Kristin M.

I have nothing but great things to say about my evening at this newly updated and refurbished Bella Italia. Great food, great servers, great management, great location, great selection of dishes shared, etc etc etc! I was able to enjoy numerous dishes with a wonderful group of friends, and I am happy to be able to let all of my family and yelp friends know that the new Bella is very tasty and I highly recommend it. The "new" Bella Italia chains are now working from a large chunk of 100 million pounds, so their updated menu, style, and imports directly from Italy are wonderful addition, and really have to be on point in order to sustain this "all day Italian" lifestyle customer base. The restaurants are now open for breakfast as well as lunch! (I wonder what Italians eat for breakfast!?) I was able to sample everything from the pizzas, ravioli, shared platters, and vegetable spirals bolognese, to different flavoured gelatos imported directly from Italy, and a delicious glass of prosecco. Overall my enjoyment of the evening and everything it had to offer was excellent. I am hoping to be able to visit another Bella Italia to explore their breakfast and lunch options.

Sophie M.

Bella Italia has absolutely skyrocketed recently in terms of its variety and quality of food, which hugely contributed to me having such a great dining experience last night. A group of friends and I, for starters, had two sharing boards. There were 6 of us altogether and the portion sizes of the meats/salads/sundried tomatoes/mozzarella/breadsticks etc was spot on. We opted for a variety of mains - a few of us opted for pizza. I NEVER opt for stuffed crust as I have had it so many times and have been disappointed. But Bella Italia has converted me! Fresh and flavoursome mozzarella stuffed pizza is totally now my new thang. Only from Bella Italia, though... For dessert, we all tried out some gelato. Tiramisu wins. Such a close call, though, as there are some other great flavours to choose from - bubblegum, honeycomb, raspberry, and the most intense, creamiest chocolate gelato. Yum. Staff were faultless. Extremely attentive, so helpful, and very knowledgable about their products! They told me that they are now making authenticity one of their main focuses, which is largely helped by sourcing as many ingredients as possible from Italy. This is SO evident in the tastes in their new menu. All other ingredients are fresh and locally sourced, which I believe just adds so much more depth of flavour. Was clearly loving life. Will definitely return.

Elizabeth H.

I used to visit Bella Italia many years ago when it was Bella Pasta. I hadn't visited in about 10 years, and probably wouldn't generally have thought to go, had it not been for a group meal, as I had it down as a chain restaurant. It's not that chain restaurants are necessarily a bad thing but there are so many independent restaurants that come above them on my list. I had in my head that it would be standard solid Italian fare but was pleasantly surprised. Bella Italia had a refurb about 6 months ago and the restaurant is welcoming and friendly. They are in the process of launching their new menu this month and said that, despite being a chain restaurant, they take pride in sourcing many of their ingredients and shipping them direct from Italy in order that it authentic. We started with sharing platters of meats, breads and antipasti. These were perfect for a group to share as it meant you got to try lots of different types of meat. One platter was made up of milder meats from the North and the Calibrese board made with meats from the South. For the mains again we shared several different dishes including Beef and Red Wine Ravioli, Amore Formaggi (heart shaped cheese filled ravioli), a couple of different pizzas and a Pollo Cacciatore. All were full of flavour and very much enjoyed. The highlight for me, however, was the spiralized vegetable 'spagetti' with bolognese sauce. It was a fantastic substitute for pasta and the best bit was it was under 500 calories for a main. They do other sauces too with it. It definitely set Bella Italia apart from other Italian restaurants as it was something different to standard Italian food. For dessert we split several different flavours of gelato between the group. Their gelato is one of the authentic items that is shipped from Italy. I particularly liked the raspberry and tiramisu flavours. I wouldn't rule out a return visit as I think it worked well for a large group meal.

Samuel J.

I want to start by initially saying that prior too today I ate at Bella Italia about 2 years ago and the difference between then and now is amazing. I would go as far as to say it's like a different restaurant so if you haven't been in the last 6 months definitely give it a go! Bella Italia is a chain restaurant which has been completely updated, the interior is inviting and welcoming without being stuffy or over the top. The menu is brand new and now includes a great range of starters we had the sharing boards which I have to say are fantastic. Easily enough for 3 people they have an awesome selection of meats, olives and what I can only add is the best mozzarella I've had in a very long time. The selection of mains is a mixture of authentic with some very nice modern additions; such as traditional pizzas, along with a range of pasta dishes including a delicious ravioli. They also have some fantastic modern additions such as a spaghetti made with vegetable pasta which is not only extremely tasty but incredibly filling without the carbs. For desert I can recommend the gelato which comes in a range of flavours including a rather awesome bubblegum. Throw in a nicely selected wine menu and I have to say Bella Italia is somewhere I will happily be visiting again and I can't recommend highly enough!

