I definitely will come back again for brunch as a nice break for the busy weeks/parties. This is the 2nd time I've been here and the only one thing I found unpleasant was about the rainy weather - I'm not saying it's Bella's fault - but if people can wait somewhere warm, it would be really appreciated. The menu in here is always creative. The unexpected combination makes me so curious about the weekly brunch menu to drive 30 min and give it a try. The eggs were cooked perfectly in the Benedict, mixed well with the sauce. The asparagus was roasted and a little bit dry, but the grits I replaced for potato was so good for me to ignore the asparagus at all! As latte is a must for my mornings, the foam on the top of the latte here is very thick, charming and made me use my spoon to taste the pleasant to details! Love it! Another note: American express is not accepted read more

Bella's Cafe - Oscar Benedict - replaced potatoes with grits - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

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Food 4/5 | Ambiance 3/5 | Service 3.5/5 | Return Likelihood 4/5 One-liner: Deliciously popular brunch location with creative options. Multi-liner: The fall winds blew 4 of us into Bella's one Sunday morning, along with hundreds of our little leaf friends. There were expectedly no tables at 11AM and we were kindly asked to wait in the car given the lack of standing room at the entrance. It only took 15 minutes or so to be seated, but a lot longer for our order to be taken as we drooled at the table next to ours (there was only one server that morning for some reason, so no fault of Bella's). Food: Huge portions. Delicious and creative combinations that rotate every week, so you can always try something new. Nice presentations as well. The coffee drinks all come with a little stick of rock candy which completely made my morning (and is a great conversation piece. Sugar-on-string supersaturation experiment as a kid, anyone?). Friend had an eggnog latte that she loved. My gingerbread latte was not particularly gingerbread-y, but still a solid latte. Ambience: Chilly coziness which makes one want a warm beverage. Well played, Bella's. read more

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This place was a wonderful find! The menu offered so many varieties of brunch dishes even on a weekday--the challah French toast was epic. I can't wait to return again. Plus the staff is so lovely! read more

Over-hyped, 1 hour wait. Undercooked home fries. Coffee had no substance. I made a better brunch at home the other day lol

Cannot go wrong with breakfast at Bella's. We walk in and are immediately seated at a table. It's important I mention this was a weekday and I hear weekends you can expect to wait. I ordered the Palermo Omelet. The specials menu intrigued me and I had a difficult time making a choice but I love a good omelet and home fries. The home fries are amazing. Crispy outside, soft inside and flavor that certainly isn't lacking. I asked for the six grain toast which comes already buttered. Just the right amount of butter for my liking. The omelette was perfect. Decent sized pieces of spicy Italian sausage, peppers and onions. Honestly Bella's costs me more than I'd like to spend on breakfast but the food is worth the price. You can depend on good service and a breakfast you'll tell others about all day long. read more

Bella's Cafe - Palermo Omelet - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

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Stopped in here for brunch on Sunday. Was in the area and not familiar with the restaurant scene. I found this place through Yelp and boy am I glad I did!!! This place is amazing!!! It's a very small restaurants. Very intimate. Not good for large crowds. But the food is AWESOME!!! My fiancé had the shrimp and grits. He's kind of a food snob and everything is just "ok" to him. When I asked him how the food is he actually replied with "it's really good!" I had the brown tin or something like that. It was on the special. Also very good. Bella's cafe makes craft dishes of the basic staples. They also have several types of mimosas and a fresh orange juice machine! Definitely coming back to this place!!! read more

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An update: food is as good as ever (meaning the best and most creative brunch around), and since expanding they've solved the painfully long wait issue, and the service seems to have improved as well. Deserving of a full 5 stars! read more

Best french toast I think I've ever had...at least top 5! I was in New Haven for the week visiting a friend who insisted that we come to Bella's Cafe for brunch! Apparently they only have brunch on the menu so I figured it be a great experience seeing as how this is their speciality. We went on a Wednesday, around noon & they did not disappoint! There wasn't a wait, plenty of seating for the time we went. We ordered the cinnamon french toast in addition to the shrimp & grits: mouth-watering entrees! I think the french toast was my favorite; so warm & buttery & it legitimately melted in my mouth. The shrimp & girts were equally amazing! The sauce was sooo good & they were not stingy with the shrimp. It also came with a hardy biscuit to sop up the sauce with. We also ordered a mango & passionfruit mimosa which was the icing on the cake! Can't wait to come back to Bella's Cafe!!!! read more

