cucina bella

cucina bella.greatplace.greatpizza. mrs. mcsmoot and i had the capricciosa pizza..fresh mozzarella, crimini mushrooms, sandaniell prosciutto and fresh basil. tremendous. the tiramisu (a ubiquitous dessert normally shunned by the mcsmoot family) was really good. do not tell anyone about this place...it is too good to share

great food! the pizza is always perfect. authentic italian food in a small setting.greatprices for the quality.greatplace for a casual and delicious dinner or lunch.

fresh ingredients.  good salads and pizza.  byob, which isgreatto have a few byob restaurants.  service is predictable and friendly.  if the weather is right,greatto sit outside.  unfortunately, we were forced inside due to the weather.  still a nice place but it is noisy inside.  we split a salad that had goat cheese, and some fresh peaches with a very good wine vinaigrette.  just wish it had a few more slices of peaches, was expecting a few more slices.    our pizza had fresh mozzarella, homemade meatballs that were so good, a tasty sausage, parmigiana, san marzano tomato sauce and some olive oil.  it was mouth watering tasty.

fun italian cafe. we were able to snag an outside table on a beautiful friday evening. one of our fav byob spots to have a good italian meal, a good glass of wine and linger!

our meal, as usual, was great. had a salad and a pizza.

some new items on the menu.
our waiter was very talkative and nice but a little forgetful.

the owner stopped by to talk.

really enjoyed our meal and lingering!


-----22 jun, 2013-----

just like an italian cafe. some table outside with umbrellas. you walk inside and feel like you are in a small italian cafe. the food meets those expectations and satisfies. the menu has some nice pizza, panini and salad choices with many local fresh ingredients. there are 3 new salads and 3 new appetizers on the menu to go along with some new pizza choices. try an antipasto you won't be disappointed. the figs stuffed with some cheese and pecans were sweet and very good. our brutta ma buona pizza made with san marzano tomato, fresh mozzarella, ricotta, sausage, green olives and fresh basil leaves on top...agreatcombination of flavors. outstanding crust, very light.

oh, yeah. it is byob so bring along your favorite wine for a nice evening.


-----29 apr, 2011-----

not your normal pizza/coffee place...very good. bc is not you normal little pizza shop. carmen, the owner, said he wanted a nicer pizza restaurant that people could sit down and enjoy. he did it!

neapolitan style pizza, with nice thin crust that is tasty and a nice texture. the menu describes the ingredients that include many fresh items. had the sausage pizza that had fresh basil, really nice tomato sauce, real tasty sausage and creamy tasting mozzarella.



it is byob, $5 for wine...can also bring in been @ $3 per person.

surprise to see that it open early in the morning because it has a coffee bar. this seems to becoming more popular of the nice pizza places.

the best. whatgreatp, fresh food and favors. the antipasto plate is agreatway to start the night. the artichokes, buff mozzarella, italian meats and olives were so flavorful that you want to take an hour to enjoy this with your byob wine before ordering dinner. we had the ortelana pizza which again hadgreatflavor with the crust perfectly done and the toppings of mushrooms, artichokes and basil very enjoyable. i read some comments about overdone crust but in my 7 or 8 visits never had anyang to complain about. the service isn't always up to par but you want to go there not in a hurry but to take time to enjoy the food and company and not worry about slower than average but friendly service. i give cucina bella a two thumbs up.

great food, but loud!!!. friends of ours told us howgreatthis place is and we decided to stop by on a friday night when it was only the two of us. we ended up coming to an early dinner - which turned out to be a good move on our part as the place is very popular and filled up while we were enjoying our dinner.

this restaurant specializes in pizza. all of the pizzas share the same thin but crispy crust and have many different combinations of toppings that you can choose from. they have about 25 different sets of combinations that you can choose from, but if your tastes are different, they give you the option of coming up with your own combinations. pizza is not the only thing on the menu as there are also salads, panini, calzones, and appetizers available. while this menu cries out for wine to be served with it, the restaurant is byob with a $5 corking fee.

one of the local radio personalities always raves about the place's meatballs, so we ordered them as an appetizer. we got six meatballs with six slices of bread that had a small drizzle of olive oil and some shaved parmesan on them. the center of the plate had a small puddle of tomato sauce to pull everything together. as a dish it worked great! each of the components was well seasoned and tasty, and when you put some of the meatball on the bread which was used to scoop us some sauce - yum!

we also got a salad which was a nice change. arugula combined with apple chunks, craisins, and chunks of smoked mozzarella worked very well together. unfortunately, this was were we were hit with the first snag of the evening. the menu described this particular salad as coming with a mustard-based dressing. once the dish was served and we were eating it, we noticed that we got an oil and vinegar dressing. when we asked our waitress about it, she apologized and ran to the kitchen to get the proper dressing only to return to let us know that they ran out of if, but did not tell her about it.

our pizza arrived and it was delicious. the combination that we ordered worked really well and the drizzled balsamic - fig reduction added just a touch of sweetness which pulled it all together in a wonderful way. the crust was crispy and not greasy which was nice to see, and the proportions were just right for us to share. about the only negative thing that we can say about the crust was that we would have preferred for it to have some herbs in it.