Oona M.

I visited Bella Italia as part of the Yelp Big Night Out. I have to admit that I haven't eaten there in years and walk past it most days without giving it a second thought. Eight of us headed over there after being given our Big Night Out envelopes and were greeted by our friendly waiter Lush and the manager Joanna and were seated quickly. The restaurant has recently been refitted and is now a lot lighter than I remember from my last visit. Lush took our drinks orders and then our food started to arrive... For starters they brought us several sharing platters containing Italian meats, pecorino cheese, olives, salad, tapenade, pepperonata and bread.... basically my idea of food heaven. Then a large garlic pizza bread turned up and it began to dawn on us that we were going to be eating a LOT of food! Everything on the platters was delicious, really fresh and full of flavour and the garlic pizza bread was really good too. Our starter plates were cleared and were really amazed to see just how much food was being brought over to our table for our main course. We had two each of three different Roma pizzas, two veggie (Margherita and Primavera) and one meaty (Luganica Rosmarino), plus two each of a tomato pasta, carbonara and lasagne. Even eight of us tucking in couldn't really do justice to the vast amount of food, the waiters had to bring two extra tables over just to be able to set it down! Everything I tried was really tasty - the pizzas were thin and crispy and the pasta tasted like it was home made with came with lovely fresh sauces. The stand out dish was the lasagne for me, it was seriously good and I would happily order it again. We thought we had finished but no, Joanna said that she also had some desserts for us! Thankfully these were only small taster portions of the strawberry cheesecake, Limoncello tart and the salted caramel pot so we all tucked in to try a bit of each and they all got the Yelp seal of approval. This meal really changed my opinion of Bella Italia, before it wasn't even on my radar but I will definitely consider it if I want a quick lunch or a post-work bite to eat. Thank you to Joanna and Lush for their amazing hospitality and to Dan at Yelp for organising another great event!

Rebecca S.

Starter were good - I loved the margarita cheese! Thin base pizza margarita, nice and crusty, ideal to pick up with one hand, mature cheese and lovely texture. Perfect location in the middle of city centre ! Ice cream was lovely, normally don't get too involved in sweet desserts but the ice cream offered 5 flavours to choose from! The tiramisu was my favourite. The chocolate and caramel were good too! But the bubble gum was a little too sweet and artificial in my opinion. Double him tonics were like no others. People and the place were fabulous! Welcoming, and warm staff - very informative and accommodating! Refurbished only 6 months ago - quite authentic and cosy. And even better most ingredients are sourced from Italy!

Loretta J.

I purchased a Groupon voucher for Bella Italia a while ago. For one reason or another we have not made it in so I was happy to finally make a booking last night. The voucher cost £20 and included a main, desert and drink each. I have not been to Bella Italia since it's infamous makeover last year. From what I recall it was pretty low level in terms of Italian Restaurants. I am pleased to say that it has definitely improved. As we were using a voucher, we were presented with a Taste of Italy menu which has a fairly decent selection of pizzas, pasta, main courses and salads. Despite the number of options we both struggled to decide as everything on the reduced menu was a little basic in terms of toppings. Eventually, I chose a smoked salmon and king prawn pizza on their new lighter base (which I paid a surcharge for) and my partner chose the spicy chicken pizza. We ordered a basket of bread to nibble on while we waited. The bread basket was a generous size and included a selection of bread types and a garlic dip - delicious. To be honest, the base of my pizza (for which I paid the surcharge) was what I would have expected as standard from an Italian restaurant. However, I loved the mix of salmon, prawns and béchamel sauce. My partner's pizza was a little blander with quite a heavy base, chopped tomato and chicken topping. He had to add lots of black pepper, parmesan and chilli oil to add a bit of flavour. Desert came in the form of mini shots. There was a selection to choose from and we both chose the strawberry cheesecake. The contents was lovely but there was just so little of it. I ordered white wine to go with the meal. It was ok but nothing spectacular. The waiting staff were friendly but a little slow. All in all, it was a pleasant meal and I would be happy to eat here again. I would be happy to review this venue again based on their standard menu, which hopefully has some more exciting dishes.

Brittany A.

I really want to like Bella Italia more but the service makes it so hard. My first experience at Bella was with a Yelp event and everything was perfect. I've since returned twice and both times were disappointingly mediocre. This review reflects the independent visits. My first visit was with my spouse for lunch on a weekday. We were seated promptly, but the service from there was generally downhill. It took over 20 minutes for the server to come take our order and another 15 to receive drinks. I ordered the chicken cacciatore with a side of roasted vegetables and a cappuccino. The roast vegetables were perfectly cooked, soft but with just a bit of crunch remaining, and the espresso used for the cappuccino was wonderful. The cacciatore was flavorful but a little on the dry side. I'm wondering if the cacciatore was from the bottom of what had been prepared over the weekend and not much was left as there was much less sauce than what was prepared during the Yelp event the night before. Once we were ready to pay, we practically had to flag someone down and beg to leave. All in all, we were there for almost 2 hours. Thinking that our first experience was a fluke, we decided to try Bella again, this time with a friend for dinner. Our friend has gluten allergies so we thought the numerous gluten free items on the menu would be perfect. She said nothing made her sick, so if you're in need of good gluten free Italian, Bella may be a good choice. We were trapped at Bella for 3 hours this time so I'm thinking the service is just always slow and poor. This time I ordered a calzone, which was apparently prepared entirely too early for our table's order. The calzone arrived at the table cold and had sat long enough that the juices inside had turned the bottom into complete mush. I had asked for an extra large side of marinara sauce for dipping, which I didn't get and had to ask twice for more sauce. We had about 3 different servers covering our table, which meant longer spans between them coming by instead of shorter. Once we got the bill it took 40 (FORTY) minutes to pay. It was painful. We finally asked another table's server to bring the pay machine and when we got up to leave our server ran at the table as if we were leaving without paying. Just rude.

Seth S.

Brittany A. and I were pleased with our first taste of Bella Italia during a recent Yelp event. We decided to stop back by for lunch to try their full menu. Bella Italia is a 80+ Italian chain in the U.K. run by Tragus Group, who is also behind the french inspired Cafe Rouge chain. I normally try to avoid Italian chain restaurants, but we were both pleasantly surprised during our first visit by the menu variety, Italian ingredient sourcing, and service. It is my understanding that the Bella Italia of old typified chain conventions. The management of the restaurant group has taken steps to address these concerns. The location here on New Street was renovated from top to bottom six months ago and has a nice look to it. The restaurant is divided into clear sections, separated either visually or physically through booth seating, tables and multiple staged seating levels. Photos of famous locations throughout Italy (San Marco plaza, Pisa, etc) adorn the walls. There is also a bar, where you can purchase imported gelato. The bathrooms are also very nice and clean. Additionally, Bella Italia has revised their supply lines, with ingredients arriving weekly from Italy, including the excellent gelato. Since we visited during lunch, you can choose between their value-focused lunch menu or their normal menu with larger portions. We only knew of the lunch menu from an advertisement outside the restaurant, our server did not mention the menu and I had to ask for it specifically. The lunch menu starts at £6.95 (one course) to £8.95 (two courses), available weekdays only from 11AM-5PM. I chose two courses, and had options like antipasti, pasta, insalata, piadina (flatbread sandwich), or a calzone. There is at minimum, a vegetarian option under each category. Ultimately I chose the Bruschetta Funghi as the antipasti. It's a pile of garlic mushrooms in a spinach and mascarpone sauce, atop a toasted ciabatta. The taste of the dish was superb, and would have been better a bit warmer instead of the cold temperature at which it was served. For my main I went with the Quattro Formaggi Al Forno, a baked pasta dish of giant pasta shells in a four cheese sauce, topped with crumbs and a salad on the side. The best way to look at the dish is as a more adult version of mac n' cheese, with a good interplay between the different types of cheeses, mixed with a strong garlic flavour from the crumble topping. The side salad was forgettable, lacking a proper dressing. Our first lunch outing at Bella Italia was largely a success. Based on my experience earlier in the week, I would have rated them five stars. When we visited at lunch, the restaurant was only half-empty. Despite this, our server only checked on us once outside of delivering our food items. Our total time there clocked in at an hour and a half mainly due to a slow kitchen, making this a possibly bad choice if you have to get back to the office quickly during your lunch break. The restaurant is clearly making strides with quality ingredients and interesting recipes. If i'm on New Street and craving some great Italian food, Bella Italia more than delivers.

Paula H.

I was unsure what to expect from Bella Italia but I was pleasantly surprised to have such a fabulous selection of food. I had the anti pasto starter which was really tasty and bursting with flavours. For my main I tried the chicken stew with chips and loved it! The chicken breast was really tender and came in a tasty sauce. I was please to see they they served spiralized spaghetti bolanaise as an healthy option which was also very tasty. For desert I tried a had gelato, the bubble flavour is simply to die for!!! The staff could not have been more pleasant and overall I was very pleased with my meal and I look forward to returning again soon