Stopped in tonight for a high school reunion pre-party. Yes, it was loud in there, but the layout is nice. The band was just starting when my departure time came, but they were doing a good job .... I hated to leave. read more

I do not often write reviews, but my experience here was so bad I felt compelled to say something. Here are some of the highlights (well, low lights I suppose) of my meal: *Band; super loud, playing horrible elevator "jazz." It was literally torturous to listen to and impossible to talk over. *Service; horrible, my husband thought it was the waitress' first night. Sadly, I don't think it was. She didn't know the menu and was incompetent. For instance, she brought out a plate filled to the brim (more then anyone would need) of olive oil but didn't bring us any bread. We waited for about 10 minutes before she reapeared and when I asked about the bread she said "oh, I left it in the oven" and then brought us bread and another overflowing plate of oil. *Food, ick... I got the recommended eggplant, it was bland and unbreaded (which would have been ok if it had flavor). The asparagus it came with had a bizarre flavor and I couldn't eat it. My husband ordered veal scallopini and it too was bland and came with a strange cream sauce. My son ordered pizza, the crust tasted like boxed pizza crust and the sauce tasted oddly fermented. Did I mention the prices were super high for this food? I am new to Jackson and really wanted to like this restaurant. read more

The Bucatini all' Amarciana was excellent. Probably the best meatballs I've ever had.

No one was here when we got here. It took forever to get our food. It was not very good either. Did not have good choice in salad dressing either. I was thoroughly NOT impressed. I wouldn't recommend this place whatsoever! read more

This place is not bad. I'm surprised to see that anyone would give it a one star. I would give it a 3.5 rating. Their bread is pretty good. Most of the dishes I've had there are pretty good. The service has tended to be sporadic over the years as it is in many restaurants around Jackson. If you are dining alone I recommend sitting at the bar as I tend to get faster service from the bartenders. This is a good place to watch live music on the weekends too. I'd say above average food, great atmosphere for weekend nightlife, great bar service, and inconsistent table service. read more

I went here on a first date and we were greeted warmly by the owner, who kindly gave us a beautiful seat in the restaurant. Our waitress was terrific; she was attentive and friendly. We ordered the spaghetti with a spicy marinara sauce. It was outstanding. Truly, it was one of the best plates of pasta this Italian girl has ever eaten. We can't wait to go back and experience this restaurant again. Thank you to the owner and staff for helping to make it such a wonderful night. read more

They were out of the item I wanted and recommended the smoked lamb shank. It was tough and flavorless. The service was mediocre. A little slow considering there was almost no one there. The gnocchi was ok. Probably best item we had. Overall it lacked flavor. Not worth the cost. I'd rather get wings from across the street. At least they were tender and had flavor. read more

***************DO NOT EAT HERE ***************** So to start , it was NYE day, and I called to reserve a table and ask to see if they had a bottle of champagne available . The employee told me they did and I asked for it to be ready upon arival. 745 pm rolls around and my guests as well myself are seated. By 810 pm I'm standing to grab a waiter to ask for water for the table. The eager server goes to fetch our actual server. The server who should have came to our table finally shows up. I order the champagne bottle that I had called for earlier in the day. After 20 minutes my server shows back up, to inform me the bottle that I ordered was hot and wouldn't be cold. I order Don perrigon at this point. I then orderd appetizers for the table. By 915 pm our apoitizers have shown up and we ask the server about a dish that had roseoto, what it is ect.. she goes to the kitchen and then comes back informs us . We as a table now order our main entrees . It's 10 pm I. And I'm asking where our food is. Finally she the server runs to the back , brings out sea scallops on spaghetti noodles and. Not roseoto, and when we asked hey is this right. The server tryed to convince us as a table that was the correct thing and it took me saying that's not roseoto please check, and for her to take the dish back. My other guest ordered tuna plate , and received a Salmon plate.literally rhe wrong entire plate. Now as a table trying not to be impolite useing proper edict, we wait for our other guests food to show up. 1030pm we all have food. To the chefs great job the food was the only thing saving this place. After much debate I stoped our Houdini sever , to notify her of everything going that was going on. And she was able to get us dessert for the table. I expected to get what I paid for. If I wanted fast food restaurant service level I'll pay the 10 dollars for the kid who doesn't care. When you're expecting fine dining and recieve golden coral espically at a level of where the champange was $290 alone you expect better. I brought my girlfriends family out for dinner, and I am embarrassed to say that this is where I brought them. The service was below the standard of fast food The food was surprisingly good, when it came out in hour increments , and you're getting the roulette of what you ordered vs what they feel like giving you. Not once did the manager come to the table. William tulloch 5174990624 read more