however, there were a few negative spots about our experience. as i mentioned above, the place filled out pretty quickly. once the room was more than half full, it became very hard to hear each other as the acoustics of the room were such that they magnified every sound. by the time the room was completely full, we felt like we were at the end of an airport runway with several airplanes getting ready to take off! we could not exchange any words without screaming at the top of our lungs.

the second problem was that they have almost no parking available. smartly, the restaurant offers valet parking, but with the place being so full, negotiating the traffic in the immediate area of the restaurant was a chore.

we will definitely be going back again, but probably try to make it in the middle of the week to hopefully not have to deal with the noise and traffic issues.

the portions and pricing are spot on.greatservice, delicious food! will be back again soon!

could've been better. first visit last night after hearing rave reviews. the place was jammed tight, and the noise level extremely loud. there are definitely more tables crammed into the space than their web site shows in the photos. the service was excellent with a menu limited to pizza, sandwiches, salads, and appetizers. everything served lookedgreaton other tables.

the stuffed figs were delicious. the cheese filing overwhelmed the taste of the figs, but the honey drizzled over was a nice touch. the caprese salad was not quite as good as home made, but definitely better than most places. the imported mozzarella seemed a bit old. they smashed it down between the halved cherry tomatoes and it was a little too firm to be fresh. our pizzas came separately, and the ingredients tasted all fresh. my only complaint was that they left almost 2 1/2" of bare crust all the way around the 12" pie. i would have preferred the fixings to go all the way up to the edge, or at least within 1" of it. having to eat that much dry crust was a waste, with nothing to dip it into in lieu of more fixins. $16+ for a pie should buy me a little more goodies.

it's byob and we brought our own wine. dinner for two pizzas, one salad, and one appetizer was over $70.

with too much empty crust and the really loud noise level, i'm only giving it 3 stars.

i love everything about this place!. i pray it stays small and is a cute hidden gem in the usc/bridgeville area. i just love it. i love the atmosphere, the patio, and byob. their menu is perfect just the way it is, and i could live on the joe t every day for the rest of my life and want for nothing but a little chocolate. but don't worry, they have dessert, too. and it'sgreatas well. rarely do my husband and i agree when it comes to our birthday dinner and where we want to go. this year both of us celebrated our birthdays here. that's how much we love it. wonderful place!

always amazing!. we absolutely love cucina bella. the owner's passion for superior pizza is unmistakable in the variety of amazing creations on his menu! who knew that a pizza with honey, prosciutto, pecans and gorgonzola could be so amazing?! ! such agreatatmosphere too...we had a large group over the weekend and we sat in the wine room----it is so cool! from salads, to appetizers (hot pepper app!!) to the unique and spectacular pizzas - - i simply cannot say enough about howgreatthe restaurant is. thank you!


-----11 aug, 2012-----

outstanding!. cucina bella is tremendous. i am obsessed with the banana peppers appetizer! their salads are amazing and the smoked mozzarella pizzas are ridiculously good. love byob!greatatmosphere with indoor or super cute outdoor dining. cucina bella is family owned and operated too!

wonderfully intimate dining. the food was exceptionally good. they have the best balsamic dressing in the area.
servers were very nice and extremely friendly and well versed on the menu. thus makng them very helpful.
it's agreatlittle place with extraodinary food. very unique and very tasty!

when i arrived at cucina bella, i felt as if i was in an italian cafe straight from tuscany. the ambiance is intimate, with beautiful italian music playing in the background. depending on where you’re seated, you can peer into the kitchen and see where the pizzas are made in their state of the art wood-fired oven. the service at cucina bella was excellent, and the staff was very attentive- it’s also byob, so if you’re interested in bringing a bottle of your favorite cabernet or pinot, expect a small corkage fee. the food is fairly priced, and depending on what you’re in the mood for that evening, they have agreatselection of menu items. i had the pleasure to dine with carmen pirain and his family this evening. we started out with a delicious della casa salad that featured a homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing. for the main course, we had a wood fired oven margarita pizza with pepperoni, (you’re probably saying it’s just a

great foodgreatservice. after hearing about cucina bella for some time now we decided to stop in for a late dinner last weekend. a short wait of 5 minutes did not discourage us. our waitress was over and opening our wine almost seconds after sitting down. she suggested meatballs and a pizza anna which has goat cheese onion and a fig glaze, we took her suggestion along with a simple pie. it was all fantastic,we can not get over the thin crust similar to shops in italy. don't forget to try the carmel center ball filled with peanut butter icecream two thumbs up we will be back.

service needs some work. we recently took relatives here for a special occasion. it was our first time and we had high hopes based on the reviews. we did sit near the kitchen which was a bit loud, on subsequent visits we asked to sit closer to the front. the food is quite good and a nice change for the south hills. although a bit on the pricey side, well worth it with reasonable bottle fees of $5 for wine bottle and $3 per beer drinker. the one thing that needs work is the experience of the staff. while friendly, they can be absent minded and slow. also timing from the kitchen is an issue. on both trips the main came out within minutes of starters, unacceptable. this place has become quite the spot for the merc and b'mer crowd, let's hope they can improve service in spite of thegreatpress. a must place to eat withgreatfood, just sit near the front. you won't be walking in to a table on sat nite at 6 anymore.

cuccina bellagreatfood.greatgo to place. always take visitors there and they love it. love the joe t's pizza. so happy they are there