cucina bella

the service was okay initially, then our waitress disappeared for a while before we ordered. she told us to put our menus on top of each other when we were ready to order. which we did. we were the only people in the room at thetimeand we didn't see our waitress (or anyone else) for a while after that.

the food was decent. i got one of their many pizzas and dad got their meatball calzone. my pizza wasn't great, but it was good. was my pizza worth the $16 dad paid for it? not even remotely. the pizza at blaze is better, faster, and just a tad over half the price for lots more toppings. i'm not against paying more for better food and service, but if you're not getting better food or service, i see no reason to bother.

i hadn't checked out the menu before dining there and was surprised that it's a pizza place. since pizza wasn't invented by the italians, it was surprising given the name even though one of the pictures scrolling on their website is of dough. i'd never seen warm bread with dipping sauce on a menu before. that was different.

normally with byob, you are given glasses, they open the wine bottle, etc. and charge for that. the waitress did not touch either of our drinks other than to remove the bottle & can after we drank them and did not offer a frosted (or any other) glass for us to drink. however, there was a $6 charge on the bill.

the fine print of their website tells you that they're byob, though the first picture on their website when i went to it was all wine bottles, which implies that one could order wine. it's not like you're going to bring in a dozen wines to choose from if you're bringing your own. i included the picture of the wine bottles on their website (misleading) and a clip of exactly what it says about their byob policy - no fee is mentioned. we didn't see it on the menu either, but after the shocking bill, the waitress found it on the menu (after a while of looking and she works there) - it's listed in very fine print at the bottom of the menu after some info about how they add a huge tip for parties over a certain size and if you don't sign your tab (which is crazy, since a signature is only needed for those who contest the bill). the fee for byob is $5 per bottle of wine and $3 per beer can or other bottle (it only mentions beer, but clearly they charged for my drink even though it wasn't a beer).

very disappointed. we waited to get our pizza for almost an hour, paid our bill which included a tip they added, and had to take our pizza home. we were upset with thetimedelay and so they deducted their "automatic tip". their explanation for the delay was due to a party. if handling a party and other quests is a challenge, then why try to do both? got home in 5 mins, and the pizza is dry! will not go back.

the pizza here is by far the best in the south hills! they are byob with very reasonable cork fees. the staff is very friendly and helpful. somehow everytimei'm here i get jesse as my waitress and she is just spectacular! i'm a giant fan of the bambino and 4 formaggi, just outstanding pizzas! if you ever get a chance give this place a try, you won't be dissapointed.

the best. what great p, fresh food and favors. the antipasto plate is a great way 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 had great flavor 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 taketimeto 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 how great this 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 thetimethe 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.

what did you say?. i have been to cucina bella three times, twice in the last week, and my food has been wonderful eachtimebut...the noise level in the evening is a little jarring. my first visit was for lunch with a friend and noise was not something i noticed as i enjoyed my delicious, thin-crust pizza. but the place was crowded during my last two visits, with christmas party season in full swing even on a week night, and the patrons seem to raise their voices to talk to each other consequently making an intimate conversation impossible.

i will go back for the food but if the noise issue could somehow be alleviated, it would be just about perfect.

it keeps getting better. if you live near upper st clair and haven't been to cucina bella in a while, i suggest that you stop by to see the updates they have made--all good! first, the valet parking makes a huge difference. next, the interior has been updated with new lighting and flooring, which creates a new more sophisticated ambiance. there is extra dining space available now. we have been twice in the past month without having a long wait for a table. it is still byob which is great, and the food is still out of sight! don't go if you want an extra large pizza parlor pie with extra cheese. these pies are all hand crafted with fresh ingredients. try something that sounds good, and it will taste even better than you thought. my wife and i split one of 2 different salads or i try to get someone to split the antipasto plate, the carmenucci, because the meats, cheeses and artichoke combo is tremendous. this is by far our family's favorite restaurant, and it keeps getting better eachtimewe go.


-----06 mar, 2012-----

great for large gatherings. we recently had a large family gathering at cucina bella. wonderful from start to finish. meatball appetizer was simple, yet when paired with the fresca salad and our wine, it was perfect. everyone loved the antipasto, which we shared. we sampled about 4 pizzas, and our favorite was the aglietta. it is not too upscale for children. they loved the traditional cheese pizza. if you leave without having a bomba for dessert, you are missing out.

almost liked it. i really, really wanted to like this place - and i almost did but not enough to return nor would i recommend to others. the menu full of unique wood oven pizza options sounded so promising and the byob had me extra excited. i even gave them a 2nd chance as i was convinced my firsttimethere must have been an "off" night; but no such luck so i'm moving on.

i started w/ an arugula salad topped w/ fresh peaches, pistachios & goat cheese. this might make me sound like a food snob but for $10 i expected a little more. for example, the peaches could have been grilled (vs. chopped raw) and pistachios toasted. instead it was just loaded w/ too much goat cheese which is a flavor i'm getting tired of anyways. my friends & i decided to split two pizzas; a margarita w/ extra basil & another red sauce option w/ roasted artichokes & mushrooms. this is where i explain why i "almost" liked it. the sauce, cheeses, veggies & herbs all tasted delicious and you can certainly tell they're using fresh, high quality ingredients. my issue is there was absolutely no doughiness to the crust - it was crispy to the point it cut up my mouth & took away flavor from everything else. this was my problem the 1sttimei went but clearly a crunchy crust is their formula. if i could take everything on top & put on a little bit softer crust then we'd have a winging combination. others must like it though based on their ratings - i agree to disagree!