There's nothing positive about this place. The food is below average. The service poor. The prices are high. The only way to enjoy your time here is spending time drinking with the owner who probably likes to drink waaaaaaaaaaay more than you do. read more

If you're looking for great bread and poorly prepared food, this is your place! The waiter was very nice but not well suited for the job. He brought the wrong drink----gin instead of whiskey. He brought the wrong entrée--- tuna instead of salmon. (Bella N obviously doesn't provide vision coverage to its employees!). My scallops were way too salty & the salmon was dry. They tried to make it up to us by giving us free dessert ---that wasn't good either. We had such high hopes --- now crushed. The atmosphere was charming until a customer crashed to the floor. Don't worry he had friends there to help him up so he could continue drinking. Cheers! read more

We were one of two families in the entire restaurant but we waited 45 minutes for burned chicken and raw sauces. The children's spaghetti was so spicy my kids wouldn't eat it. Looked cute from outside but inside it's obviously more of a wine bar vibe. Super dark with a big focus on the bar and art by the owners. If you were looking for a family Italian place, keep going. read more

This used to be one of Jackson's best restaurants. It's a shame how far it has fallen. My wife and I were there on a Saturday night after finding two steakhouses, one local and one chain absolutely jammed at about 5:30. We went to Bella Notte and found it almost empty. I am giving it two stars because I feel that the poor quality of the dish I was served is an indication that little effort is being made to produce a meal that would justify the image that Bella Notte is trying to project. I was also a bit bothered by how we were seated. I really wanted a booth as in Bella Notte the booths are more comfortable and romantic. The hostess did not offer a choice and seated us at a table next to a large window where it seemed cold. The booth area was open and others were seated there. I had the server move us to a booth, which she did gladly. My wife ordered the ribeye steak with mashed potatoes, both of which she enjoyed. She was disappointed that they had run out of raspberry vinaigrette dressing for her salad and settled for ranch. I ordered a dish with scallops, pasta, anchovies and béarnaise sauce. In addition to almost no anchovies, there was no béarnaise sauce that I could detect. It had a kind of clear oily sauce. Béarnaise is creamy sauce made of eggs and butter, similar to hollandaise. After asking why there was no Béarnaise, I was presented with a bowl of something with the appearance of French onion soup that was definitely not Béarnaise... not even failed Béarnaise, which looks like curdled milk. After a discussion with the server and a night manager, I became convinced that no one at Bella Notte knows what Béarnaise is, and that the chef has no training in the making of a hollandaise type sauce, which I thought you had to know in order to be called a chef. I did enjoy my salad with a decent blue cheese dressing, and the Italian type bread served before the meal was fresh, crusty and good, albeit slightly burnt. ____________________________________________________ 3 months later, I see Bella Notte has a billboard on West Ave. I hope they have something better to offer than the past few reviews, including this one, indicate. Give us a sign Bella Notte (ok, besides a billboard)! Are you making the effort? We are rooting for you. We are rooting for downtown Jackson. read more

This was suggested to us by a friend. It didn't disappoint. The restraint has great old archatecture. Glad no one has wrecked it. The atmosphere is just what we were looking for. Someplace we could meet some friends have a drink with dinner and catch up without having to yell over the drown of music or a loud patrons. The staff was timely on everything. My dinner special was great. My wife's came well overdone. Without hesitation they took it back and quickly returned with great dinner. Just as we were wrapping up our night a live band started playing. Little loud as most bands are but they sounded great and were playing great music. This is a place we would re-visit. read more

Worst Italian food ever. Gnocchi the color of psoriasis. Olives soaked in lighter fluid. Bartenders clueless. Nice ambience but a chef is badly needed. read more