Great breakfast spot especially if you feel like indulging in something unique and decadent. Everything on the menu we have had from omelets to French toast and baked goods are fresh and made with high quality ingredients. Definite spot for coffee and/or breakfast with a friend. read more

Good food, but on the richer sider. Had the shrimp and grits ($15): came in a small cast iron skillet, dressed in a creamy spicy sauce. Shrimp and sausage pieces were nice. Could have used some veggies and something acidic to balance out the richness. Prices are fair enough but still on the higher end for what it is. Nice coffee, friendly service; loooong wait since it is one of only a few places in area. read more

Bella's Cafe - The shrimp and grits from the brunch menu. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

If I could give zero stars I would....a man at the table in our vicinity was treated horribly by the server Antonio. Server was extremely rude to this customer and denied service as well....apparently there is no manager or owner in the restaurant... how do you not have a manager or owner in??? Do better!!!!!! read more

Foodie high alert! Service was fine, restaurant is cute, and the food: amazing. I ordered the Eggs Benedict. The eggs were perfectly poached. The hollandaise from scratch. They buttered the English muffin which added an extra layer of savory. And the ham was thick and flavorful. Every ingredient had an extra level of attention. Absolutely fantastic read more

Food and service were excellent. The place has outdoor dining for their customers also. I will be coming back.

Update: I came again today and was waiting for other people in the party, but the hostess told us we had to wait outside until the rest of our party came, it was very cold outside, and it wasn't busy. Long story short: we ended up going to Lena's across the street read more

Johnathon the bus boy was extremely helpful and made the dining experience unforgettable. Would highly recommend Bella's to any passerby

Went there and was told there was a 40 minute wait. Got seated and was told there's an additional 45 minute wait. Couldn't wait that long and had to leave. Complete lack of communication between the front of house and the kitchen, profoundly frustrating. Do better read more

My daughter took my mom and I here for a make-up Mother's Day brunch. Mom had shrimp and grits she really liked them. I had the bananas foster French toast. It was REALLY good. They make it with challah and not regular bread so there you go right off the bat - home run. They were fairly busy so we waited a looong time to order and for the food to come. I was excited to hear that they are breaking into the store next store so now maybe the seating won't be so close together. Overall this a great meal and nice place to eat. Don't come if you are on a timeline but COME and enjoy, relax and have some GREAT food!!! read more

Bella's Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

Long waits but amazing food! The menu has a large variety of things to choose from and the specials menu is always a winner! WORTH THE WAIT!! read more

It's always a good time when I go to Bella's, the food is amazing. I love checking their brunch specials they usually always have a great French toast option. The wait is usually long but well worth it plus you can join the waitlist on yelp so that's perfect. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming and they service is always great. I love coming here with friends and family for a great brunch. read more

No food is good enough to wait the amount of time we did for a table and then we finally get our table and waited almost an hour and a half for our food.... Seriously never again. read more

I visited Bella's Cafe last weekend. They usually open at 8am but for some reason they opened up at 9am. I'm assuming someone opened up late or there were some technical difficulties. Upon my arrival, I noticed a few people were already waiting outside and more people were waiting in their cars. When the place opened at 9am, patrons seem to come out of the woodworks. It's not a big place so it filled up pretty quickly. I ordered 2 eggs over hard with bacon, hash browns, and rye toast. I also ordered french toast. Grits were also part of the meal. The food was delicious. The presentation was amazing. The eggs were cooked to perfection. The bacon had just the right amount of crispness and saltiness to it. I must admit, I love breakfast food and one of my pet peeves is when everything is perfect and then I get cheap bread. Bella's Cafe spares no expense when it comes to their bread. The rye toast was thick and toasted to perfect golden brown. The grits. Oh, the grits. First of all, the grits were brought out in a cast iron mini cauldron. The cast iron cauldron kept my grits hit the entire time. It never hardened. It's little things like that, that make a big difference. The grits were delicious, by the way. Creamy goodness. I must warn you, though. There is a price for all this goodness. It's not your typical "diner". It's more like an experience. And, for that experience, you have to pay a little extra. Three meals and a coffee came up to a little over $40. Here are some need to knows. For the price you pay and the atmosphere(of you go, you'll see what I'm talking about), you would think there would be WiFi available. No WiFi. Credit cards are accepted. One important note. Make sure when you get there, you're whole party is there as they will not seat you if you are waiting for someone. Bella's Cafe lost a star with me because there was no WiFi(even McDonald's has WiFi) and for not seating someone if they're waiting for somebody. read more

