d'anna's cafe italiano

my wife and i love this place! we had out first date here in bellingham years ago, and to this day it is still one of our favorite places to go. the only reason i don't give it a 5.0 is the last few times our service has been borderline awful. most of the people there you recognize everytime you go in but the last 2 times we have had an unfamiliar face which is expected . but we just left minutes ago and it is the first time i have ever left a restraunt without tipping my waiter atleast something! the funny thing is i don't feel bad about it, every other single person that helped us was so wonderful and the one waiter we had said less then 5 words " okay, okay, anything else, sure" .. we were there for over an hour. he ignored us for atleast 20 minutes as we patiently waited to ask for the check and boxes to go - best leftovers ever - and my wife asked another waiter who boxed our food and brought us our check within literally 2 minutes. other then tonight i would say hands down i recommend thisplaceto anyone wanting to try a newplaceto eat, or go back to enjoy your favorites

we've been to d'anna's several times, but not for a while, so it was time to visit again. they have quite an extensive menu, perhaps too large to pull off perfectly. most everything we have tried has been good to excellent.  some of our favorite dishes in past visits include the minestrone soup, the aglio e olio, which has garlic, walnuts, white wine and olive oil served with anchovies and house made spaghetti, the bruscellone (flank steak with garlic, parsley, bread crumbs, hard-boiled eggs, walnuts and cheese), and the spicy scampi appetizer, which had a very complex tomato based sauce but wasn't quite spicy enough for me. that was easily remedied with the red pepper flakes provided on table.  we also like the puttanesco, with black olives, anchovies, capers and marinara sauce served over spaghetti.  all their entrées come with a complementary house salad, which includes a little italian style bread.  the bread is good but the salad dressing is way too acidic for my taste.
we once did have a disaster:  grossly overcooked pasta. it was cheerfully replaced immediately. it's hard to forgive an italian restaurant for overcooking pasta, but i've been here enough that i can overlook this one misstep.
our most recent visit was a little less successful.  my calamari appetizer was a bit limp, and the dipping sauce was really bland.  i would not order this dish here again.  my gnocchi with shitake mushrooms, peas, tomato, pancetta, spinach and cheese was good, but i’ve had many better gnocchi dishes.  my wife’s spaghetti with meat sauce was simple but fine.
one other complaint:  please serve the wine at the proper temperature!  it was 77 f the last time we ate there, and we ordered a $27 bottle of pinot noir, which arrived at room temperature. many people think that red wine should be served at room temperature.  any wine expert will tell you that 60-65 f is the proper temperature, not 77 f.  it makes a difference.
this is a very informalplaceand not the really the spot for an intimate dinner.  i rank it as the second best italian restaurant in bellingham, bested only by giuseppe's.  however, it serves very good informal italian fare and is well worth a try.

arguably one of the best italian restaurants in bellingham. the ambiance is stimulating, the staff friendly, knowledgable and efficient but its the food that really shines! be ready for rich, complex flavors that will knock your socks off. thisplaceis just plain delicious.

love this place! it's best of you get there earlier in the evening or at lunch, but even is you have to wait forever the food is totally worth it! i'm a cheapskate and think thisplaceis pricey but i always come back when i can. their pastas are wonderful and so are all the sauces. they make lots of seasonal dishes and the atmosphere is nice. definitely wouldn't bring my kid here. this is more of a date place/ classy get together that kids don't seem to mix well with.

a very goodplaceto eat.