Holy crap did we go here on the wrong night, it was prom night in Jackson. The food here was very good, but I would have done with out the decor. The bar was neon and had a small tv, this was located in the middle of the restaurant. This is a restaurant that doubles as a night club, and the night club feel was the energy that I was feeling. ( not the best for dinner) read more

Expected to have a nice dinner with my fiancé last night... Walking up to the front door their patio seating was open and the owners highly intoxicated friends glared us up and down.. Entering the restaurant a gentlemen I'm pretty sure the owner greeted us and sat us at a table. The server came over and got us beverages. We placed an order for spinach artichoke dip and after listening to the owner yell and raise his voice at another lady (maybe wife) 20 mins later we received a huge app first bite I was disgusted with a pound of buttery oily spinach and overly cooked pita chips. I cancelled our dinner order at the bar paid for our drinks and left... Never to return! read more

We met friends at Belle Notte. We wondered about the lack of customers and some of the reviews, but were pleasantly surprised by the food. The ribeye steak got thumbs up as did my eggplant Parmesan. Entrees come with soup or salad. The salad was fresh and there are a variety of good dressings. The Belle Notte pizza was also good. The hamburger was just ok, but it is an Italian restaurant, so what do you expect. If you want wine with your meal, I would skip the house wine and pay another few bucks for something a bit better. We were there early and the place started to fill when we left about 8. read more

Had a lovely lunch at Bella Notte today. I saw the mixed review and was hesitant to try it but we were very please and would go back. I had the Sea Scallop Linguini, my Daughter had Spaghetti and meat balls and my wife and daughters boyfriend had the Penne Pasta with Italian Sausage. All were delicious. The Sea Scallops were cooked perfectly, all of our pasta was el dente and not mushy. The penne pasta dishes had fresh tomato and a lot of flavor. The bread was hot, crusty and delicious. Service was not very friendly but attentive enough to keep our beverages full. Great ambiance in the restaurant and everything seemed pretty clean. read more

My family went there for my birthday. It was very good food. My dad had the mushroom risotto, my daughter and her husband had the chicken Alfredo, my husband and son had pizza and I had the honey salmon. Everyone really enjoyed their food. Every dish had lots of flavor and were delicious. We had the squid/ calamari appetizer. They were tender and cooked perfectly. The staff was friendly and the service was great. Our waiter gave me a complimentary tiramisu for my birthday which I loved. I recommend going to this restaurant and we will be going there again. read more

Nice ambiance and great service! The Bucatini (made vegan style) was amazing. My only regret is that there are not more plant based dishes available for us diners who prefer to not eat animal ingredients. :) read more

My wife and I were here for dinner and had a very nice time. Garret was our waiter and he did a fantastic job. We had Bruschetta, Calamari and their Mediterranean Pizza. We thoroughly enjoyed our entire meal including our desserts Creme Brule and Teramasu. Will definitely be back we want to try their Oyster Shooters. read more

Had lunch today at our favorite go to restaurant in downtown Jackson. Left very disappointed as the lunch express menu had not one Italian offering and your only other choices are a couple of specials or full dinners. My favorite is the veal Marsala but dinner serving just too large and my husband usually orders a pasta. He did order the special with ground veal and pasta but it was quite bland. I ended up with an appetizer of coconut shrimp which was exceptional. Overall I guess we have to find a new spot downtown. This was my second rejection after they removed the almond crusted whitefish which was fantastic. I understand removing a seafood if not selling but do not understand not having lunch portions. read more

Fantastic restaurant! Always delicious food and a friendly relaxed atmosphere. The duck entree is my favorite, always moist and flavorful. Their fresh baked bread is a perfect blend of crispy crust with a soft inside that goes wonderfully with their dipping blend. As far as the service goes- there has only been one incident where the waiter was underwhelming, and after talking to the owner about our experience, the next time we came in the service had a complete 180 turn around. I felt like she truly cared about our concerns and addressed them- which were then resolved. Other than that one experience, the service has always been exceptional! A smiling, friendly, helpful face is around every corner. The live music is a great bonus to a fun Friday or Saturday date night. read more