2nd visit and there will be more. thistimewe tried a couple of the apps, splitting a small antipasti/salumi plate and an order of banana peppers. the antipasti was easily enough for two on its own - enough salumi and cheese for two footlong subs. comes with a small loaf of freshly-baked bread on a plate with olive oil. the bread was airy and delicious. if we really wanted to be picky, it would be nice to have an assortment of olives instead of all kalamata, as there were a lot of olives. but it's hard to argue what you're getting for $13. the banana peppers were awesome, but again, there was probably too much for one person, so it's ideal for sharing. the bread slices served with the banana peppers was not as fresh as that served with the antipasti.

wife had the four seasons pizza (again) while i opted for the pizza anna, which was fabulous. as with the first visit, crusts were perfect, toppings fresh. i was mildly concerned the anna, with its "sauce" of balsamic/fig reduction might be a bit cloying, but it wasn't, and the sauce offered a nice counterpoint to the red onions and peppers. the quattro stagioni delivered again, as all the ingredients are impeccable.

as it's byo, we had to make a stop first and there was a nice $15 chianti in the chairman's selection at the plcb that went perfectly with the pizzas. love this place. we'll be back again soon.


-----06 jan, 2013-----

excellent. this place can give il pizzaiola a run for best pizza, although i'd still give the nod to ron's pizza - although it's closer that i would've guessed. cucina bella far surpassed our expectations. the pizza crusts were remarkable - airy on the edges, dense in the thin crust body, flavorful throughout. the calzone shell is equally as tasty. toppings are high quality. prices reflect this, but it's really worth it. a pizza you savor instead of simply devour mindlessly.

bobbi h. & lori c.. this pizzeria is in a neighborhood setting on the border of upper st. clair and bridgeville. it was just as appealing on the outside as it was on the inside. it was decorated very cute and had an old world atmosphere. our first impression was that this was a very quaint little restaurant. this being our firsttimehere all i can say is it was love at first bite, not to mention that the waitress, steph, was extremely helpful and eager to answer all of our questions. she was a very sweet young lady. steph even told us that it would be enough food for the two of us, if we shared a salad and had a pizza. her honesty was greatly appreciated, as i hate to waste food. we even had enough pizza left to take home. we started with a salad called rustica. it was absolutely delicious with a combination of fresh ingredients that complemented each other and our palates. a must try!! we also tried the meatballs...hmmmmm! we finished with a new pizza that the owner, carmen, has been trying to perfect and it was perfect. it was called pizza alla sole. it also had a combination of ingredients that complemented each other that made us feel like we had a healthy meal. it had an uncomplicated menu that gave you a lot of choices. all we can say is that our first impression was a good one and we will be back.

great food great service. after hearing about cucina bella for sometimenow 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 firsttimeand 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 the great press. a must place to eat with great food, just sit near the front. you won't be walking in to a table on sat nite at 6 anymore.

outstanding !!!! we had an early dinner/late lunch. we started with a salad,rustica...mixed greens,prosciutto,artichoke,lemon and balsamic dressing. the salad was large enough to share,which the server suggested (sorry i forgot her name) as well as a pizza. the pizza was the santa lucia,fresh homemade pistachio pesto,sausage,fresh mozzarella and basil. the service was top notch! the owner,carmen was extremely personable and sent over some of his homemade meatballs that i will be having the nexttimei go there. it was such a positive experience...byob...small corking fee.
five stars!!!!!

firsttimeand we will be back! i reccomend the fresca salad arugula parmesan reggiano, and cherry tomatoes. the house balsamic was out of this world! the pizza anna with goat cheese fig glaze roasted red peppers and onion was also amazing. my husband stuck to a simple italian panini which was also tasty. we tried some local homemade tiramisu and found it was in our top 2 favorite. it's a byob with a low fare cork fee. our waitress was very upbeat and smiling. we felt very welcome at this family owned restaurant. we will be back!

tried this restaurant around 6 on a saturday night and sat right down with no wait. i would say get there no later than 7 on a weekend if you don't have reservations because this place filled quickly and it was a bit cramped at our table at times, no big deal, there was just a large group beside us. i was pleasantly surprised by how much more expansive the menu is than what's shown on here, i had a difficulttimedeciding but would've been happy with many of the meatless options available. the salad was large and wonderful with the house balsamic and my pizza with smoked mozzarella was perfect! it was a bit pricey for a pizza, however i did order one of the limitedtimespecialty pizzas. i will gladly go here any time, it's great to have such a wonderful place within a few miles from home!