time to eat .... it will be a while.

great dessert, okay dinner. prices have gone up a bit. i used to love to start my meal with the strawberry salad, but at $8.99 for a half salad, i skip it now. you can buy a half flat from plant city for that! the starter bruschetta is always excellent, as is the bella luna entree (now $16.50) & the vesuvio dessert. this would be a much better dining experience if they played more neutral music (italian, jazz, or lounge contemporary). instead, the long-time manager insists on really bad 70's tunes, and plays them loudly. within a half hour we heard the beegees, elo & the captain & tennille - all groaners. i left with a headache & told my husband no more! too bad, as it used to be a favorite. maybe i should just call ahead & find out the manager's day off?

marry me bella's. this restaurant is amazing! the food is super yummy - the staff is great and the pricing is not too bad either! we've been so impressed that we had my daughters 16th birthday party here ... and all of the people that came have gone back to bella's on their own again after! yummy!

finding a new place to have either a late lunch or early dinner in tampa on a sunday can prove to be challenge, but bella's fit the bill with its south tampa location and opening time of 4:00 pm. it sucks being old, but what can we do? i can hardly be expected to have dinner out at 7:00 pm on sunday and still get to work on time at noon on monday. jeebus. moving on, ud and i enjoyed our dinner at bella's. the interior is warm, cozy and baby boomer friendly, piping in enough of soft hits from the 70s and early 80s to make me feel nostalgic (if not a little weepy). gawd, i miss me some david gates. *sniff* we were started with complimentary bruschetta which didn't really inspire me as someone who has zero appreciation for raw tomatoes, but ud hoovered it right down. the bread basket soon followed...warm and garlicky, but not crusty. foil-wrapped butter pats accompanied the loaf (where is the universal symbol for "no" when you need it?). things quickly got more exciting with the beef tend

ehh.... we went in a few nights ago to celebrate a friend's birthday...
we called ahead to get on the wait list and when we showed up we were told that the call ahead list didn't put us on the wait list, just on a list of people who have called saying they would come in, so we would still have to wait. what's the point of calling ahead then? the hostess was incredibly rude about it, and acted like bratty child. i worked in restaurants for a long time, and i understand how stressful that job can be, but i would never treat a paying customer like that.
the food was ok, it really wasn't anything special for italian food, which makes it seem kind of over priced. our server was amazing, definitely made up for the food only being mediocre. 3 stars for the food. 0 stars for the host. 5 stars for the server.

this place is pretty nice. i recommend