la bella vita ristorante italiano

did not live up to the hype of other reviews. while our evening was pleasant enough, it certainly was not the a+ dining experience we were hoping for. many of the reviews on here would lead one to believe that this is the premiere italianrestaurantin town. it is not.

first, the wait staff seemed to "hand us off" from one to another. we were approached (not properly and politely greeted) by a man who explained specials etc and then he disappeared. it would be one thing if he had introduced himself as the sommelier or maître d', but he did not. i noticed him waiting tables like any other after he abandoned us. also, none of the servers introduced themselves which is extremely important in arestaurantthat touts itself to be way above average.

the service was extremely slow. the meal took over 1 1/2 hrs for wine, appetizer, salad and main course. i understanding pacing in a nicerestaurantis important. this was not pacing, it was neglect.

the food was fine but did not distinguish itself as special. the wine list was limited by the fact that it featured only italian wines which i assume you should expect in an italian restaurant. that would be fine if there was any such thing as good italian wine. in my opinion and in the opinion of my date, there is not. maybe a french or california on the back page for those of us bold enough to stray from convention in order he enjoy a decent bottle of wine in an italian restaurant.

over all, very very average.

came excited for my birthday reservation. however, our waiter matthew made this a very disappointing experience. first of all, my husband put on the reservation it was his wife's birthday and he mentioned it to the waiter and i even casually mentioned it after he fought with me when i was dissatisfied with the old fashioned i was served. he told me i don't know what an old fashioned is and then proceeded to not even offer a replacement instead brought a cup of crap cherries that looked like they had been cut up by a machete. he then continued to only look at my husband and not even acknowledge me or how my meal was. we will never be returning due the matthew as otherwise therestaurantwas adorable, the pasta decent and otherwise nice employees. by the way matthew:

thanks for being rude and fighting me..i was shocked. look up an old fashioned recipe.

authentic italian food at its finest! thisrestaurantis non-chain and focuses on quality food and service. with a wide selection of wines and freshly made pastas—you are sure come back for more. my hubby and i enjoyed a quiet dinner for two and were especially impressed by our waiter nikki. he knew the specials by heart and provided excellent recommendations to suit our palettes. the portions were spot-on with freshly baked bread accompaniment. with anyrestaurantthat serves freshly made pasta, you will have an opportunity to sip wine and enjoy your date's company. this is a great date night location or venue for a small group of friends. it appears they also do catered events. everyone's food including my own was absolutely divine. can't wait to go back for more!

the italian meal that wasn't. you know those days where you simply want to go out for a good meal and enjoy something new? last week, my husband and i had just one of those days. we decided that we'd like to have italian in arestaurantwe'd never tried before. prompted by all the wonderful reviews of la bella vita, we made the decision to visit them for lunch.

now, i've read about their amazing food and service from a great many reviewers and honestly, this all might be true. i'll never know for certain because we were never seated. in fact, we never got in the front door.

perhaps it's just my own particularity, but i think one of the most unprofessional things anyrestaurantcan possibly do is to fail to be open during their own business hours. sure, they may be a very good restaurant, but are they so arrogantly amazing that they have the luxury of opening whenever they feel like it, in spite of their own posted business hours?

needless to say, when we arrived, the doors were locked and the place appeared empty. and this wasn't just a few minutes past their opening time, it was a whole hour. the service and food may have been excellent or atrocious, but all we can say is that we never had the chance to experience it either way. and in my book, that is a hands-down failure for a restaurant.

i doubt we will be going back for another try, as planning a day involving an outing is rather difficult if you can never predict whether or not the establishment you plan to go to will actually be open.

overall a very unimpressive experience. the atmosphere was louder than we anticipated, which made a quiet conversation difficult. the coffee wasn't hot or good, so that was sent back. the appetizers were good; my wife had the mushroom soup which she thought was acceptable and i had the panzanella salad which was quite good.

unfortunately the main courses were both disappointing. i had the worst veal i've ever been served in the scallopine di vitello all olio tartufato. the veal was grisly without flavor and the sides of potato and zucchini were under seasoned and the roasted potatoes were very dry. my wife had the risotto al chianti which actually made her laugh and comment that it looked like a prison meal since it was an unappetizing grey color. to me it looked like old porridge with peas mixed in. but she said it tasted good. the real surprise came when one of the owners checked on our meal and i politely informed him it was just ok. he clearly understood we weren't impressed and asked what could be better. after i mentioned the veal was not good, he explained that all of their veal was bad and he wished they would have realized that before serving mine. in fact, he even stated that it was no longer being served that evening. he didn't offer to take it back or make something else. i didn't finish the dish and expected that our bill would be adjusted accordingly. i was surprised and disappointed that there was no adjustment on the bill for the inedible veal. but i didn't make a fuss and simply realized this was not the type ofrestaurantthat understands customer satisfaction. the waitress took our payment and after processing it said her boss wanted to buy us dessert. this was offensive to me. serve a $21 meal that was inedible and by their own admission should not have been served and then offer to make up for it with dessert? that's clearly wrong and poor business. needless to say we won't be going back to la bella vita.