we've been to d'anna's several times, but not for a while, so it was time to visit again. they have quite an extensive menu, a lot of which looked very appealing to me, so i took a while to decide. my wonderful wife independently decided on her entrée, and it turned out to be the same one that i had picked out! pretty amazing considering the size of the menu. so, i picked something else. with one exception, everything we ordered was excellent. she started with a small serving of minestrone soup. warning- what they call small is not. it was a full size soup serving, and it was very good. i had the spicy scampi appetizer, which had a very complex tomato based sauce but wasn't quite spicy enough for me. that was easily remedied with the red pepper flakes provided on table. her entrée was the aglio e olio, which has garlic, walnuts, white wine and olive oil served with house made spaghetti. she added the optional anchovies, and liked the dish a lot. i had bruscellone (flank steak with garlic, parsley, bread crumbs, hard-boiled eggs, walnuts and cheese). it must have been braised for hours, because it was very tender and tasty. unfortunately, my side dish of pasta, which had a very nice fresh-tasting tomato sauce, was way overcooked. i didn't eat it, but i did tell the waitress at the end of the meal. she immediately offered to have a side of pasta cooked up for us to take home. we accepted, and between my wife's leftovers and the extra side of pasta (cooked perfectly, by the way) we now have most of tomorrow's dinner. it's hard to forgive an italian restaurant for overcooking pasta, but i've been here enough that i can overlook this one misstep. i do slightly prefer giuseppe's for my italian food fix, but d'anna's is a very goodplaceto eat.

-----04 jan, 2010-----
tasty italian food.

d'anna's is a nice place. good food, reasonably priced. we've had the bruscellone, the puttanesca, the butternut squash ravioli, and several other dishes. they were all very good. the menu is very extensive, so extensive that we could never eat our way through the whole thing, but i wouldn't mind trying!

sooo good!. if you want comfort food this is theplaceto come! they make all the pastas from scratch and it is seriously yummy. ask for half red sauce and half alfredo sauce next time you go in and have the best of both worlds.

best italian in bellingham. my wife and i have been eating here since 2000. the food is consistently delicious. the staff remember us, even if it's been a few months. unpretentious environment. a greatplaceto take friends for lunch or dinner!

our favorite. this is my wife's and my favoriteplaceto come for a romantic date, especially when we want a sure thing. d'anna's never disappoints. the calamari is divine and the chicken entree's are delicious and filling. and the waitstaff is easy-going and knowledgeable, attentive but unobtrusive. easily our best culinary discovery since we moved to bellingham.

fresh and flavorful authentic italian cuisine, my family enjoyed our 1st of many great meals at this great ristorante earlier tonight. the caprese salad is wonderful, each of our entrees was cooked perfectly and tasted wonderful from the first to the last bite. i have to add a special thanks to amy and the other wait staff, you ladies are friendly and attentive, thanks for taking such good care of us! next time you're craving a good italian meal, skip the olive garden and try thisplace- i guarantee you'll be glad you did :)

d'anna's. this is a wonderfulplaceto go for a slightly less expensive well-made italian food. the flavors are worth the time you could wait for a table. family friendly, a great alternative to giuseppe's for downtown italian dining.

d'anna's cafe italiano consistently serves the best italian food in bellingham. a long time favorite with locals, d'anna's features homemade pastas, sauces and desserts along with a complete bar.

the rustic look--brick walls, posters of the italian countryside and an open kitchen design give it a more informal, friendlier feel. the servers are always attentive and friendly and the food is delicious--consistently so.

we ordered a starter of tapanade served with creme fraiche, fresh greens and grilled crostini. our dinner main came with a fresh green salad of micro greens dressed lightly with an italian vinaigrette and a large slice of their broiled sicilian bread topped with herbs and cheeses. we each ordered a different pasta for our main. i ordered my favorite spaghetti and meatballs. yeah, it is sort of like ordering vanilla ice creme when there are so many other flavors to explore, but i have always judged an italian restaurant's quality based on its ability to make this classic dish shine and d'anna's shines deliciously. my wife ordered the little pillows of potato gnocchi. she asked for an received a combination of the traditional gnocchi along with d'anna's special spinach gnocchi all tossed with olive oil and fresh tomatoes.

she also ordered a nice glass of white wine from the extensive and affordable wine list and i had my usual iced tea with lemon which was kept full throughout the meal along with our water glasses (another marker, in my opinion, of an excellent restaurant).

for dessert we ordered a delicious peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake with a fabulous crunchy crust embedded with crushed peanuts.

d'anna's is a wonderfulplacefor a family celebration or a special occasion. you will be treated like family and the food will delight you. the extensive menu offerings have something for everyone so bring your family to d'anna's and experience italian food the way you remember it!