Bella notte has awsome specials every day . I usually try them and am never disappointed . A standard craving is the pan seared sea scallops! And seriously the best burgers or pizza in town , AND let's not leave out homemade fresh potatoe chips . read more

My scallops with fettuccine Alfredo was great, rich flavor. The scallops were cooked perfectly. Others at our table had the Lasagna and the Salmon both done very well. There were Interesting choices on the menu. I have to go back to try the Sambuca tortellini.! It was nice to have a band there, although a bit loud for table conversation. The hard working wait staff worked hard to please us (an unexpected large crowd). Nice destination in downtown Jackson. read more

I came in to purchase 2 pieces of peanut butter chocolate cheesecake for takeout. The (rude) woman at the bar/register rang it up at $7 a piece when the menu had clearly stated it was $6. When I pointed this out she was very 'huffy' and told me that was an error and would be changed immediately--and proceeded to phone someone at THAT moment to have the change made. She also told me how expensive this dessert was to make!!!! When I got it home there was no chocolate on it. When I called to question this she (who happened to answer the phone) told me it was because I had asked for no toppings (true) and when I pointed out that had nothing to do with the chocolate layer atop the peanut butter cheesecake, she then admitted the recipe had 'changed.' What a fiasco from start to finish! While the peanut butter cheesecake was not bad it was not what we wanted or paid for and did not taste nearly as good as it did in the past with the delicious dark chocolate baked on the top. I will NOT be returning--especially with this rude blonde young woman working! (To add insult to injury I emailed the owners and they never even acknowledged me. I am a senior citizen and don't appreciate being treated this way.) read more

Went to Bella Notte tonight for a company presentation and my choice was the salmon with the honey bourbon sauce with polenta and spinach. What a wonderful meal! Everything was done just right, I plan on checking out other items on the menu soon. read more

we were attending the downtown car cruise in and decided to try some brats at Bella Notte. They had a grill set up outside and we gave it a try. Brats were italian sausage and burnt to a crisp. I see why they want your money before you get your food. we would have been much better off buying our food for one of the vendors like we always do. we will never go back to Bella Notte for anything. read more

Always a favorite of mine. Food is great and the restaurant is quiet...you can actually hear the person across the table talk to you (a bit noisy when they feature a band,,,generally only weekends). Very good menu with lots of choices. Better than their "two doors down the street" competitor. read more

Food is MEHHHHHHHHHH. Far too pricy for what it is. Calamari tasty. Bartenders attentive. When 151 was Daryl's, I heard the owner threw a brick through Daryl's vehicle window. YIKES! Talk about serious competition! read more

My family and I had a nice dinner here when visiting for the night. The kids were able to find things on the menu for them, and my pasta was perfect. Wife is a vegetarian and they went out of their way to accommodate her. Reasonably priced. Not sure why so many negative reviews. Worth taking a chance on this place. read more

Woah boy, where to start on this place: THE FOOD: Mediocre and bland, when I'm paying over 30 dollars for a small filet mignon, I expect it to be cooked to order (medium rare, it came out well) and to taste better then a steak I would expect at Applebees, at least they bother to SEASON their food. They were also out of multiple dishes. THE STAFF: The staff I dealt with seemed ditzy, and didn't act like they knew what was going on, or what to do. The waiter I had seemed like he was high or something, and smelled. THE ATMOSPHERE: The place is loud, which is to be expected from a restaurant like this, what's inexcusable is the amount of smoking occurring on the freakin' patio, like said before the smell of cigarette smoke wafts in when the door opens. The ONLY partial. saving grace of this places is the half descent live music, so if you want Fazoil's with live music, come here. read more

Bella Notte is a special place in the heart Of downtown Jackson . I have a lot of great memories here , Christmas parties , business events Fun times with family and friends but Most memorable is my parents 40th Wedding anniversary party which was Held in the beautiful ball room. Annette and Greg were so wonderful And truly sincere making the event A treasured memory for my parents , Family and friends. BELLA NOTTE RISTORANTE IS A TRUE ATTRIBUTE TO OUR COMMUNITY! Gregg Ladd read more