awesome food!!!!. we went last night to this awesome italianrestaurantof on i25 and garden of the gods and it's called la bella vita. we made a reservation at 7:00 o'clock and we got warmly greeted and promptly seated by one of the co-owners of this italian restaurant. we opened the menu and we right away knew that this was going to be a hit, we started with the focaccia bella vita wich is a italian flatbread baked in the oven with gorgonzola and parmesan cheese topped with crispy pancetta, caramelized onion, walnuts and arugula. " it was to die for".
then we both had the panzanella salad wich had a combination of cherry and grape tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives,cherry buffalo mozzarella chesse, fresh basil and a champagne vinaigrette."fantastic"
our maincourse was followed by a special of the evening wich was a fresh filet of halibut stuffed with a potobella mushroom mousse and pancetta in saffron sauce and my wife had the beef medaglions in a gorgonzola sauce with truffeloil. "amazing".
the highlight came when our beautifull waiter( eric) suggested the affogato al amaretto; vanilla gelato topped with a shot of espresso and amaretto liquor and chocolatesauce."incredible".
my italian co-worker warned be about this place by saying that after eating here you just don't wanna frequent other italian restaurants in the springs anymore bc it makes you feel like back in italy again....and he was right about that.
thank you antonio for the reccomandation and we will definitely be back soon to this awesome restaurant.

the food wasn't horrible but the waiter was hands down the most obnoxious waiter i have ever had. he spent twenty minutes telling us how bad every other italianrestaurantin town was and he wouldn't leave us alone. i was so annoyed i would have left if i wasn't waiting for other people for a business meeting. i will never set foot in this place again.

disappointed ;(. i was honestly disappointed after the anticipation leading up to my visit. after giving this place two chances i am giving up trying to find some good quality italian food. the food at la bella vita tastes unimpressive, nothing amazing and definitely not worth the considerable sum you pay for it. i would much rather go to olive garden or to any other italian chainrestaurantand get better and more economically priced food. the ambiance is dated and the music was a little loud for my taste. in my experience you wont find much about the decorations or music in italy, which was disappointing also. though i reserve my greatest disappointment for the food, which tasted not like it was from italy and authentic, but like it had been prepared from a can or box.

my wife and i went for dinner, the food was exquisite. we started with the bruschetta. the bread, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella were well prepared and the flavors worked very well together. for our main courses, my wife got the chicken, prosciutto, and cheese. i got the salmon stuffed with crab and shrimp. both meals were above par in my book. we both could not stop eating. delicious. we both agreed this is our favorite italianrestaurantwe have eaten at in years. by far the best in the springs. the only flaw was our waiter. he kept calling us "yo". it was kind of annoying, but we got a good laugh out of it. if you crave italian, you have to try la bella vita.

absolutely amazing. we ate at thisrestaurantover the weekend and were wonderfully impressed. the service was very impressive and the food was exquisite. if you are looking for some real italian food, this is where to find it. from linguine pescatora to veal marsala, they have a superb menu selection. the prices are very fair considering the entrees include your choice of soup or salad. we will definitely be dining here frequently now that we know it's here!

absolutely unimpressive. chose thisrestauranttonight because ambiance seemed better than our original plan. when i opened the menu, i was greeted with some proud prices. i am generally comfortable paying higher dollar, provided i receive exceptional food and service. i experienced neither. the waitress presented in a way more suiting a red robin or chili's. she was loud, rushed, and disconnected. we were definitely just a table and not guests in the restaurant. i ordered the cioppino and was grossly disappointed. two of the four mussels were rancid, one clam shell had no meat, and the shrimp were overcooked to rubbery and had no flavor. the squid were on par with the shrimp. the dish was $25 and had less food on it than perhaps a $15 plate of mussels at a comparable style of restaurant. no tap beers, no music to offset the near silence of a sparsely populatedrestauranton a friday night. nope, never going back.