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Delicious food and excellent service. Each time I come it's consistent. Highly recommend!

Well thought out menu Impressive service Try the cranberry bread toast.. amazing. Have the grits .. you'll praise em read more

Forgive the length in this post but I'm hoping Rose, the owner, or manager or someone will take the time to read and reflect. I would give Bellas five stars for food. Hands down. Every time. We've been going for close to ten years and we tolerate the following issues, with today being exceptionally annoying. 1. Isamel and the wait staff are fabulous. Really care about their customers and make the regulars feel special. There's a short female waitres who's never smiled once, but isamel and the tall girl are fantastic. 2. There is a new hostess, an older woman, who is flat out RUDE and MEAN. I don't know if she thinks she's being funny but she is legit RUDE to customers. While waiting for our table today, four different groups of people left and didn't come back because of how mean she was to them. She has zero people skills and screamed at more than one person while there. You can no longer walk inside to request a table and if you do she will SCREAM at you to get outside and "read the damn sign" that says to wait outside and she'll be right back. Well she doesn't come right back and a cluster of people forms. I walked inside to get a cup of coffee and she yelled at me, and my child, for not following her rules. I don't know where her rules are posted or if they're just in her head but she's crazy. Several people were waiting outside and we all have been coming for years and the topic of our group discussion was if it was our first time we'd leave because of her treatment. 3. You have to wait. Always. And when you see all the people waiting you know it's worth it. If the food wasn't so awesome I'd give it one star because of the treatment today. Sorry Rose, I know how fabulous Bellas is but something has to be done about the customer treatment by this hostess. read more

I'm very surprised by all the excellent reviews. Perhaps things have changed since the pandemic, but their service is awful. The place was not terribly crowded and we went after the morning rush around 1pm. An hour and a half after ordering our food, my wife and I decided enough was enough and we went home to cook ourselves brunch. It was delicious! Lesson learned. read more

Lived in new haven for many years and shocked I haven't hit this spot before. Absolute best food and wonderful staff and customers. Will be back for sure! read more

This place is worth the wait. We waited 30mins for a seat and another maybe 30 for our food but let me tell you. The service was good the food was amazing and fresh as can be and all the servings were more than I expected. I enjoyed everything. The location is very small so no large groups unless you can reserve the restaurant. I would definitely go back there read more

Bella's Cafe - This place... - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

Waited 2 hours for French toast.. and then the French toast was drenched it was way too sweet and soggy. Huge disappointment.

Great food, staff is very friendly. Expect to wait a little but know that it's worth the wait. I've never had a bad experience here and my boyfriend and I drive out of our way to come here. If you haven't been, definitely give it a shot. Update---- 6-20-17 So we've been going to Bella's consistently for months now and the food had always been amazing. You'd wait 30 minutes but so worth it. Lately, within the last couple months or so, we've noticed an overall decline in the enjoyment of the dining experience there. The wait turned into 45 minutes unless we would settle for counter seating. The woman who used to run the front doesn't any longer and that unfortunate. She was engaging and very friendly. The customer service overall could be so much better. After being seated, we noticed that the wait before someone acknowledges us and takes our drink order has gotten longer. It was a little over 10 minutes today. I always order the creme brûlée latte which used to come unsweetened with a sugar crystal stick. It's now overly sweetened and syrupy. We waited about 30 minutes for our food and it was sort of a let down. The food was just under room temp and my steak was well done on one side and medium on the other. Seemed like they were precooked pieces which were just warmed up a little. The grits were piping hot and delicious as always. Our waitress was nice and she was attentive which I appreciate because everything else was lacking (other than the grits lol). It's such a shame because Bella's is literally our spot and to find another is a real bummer. I hope they can get back to what they used to be because I would love to keep going. We're just not a fan of paying $50 for subpar breakfast items and less than great service. read more