I have never written a bad review before but this is definetly well deserved. My partner and I decided to stop at Belle Notte tonight (Valentine's day) for a nice dinner. We walked in and noticed that only about half the restaurant was filled. We were seated immediately but could tell right off the bat that things were chaotic with all of the staff. We sat at our table for 15 minutes without even a glance from any of the servers or managers. At the 20 minute mark multiple servers noticed we hadn't been helped yet, but instead stood about 5 feet from our table and tried to hash out who was supposed to be our server. Neither of us had been ignolaged still. Finally our server came and she was sweet but absent most of the night. Once we finally put in our drink orders it took another 10 minutes for it to get to us. Two things we ordered we ended up having to switch because the kitchen ran out. The two of us both ended up getting pasta, with both resulting in it being very undercooked. As a server I feel I am much more forgiving than most about the restaurant industry, but what I saw tonight I just think is unacceple. Incredibly disappointed. read more

This was not a good dining experience for the 4 of us that had chosen this restaurant to eat at last night. First the meal a friend chose tasted like it had disinfectant or detergent in the sauce. With the male owner standing over her the waitress stood at our table asked for a clean fork from one of us and proceeded to taste his food and she agreed that something was wrong. My plate was returned due to the lack of alfredo sauce, over cooked noodles, and it came to the table barely warm. My husband's steak was ordered medium rare and was over cooked. The owner approached the table and was rude and defensive. He argued there was nothing weird about how the food tasted and the pasta alfredo was comparable to that of which you would find in Italy. We had to ask another staff member to locate our waitress 2 times just to pay the bill and retrieve out change. I would like to add that Belle Notte was not busy. Thus is the worst dining experience I have had. I will never go back mainly due to the owner and his rude behavior. It's a wonder he has made it thus far in this business. read more

My husband & I were staying in Jackson & looking for a nice place to eat a good quiet meal. This place was neither. We overlooked the fact we had to enter through the kitchen because of road construction, that wasn't the owner's fault, but there was no sign to let you know where to find the stairs. A couple leaving showed us where to go. We arrived around 8:30 & walked past a band setting up, but thought they probably wouldn't start until 10. The wait staff lacked proper training, but was friendly. The coconut shrimp appetizer was good. I ordered the beef filet medium, but it was very RARE! I sent it back & it was better, but still too rare in the center & I had to ask for a steak knife. My husband ordered the veal marsala that was on the menu as a house speciality. He also needed a steak knife because it was very tough. The very loud rock band started at 9 & ended any chance of conversation. The crowd around the bar was loud, rowdy & yelling back & forth with the band. The owner's should decide if they want a night club or a restaurant! You can't advertise yourself as a nice, upscale Italian restaurant, charging $30+ for meals & have a loud band at 9:00 with whooping, yelling bar patrons. (FYI: We are in our early 50's & do listen to rock music.) read more

Food was great, even the cheesecake. Wait staff was inexperienced. Ambiance was wonderful (Sat nite) until house band started playing - so-so cover band that was way too loud to hold a conversation. read more

Friends who live in town (Jackson) took us here for an quick lunch midweek. Even though by 1 PM when we arrived the place had only one other couple dining, my friends assured me that the food would deliver. It did. I broke from my usual Paleo ordering ritual (protein and leafy vegetables) and dove head first into an amazingly tasty pepperoni and sausage calzone with marinara sauce. This earned four stars; the marinara tasted institutional and sweet. Others ordered the Michigan Salad topped with grilled chicken. I heard no complaints from them. Their Paleo dishes had no lettuce, rather power greens mixed with walnuts, dried Michigan cherries and a choice of dressings. It looked awesome. Service, though, well....our server seemed preoccupied and elsewhere most of the time. We needed to remind her to keep bringing water during the meal. At check time, she exuded a fake friendliness that bespoke the tip ritual ahead. So, overall, good food. Would I return? Absolutely. Would I order Paleo? Maybe...the calzone seemed too remarkable not to try again. read more

Looked nice, about $20 / plate, service was alright, food was alright, bread + olive oil n pesto was good (but any decent italian restaurants has this). read more

Been going for many years.....Showed up with 20 friends / family on a busy Friday and they came through with a nice seating area and Garrett took care us very well. read more