Best homemade Italian tomato sauce ever! My husband and I currently live in Montreal (Canada) and we drive down to Washington, DC every year to visit our families for the Holidays. Since it's an 11-hour drive, we spend one night in Oneonta. For the past few years, dining at Bella Michael's has become our little "kick-off" to the Holidays tradition. The first time we discovered Bella Michael's we had arrived later than expected in Oneonta, and we were desperately looking for a place still open after 9:30PM to have diner. Our hotel the Hampton Inn suggested them and we could not believe our luck! They have one of the best Italian seafood you will ever taste in the area. The food is very fresh, homemade and of excellent quality. The place is casual and has a family-owned feel. The staff is very warm, friendly and attentive. Alex the Chef and owner who takes great pride in his cooking is also one of the warmest people you will ever meet. Even though, he only sees us twice a year, he always makes us feel like regulars. In addition, he will accommodate any "special request" (as long as he has the ingredients) if you are in the mood for something different from what is on the menu that day. One of the best restaurants in the region! We cannot recommend this place enough! read more

Very quaint homey atmosphere with friendly, attentive wait staff. The seafood with risotto was amazingly good--there was so much seafood, all perfectly prepared and presented. The wine selection is very good and the prices on the low side. This restaurant is a find! read more

Good lunch specials owner/ chef is an especially nice man and good chef ..comes out sometimes asks how your meal was . Food is good , portions good . read more

When here on recommendation from hotel staff. The place is quaint house down the road and family own restaurant with bar. The food is good and large portions. Lot of variety to choose from, your typical Italian affair with good wine selection and friendly staff. read more

First time here.. Great food... Nice people :) had the veal parm and veal bolognese and it was great!

This place is absolutely amazing. It's some of the best good I have ever had. The staff is super sweet and friendly. The place is cute and clean. read more

Love Love Love this place. Every time I come to Oneonta on business, I have to come here at least once. The food is excellent and the wine selection is good also. Great price on Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio. Do yourself a favor if you like Italian food......stop here and thank me later. read more

I've been upstate several time and thought good Italian food was hopeless until the Hampton inn front desk recommend Bella Michael's. The scallops were fresh, and that's compared to ANY restaurant here on the Jersey Shore. The chicken parm was a real piece of hand trimmed chicken. There has to be someone's Nona in the back making the gravy!! If licking the plate was socially acceptable I would have done it . Our waitress was also spot on and very professional read more

One of the worst restaurants we've ever eaten in. The ambiance is boring, the bread was good, the bruschetta was average, the salad was minimal but the entrees were a disaster. My husband had chicken parm - the sauce was terrible, the chicken was sub par and the presentation was abysmal. I had the 4 oz filet mignon - it was really tiny but worse yet, it tasted like liver; the baked potato was average. Our waitress was competent and service was average for a busy night. Regardless, we'll never go there again. $60, including tip, no cocktails, ice tea with our meals, no dessert, for 2 people means we should not have to bring home the meat for our dogs. read more

We really enjoyed this placed! The staff was the best and the food was delicious. The Owner/Chef greeted us and can really put together great Italian food. A must stop if you are in the area. read more

Bella Michael's Restaurant - Entry way - Italian Near Me - Oneonta, New York

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Went here last night and it was fantastic. Sat at a cozy table in the front. The waitress was very attentive and recommended her favorite dishes---from salmon to chicken. I had the eggplant parmigiana, it was a huge portion and very good. The meals also come with a fresh salad. We ordered a bottle of white wine also--Which was perfectly chilled. At the end the chef came out to speak with the many locals. All in all a lovely place. read more

Recommended by several people at the hotel so I thought why not I'll give it a shot. The salmon was amazing! A friend had the veal and it was also amazing. Very nice atmosphere and the bread and salad which comes with any entree was also very good. Homemade bread and homemade dressing and the portion sizes in everything we ordered was huge. We also had the bruschetta appetizer which was you guessed it AMAZING. ANd to top the night off the little downtown areaof Oneonta is simply gorgeous and quaint. Wish it had not been raining so we could have walked around and explored more. read more

Ingredients are suuuper fresh! The vegetables, seafood, noodles, sauce everything is so fresh and feels new! The scampi sauce is love and the the ziti is great tasting. The alfredo can be cheesy, but definitely not bad! read more

Another great meal at Bella Michael's! I had a steak special which was cooked to perfection. Highly recommended!

All the "locals" love this place!!! Special are great!- All meals are prepared fresh, made to order, well cooked- well seasoned- consistently great for any budget. The price is right and the portions are huge at this locally popular eatery Pastas are particularly good, as are the fresh seafood specials. Mangia!!! read more

Came here on a referral. We booked a graduation party of 15 with family style choices. The food was great. From the crabmeat nachos to the three different entrees, there was hardly anything left. The service was great too as well as the cost. Will definitely recommend dining here to others as well as coming back often. read more

The food is fabulous. Chicken marsala was devine. My husband had eggplant parm. Best he ever had.

The service was good. The whole meal was delicious, especially the sauce. I recommend the Chicken Fantasia. The atmosphere was also pleasant. read more

My boyfriend and I really enjoyed this place! Most SUNY students will not even know what this place is because it is definitely a low-key restaurant. We came here on a weeknight for a little bit of a date and to our surprise, we were one of the only people in the restaurant! There is a nice little bar on the inside if you wanted to just come in for drinks too. We were greeted by a very sweet waitress and her service was great throughout. My boyfriend and I are huge calamari fans and need to sample it wherever we go. So of course we had to order the calamari, which we found to be a BIT chewy. We wouldn't recommend it honestly. I ended up ordering the Shrimp Bella Michael's and unfortunately there were strips of prosciutto in it! I did tell the waitress that I am a pescatarian, but maybe that little detail didn't come to mind. I didn't want to be a bother so I picked the meat bits off, which wasn't much to begin with anyways. The dish was overall yummy and my boyfriend liked his Chicken Bella Michael's too. Other than that, the ambience was nice and we received good service. read more

Was recently in oneonta for business. The hotel recommended this restaurant. We made a reservation because we had a large party. We get there and were greeted by a not so happy hostess. She says it's going to be a while. When we tell her we have a reservation she begrudgingly takes us to our table. It wasn't completely full so I'm not sure what the problem was. We waited for 20 minutes to even get our drink order! Then another 10 to actually get the drinks. She then takes our food order, and we order another round of drinks. The appetizers did not come for another 20 minutes, and she still never got our drinks. We remind her and she brings them 5 minutes later. When our meals arrive, we order another round, and those didn't come until we were finished with our meal! We asked what the hold up was and the waitress replies "everyone complains about the wait, but all of our food is home made." Ok.... Like at most restaurants. And that doesn't explain why the drinks were so late. Be prepared to wait a loooong time for very mediocre food. read more

Very savory meal!! Extremely friendly and attentive service! We ordered the Baked Ziti Sicilian and it was really good enough for two people! read more

Interesting reviews here...our experience was not so good. The good news was the house-special chowder was outstanding...a goodly amount and variety of fish (calamari, shrimp, mussels, and more) with a great base. While our server was good (and amusing), the overall service from the kitchen was absolutely abysmal...it took over an hour for our entrees to appear. Other patrons came and went during our wait. The eggplant parm was drowned w/sauce but the seafood combination (prodigious amounts of calamari and mussels + clams, large shrimp over pasta) was pretty good. HUGE servings...way too big unless you are taking home leftovers. There are a lot of regulars...according to our server, one guy had been there 14 days in a row. Overall, with the exception of the chowder, the food was somewhere between so-so and good, overall service terrible. Ambience was of a dressed-up pizza joint. Probably not going back...other local restaurants (e.g., Red Caboose) are way better. read more

Great little spot in the small town of Ononeta. It's a regular for my family when we are in town because we enjoy it so much. My go to is the Chicken Parmesan with angel hair pasta, but I'm not sure I've ever tried something here I didn't like! Feels very "homey" and the staff is always so kind and attentive. Portion size is VERY generous. All the time I've been her, I'm not sure I've ever actually finished an entire meal! read more

driving through the area and decided to stop for the night. went to the closest restaurant to the hampton inn. it was bella michael's! it had a rather non fancy interior with paper napkins. hmm. i ordered the three meat combo (forgot what they called it). pork loin, fillet mignon and lamb. five days later i still feel good about this meal. it was perfect. what a fortunate happenstance. read more

Adorable and relaxing environment. The food was absolutely delicious although my only complaint would be how watery my sauce was on top of my chicken parm. Other than that, our service and meal was spectacular. read more

One of the best restaurant I've ever been to. The prices are mid range and you get alot of food. The food is amazing! I love there chicken dishes and steak. They do a good job on seafood too. read more

Love this place! They have crab nachos, which is almost my favorite dish ever. Bring your appetite, i guarantee you will leave full and happy. read more

can't understyand what has happend to this restaurant. it was the best in the area. now there is a long wait for service & food comes out cold (and i do mean cold) alex crack the whip read more