Y'all don't know French toast until you go here. The cannoli French toast was so good I can brush my teeth with it, i thought I had good eggs Benedict before but this took 1st. The only thing that could have made this place suck was the service but even that was on point everyone is so awesome like the cannoli French toast. Oh and if you go here remember order the cannoli French toast wait did I mention that already? read more

Pretty good place for brunch -- the food tasted great, but I was seated in a position with a view into the area where the kitchen hands off plates to the servers, and it was not clean or sanitary at all. Our water cups were also dirty with particulate inside and some food stains on the outside of the cup. read more

Great food make sure to stop by right after you rob a bank.. The prices are through the roof..

Thank you Bella's for finally hiring people that are not rude who wait on people. The gentleman today was so nice. Your food is always amazing...yet a year or two ago I would've given you a 0 based on the way you treat people when they come to eat. For example when my husband was parking the car with our two young children I was asked to get up after I was seated and wait for him as the wait staff sat others! Then once he came they told me I had a 20 min wait.....hold on there peeps I was already seated and then you asked me to get up.....now I gotta wait.....smells like you don't want me in your restaurant!!! Wow they couldn't wait not even 2 min! needless to say they didn't care how people felt when they were asked to get up from a table. Today was a better day.....maybe because we got there right at 8....hope that is not the case read more

Bellas café is a local gem. Their food is to die for with a variety of different eggs and pancakes that will blow your mind and as my dad put it- his omelette was the best he's ever had. Cooked to perfection. The eggs Benedict was 10/10. read more

My bff lives in New Haven and we are in town for her wedding. Her #1 recommendation was this place! Shrimp grits. So, so good! Chipotle ciabatta sandwich was also great. Everything is local and most of the menu ingredients are made day of. They do run out of a lot of the breakfast items because they try not to have any good waste at the end of the day! Love that they are trying to be environmentally conscious! read more

I went to Bella's Cafe with my parents and we all loved our meals, but there weren't any vegan options so I had to just get the fruit bowl. Everything about our experience was good, but I wish they'd cater to a wider variety of dietary needs. read more

Bella's Cafe - Fruit bowl - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

Good brunch. The menus always changing so don't get too attached to your choice haha. The food is delicious. Get there early to avoid the wait read more

I enjoy coming here for brunch with my friends and relatives. I always get the same dish because it taste super good, which is the sausage & grits I always ask them to add cheese and remove the eggs(allergy). However I do admit I have had other items on their menu and they were also tasty. When you come here please come early because the wait and line can be long, but they do try to get it down as fast as they could. The restaurant is real clean, but extremely tight, which is uncomfortable when you're hitting your table neighbors with your chair back. Also come with some extra money because the food and drinks can be pricey. read more

Bella's Cafe - Sausage & Grits (Added cheese, biscuit, & no eggs-which comes with it but I'm allergic)! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

My Caribbean family and I drove over an hour to eat at Bellas, there were 9 of us. We waited the 40mins we were told to wait by the hostess. We noticed parties who arrived after us were being seated, large parties too. We made it clear several times we didn't mind being split up into separate tables. After checking in after 40 mins we were told 20 more minutes. We patiently waited the 20 minutes, after seeing a party of 7 who came after us being seated we inquired again, the hostess didn't care, didn't apologize, so we left. Perhaps they need to find a more competent hostess, what a shame. read more

So good... very delicious Shrimp and sausage grits. Very good customer service and will definitely be back. This was my first visit and i enjoyed the food. I would love to try different stuff on their menu read more

Bella's Cafe - sausage Shrimp & Grits - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut