This past Saturday was the third, and last time I ate at this place. At the outset, the owner is a rude and nasty person. More on this later My husband likes the food and it's close to the theatre. Food is decent and service was good, until this past Saturday. I confirmed my Open Table reservation at the front desk. We were seated a bit later than our reservation because the place was a madhouse. Our waiter was indifferent, yet attentive to some other tables. Courses were very late to come out; appetizer was not what we ordered but we ate it anyway because it was close enough and pretty good( and we needed to make a curtain). Could not get bread or water refilled, while the same waiter circled our table to make sure the people next to us had theirs refilled regularly. We weren't offered dessert. No one bothered to take our coat check to get our coats; I had to go back and hunt for them During the meal Open Table emailed me to ask why we didn't show up. When I tried to talk to the owner about the glitch, he became belligerent , claimed to check his computer and said we never had a reservation. And to call Open Table. When I contacted Open Table, they said the restaurant reported us as a "no show". The owner probably saved a couple of dollars with that ploy. Too many good restaurants in Philadelphia to bother with this place read more

I was walking around Rittenhouse Square this past weekend and found this on UrbanSpoon. Since I was already on 16th and it was nearby, I figured I'd give it a shot. Unfortunately, I forgot about the whole BYOB thing in Pennsylvania...they're just aren't as many in NYC or CT where I live. It would've been more trouble to go and find a State Store, anyway. Oh well. The restaurant was pretty empty at 7:00pm on a Saturday. The host quickly offers a bottle of San Pelligrino, I accept and ask for a couple of limes. He also brought me some bread to nosh on while I waited. The waiter, Josh, suggested I try the Caesar Salad. The dressing is made in-house and was pretty tasty; had a nice citrus-ey "tang" in the background. Had Shrimp Alfredo as an entree. Would've expected maybe one or two more shrimp for the $8.50 it added on to the dish, but other than that, no major complaints. Fresh pasta (also made in-house according to the waiter), delicious sauce. Ended up too full for dessert. Decor was kinda gaudy and tacky but that added to the charm of the place, I guess. All in all, not bad. I probably wouldn't come here again since there's so many other options in the area. read more

There were a few mediocre and bad reviews here on Yelp, but we enjoyed this restaurant. The appetizers, food and desserts were delicious. Service was not 100% there for you, but when asked for water or more bread, they came over right away. BYOB. read more

I LOVE everything about this place!!!!! The food is phenomenal and the service is fantastic. Everything is fresh and authentic making this one of the best Italian places I have been to! It was amazing read more

If you make a reservation online at this restaurant don't make any plans around it... called me 30 minutes before to say they had a lot of people who made reservations before me and they couldn't seat us. Terribly ran business. Don't waste your time or money and patronize another restaurant that knows what they are doing and actually aims to please customers. read more

Went with my wife during restaurant week, the waiter was rude and condescending. The food was good, but the initial treatment on behalf of the wait staff really tainted my enjoyment of the food. At the end of the meal, the terms of restaurant week were not honored, despite the website clearly outlining the menu. I will not be returning to this restaurant. read more

We love this place !! Our fave place to go in Philly !! Excellence food , customer service and atmosphere !

Food was amazing ! Atmosphere is genuine. Have anything Veal, so tasty. Breadsticks yes! read more

Bellini - Insalata Bellini - Italian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

By far, my favorite Italian restaurant. Great service, delicious food and wonderful atmosphere and decor. I highly recommend Bellini.

I had a great experience here. My waiter was very friendly and the food was great. I ordered the crab stuffed ravioli with blush sauce. It was very delicious although the portion size wasn't that big. My friend order the seafood lasagna and I was definitely a great choice. The restraint is great not to mention it's BYOB. The only small negative was the portion size read more

I scarcely know where to begin. A friend of mine had a small get-together for his birthday, and chose Bellini only after plans at another restaurant fell through. We were a party of 10, with reservations a week in advance. My girlfriend and I arrived about 15 minutes late, and upon arrival learned that nobody could begin drinking their wine or ordering until our the entire party arrived. We ordered. Waiter was nice, but a little awkward. No problems here. We were cramped up in the corner, but that was fine. My food was absolutely atrocious. Salmon/pasta dish that tasted like ramen noodles. I even let this slide. We were rushed the entire meal. Of course the waiter was the mouth piece, but I could tell he was getting pressure from the owner, as he was reluctant to tell us how another party was awaiting their seat. As we were rushed to pay the bill, the waiter explained that we could only use two credit cards, which had to be split evenly? When I inquired about this unique policy, he said that he did not have a POS and their system was old. This was a LIE, as I saw the ubiquitous ALOHA! System in the back corner. In addition to their weird "policy," they AUTOMATICALLY added 20% gratuity. So reluctantly, we began trying to figure our how to divvy up the cash/card payments. The waiter "compromised" with us that we could use four cards. As we took a few minutes to get the money in order, the rather small OWNER with Napoleon's Syndrome marched over to our table and tersely ordered us to LEAVE. We weren't even finished paying yet! So I (admittedly) lost my temper and spoke out: I told him to leave the table, and he immediately stood and front of me and tried to kick me out without my credit card! I refused to leave, sent a few choice words his way, and absorbed a barrage of disparaging comments. Let me conclude by stating that I never thought that I would write a negative review of someone's business: this is their livelihood and I normally would never try to ruin that. But this little man does not belong in the food/beverage industry. I will NEVER go back, and quite frankly quiver at the thought of our great city's tourists being exposed to this small creature. Plenty of world-class restaurants in Philly - move along folks read more

We had a 6:30 dinner reservation on a Saturday evening and got seated promptly. Waitress was by to check on us right away. However despite the great food, can only give it three stars. They packed so many people into the restaurant it was absurd. Staff couldn't even move around the tables and pacing of our food was off. Courses came too fast or too slow. Plenty of restaurants in Philadelphia, won't be back for a while. read more

I don't even know where to start. DO NOT DINE HERE! I came with three other Co workers after a gruelling day of production. The service started out fine but once our food arrived, it was terrible. Me and one other ordered the special: lobster ravioli. It was terrible. Store bought sauce, no flavouring. Terrible. I sent mine back for the pesto.. because, I mean, you can't screw up pesto right? Wrong. It was again, flavourless and gross. My other Co worker ordered the Branzino fish which was supposed to be filet from the server. He completely butchered it. Like my 7 year old cousin could filet better than that. On top of the butcher job, it was over cooked. The server said he would bring him another fish but never returned. 30 min later, we called the server over to ask about the new fish. Ensue the loud and rude argument from the manager. They refused to bring another fish! The whole experience was terrible. I'd never return. On the up, the bartender made a great manhattan. read more

I never leave reviews, but feel obligated for this restaurant in order to do its overall rating a bit more justice. The food was absolutely fantastic last night and the service prompt and personable. Had the carpaccio, bruschetta, and fettuccine with duck ragu--all of it entirely exceeded expectations. Ingredients were high quality and fresh--pasta was perfectly al dente and the ragu had an excellent and unexpected depth of flavor. We were delighted and surprised to have found this little gem. Disregard the reviews from restaurant week--give Bellini a try! This place deserves your business! read more

Food was delicious and the service was amazing. The best part was definitely the dessert! Highly recommend the sampler

From the minute I walked in the owner was obnoxious. Insulted me for being early for my reservation. Can you grab my umbrella and took it out of my hand and a package I had my hand aggressively took them away from me any aggressively walk me back to the tiny little bar and put me in a seat right next to the only other person sitting at the bar. The owner needs to take a lesson from the staff there super he is beyond believe obnoxious and he is not in the back room by any stretch is out in front pushing people around pushing customers around trying to make the absolute last penny he can make my slamming people in on the other hand the food was good was OK wasn't fabulous it was above average but every single one of us in the party had the same opinion of the owner read more

Second time coming here for a work lunch and definitely was not disappointed - food and service was great. Our larger party was in and out within the hour and the restaurant wasn't very crowded for a Monday lunch. Will return more often! read more

My party and I were very unimpressed with our meal here. The wait staff was inattentive to our needs, not bringing enough menus and giving us attitude when we asked for the check. The food was subpar - not the greatest italian food I've had, but not the worst. The tables were on top of each other, and the AC was either not on or they don't have one, providing for a very uncomfortable eating experience. Overall, I would not return- far too pricey for the quality. read more

First time poster. I was part of the group of five discussed by the recent reviewer. My experience was a bit better, but not much. When the waiter/bartender came for our drink order, I asked about the happy hour cocktail prices on the website and was told this isn't true. In this day/age, these things should be current, but OK, I ordered one anyway, an old fashioned, which is a classic cocktail with whiskey or bourbon. I think rather than listening, the waiter/bartender took a look at our group and assumed we'd want cosmopolitans; he asked if I wanted vodka, then pushed my friend a bit hard towards a cosmo, which she declined. Once my bourbon old fashioned came, it was quite good--the best thing about my experience. My meal, the seafood pasta ($24) was just OK. I agree with my friend who thought maybe their seafood is frozen and defrosted, which doesn't seem OK at that price point. I did finish the pasta and too-chewy mussels, but left the sad floating shrimp and calamari. I was then a spectator as the waiter first brought my friend back the same piece of fish she'd returned as overcooked, then another piece still frozen inside. And charged for the replacement salad. Then there were items on our bill we hadn't ordered: this is a small place and the same waiter served us the whole time. Not sure how that happened. The whole thing devolved into comedy by the time we left, or to be accurate, were asked to leave by the manager who accused us of trying to get a free meal. Buddy, if I wanted to run up the tab and get a free meal, I'd have gone somewhere with better food and ordered more than one cocktail. Do not recommend. read more

So disappointed with food and service here. It was a busy night, but service was so entirely unacceptable, it was almost unbelievable. We were seated 15 minutes late for our reservation and table was short a place setting. I had to ask 3 times to get the missing setting. One person at our table didn't get her order taken and had to hunt down waitress. Bread was so tasteless I regretted wasting calories eating it. Arugula salad was also tasteless, with little or no additions as listed in the menu. My main course,Pollo Bellini, was average. Wait staff tried to take one persons plate while she was clearly still eating. Would not ever recommend the place. read more

Mediocre Italian food, the most hideous decor I have ever seen in a restaurant (and that is saying a lot given it is an Italian restaurant, which is either overindulging in pink marble or a lot of black and white shots of Roman street scenes) and a forty minute wait past our reservations to be seated. Our reservations were for 8:30. We arrived at 8:20, we were seated around 9:10. They came over twice to tell us that the table was just finishing dessert and would be ready momentarily. On the second time they came over, we looked at the table and they were just being GIVEN the desserts. None of our dishes were particularly memorable, sauces were bland. My escargot tasted like burnt rubber - and yes, snails can be delicious if you do it well (try Parc if you're interested in the real deal). We paid for the restaurant week menu but nothing I received was worth the $35 I paid for the four courses. Portions were smaaaaalll which is actually not the typical policy of restaurant week. The best thing they did for us was open our wine a half hour before they seated us so we were tipsy by the time we got to the table. At that point we really didn't care too much if the meal was going to kill us, we were starved. read more

We celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary at Bellini Grille. I chose it because I remember how fresh and wonderfully presented the food was a few years ago! My husband and I truly enjoyed every course of the meal. I called a few days early to order our first course... Clams Casino ( a favorite of my ) with whole clams and no bread crumbs... the staff that took the calls were very responsive.. The Clams Casino were perfect! The Antipasti that we shared was fresh and well presented .....both soups that we ordered were much more than tasty.... our entrees were delightful and delicate.Dover Sole was fileted right at the table.. and then the deserts... the spumoni was superb with strawberries and mint. ... the tirasumi was light.. a great ending to this special dinner. The service was superb.. Darren,our waiter was quite memorable. He was very knowledgeable about the specials-- he presented them in an intriguing and entertaining manner. All the courses came to our table in a timely way.... and Darren was there to respond to any need.. He was most personable!! Everything on the menu is reasonable priced!! The murals are unique, well done and fun! It became very noisy when two large parties came in....however we could handle it. We usually don't like the usual high decibel restaurant. From start to finish we truly enjoyed the meal.... food, service, ambience... and will happily return. Thanks Bellini Grille Our anniversary dinner is a superb memory! read more

This is one of the best Italian restaurants in the city, bar none. I go there often when I have tickets to the theater. It's also a BYOB which makes it even better. The food is fantastic - there are traditional options (e.g. delicate eggplant parmigiana, veal or chicken marsala, one of my favorite renditions of a caprese salad, etc.) and there are always fabulous specials available nightly. The owners are friendly Albanian couple who care immensely about both the quality of their food and their customers' dining experience! read more

I just went to lunch after being at Bellini for several dinners. Although I could not enjoy the fine wine selection the food was as amazing as always. They even had a lunch portion of branzini fish, delic! Thumbs up read more

This place could be incredible; unfortunately the service is not good and the food is hit or miss. We were "welcomed" by a very young inexperienced hostess. Despite the place being nearly empty, she attempted to seat us at a table that was being blocked by a party of 10 at the bar. She couldn't understand why we wouldn't sit down; we literally could not sit. The place is wall to wall tables and they attempt to bring food out on carts that couldn't make it past the seats comfortably. I kept getting bumped into. The waiter gave us time to purview the menus and disappeared for 20 minutes. I saw him drying glasses and making drinks at the bar. Perhaps hire more waitstaff or a bartender??? The food is ok; the mushroom risotto was fabulous. Salmon was good, side veggies were good. Branzino was not good; I've had so much better. Hope to find a better Italian place in Philly soon! read more

Had the peach Bellini which was terrific. The bruschetta was the best I think I ever had, it tomatoes were amazing, definitely a must try. Ordered the special butternut squash ravioli, all the flavors of fall in every bite, rich but not too heavy. read more

Michael our waiter is great sadly the selections made by the 3 of us weren't as great as Michael. Firstly the pasta in squid ink. The dish accompanied bay some pork and chicken was too umame or earthy inasmuch as the pasta overwhelmed the meat and the experience was unpleasant. The beer was good, Goose Island IPA. Secondly the crab filled ravioli was the most disappointing. The filling tasted as if the chef went for frozen fish sticks and stuffed the pasta with them. It also made the consumer sick. This was chased by a scotch and tonic. Lastly the saltimbocca was the best with the fingerlink patatoes. Tasty and savory but unfortunately 1 good to bad makes for not a good. Philly has great foods but not in this sitting. Note to self, don't try mexican or seafood west or north of San Antonio read more

The atmosphere was lovely, all the staff were attentive and professional. The ambiance all around was exquisite. My issues lie in the taste and quality of the food. Starting with the appetizer bread which was crumbly and dry, it tasted like something off a supermarket shelf. They offered olive oil and a balsamic reduction for the bread, but no separate plate to pour them, plus the vinegar bottle was very sticky and off-putting. My and my wifes main courses were bland yet very salty. They need to dial back the salt and up the other spices like oregano and garlic. My rosemary potatoes had no rosemary on them or in them, just salt. The crème brulee was delightful though. I wouldn't go back here unless they changed a great many things in regards to quality. I understand its a chain, but step one is a better bread with non sticky bottles along with a separate dipping plate with some crumbled up herbs on it. You are in philly, there are dozens of quality bakeries you can get bread from. After that, you need to hire a classically trained chef to resolve the bland flavor of the rest of your food. read more

Bellini is the best place to go if you just want to relax and have fast Service. Also I recommend to bring your family to this amazing place.overall even if you just got off a plane and want Italian food you should come to Bellini. Plus the ambience is beautiful. read more

Bellini - Crème brûlée - Italian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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I had lunch today at Belinni with five colleague. We were not well received. I was stunned to learned that we were waited on by the actual owner, who did not great us, introduce herself by name or welcome us to her establishment. The food was decent. The chicken parm was good. The service was horrid. I felt unwelcomed and unwanted. My party of six also felt unwelcomed. We would not recommend this establishment for POC. I notice the other patrons were being treated better and were more welcomed. read more

Absolutely love this authentic Italian byob. It's the first choice for my family when coming into the city due to high quality Italian dishes and a great atmosphere. read more

I recently went here for lunch and ordered the gnocchi, which I thought was delicious. The service was very good here and for lunch we were able to get a great 3 course meal but they were also conscious of it being a workday and there service was efficient. read more

This was the worst dining experience we have ever had. It is a shame too, because it could have been a good evening. First off, the food was good. Not great, and maybe not worth the price, but I would have been fine with it except for the service. The short version: The owner is disingenuous and a liar. He treated our party with no respect, no concern for our experience, and showed us the ugly side of philadelphia. He needs to learn some customer service skills, and care more about his customers. The long version (still condensed): We had reservations for 8 for 6pm, that kept getting pushed back and we ended up showing up at 5:45. Half our party was running late. They seated our initial 4 anyways, and only came around the table to fill water and ask us where the rest of our party was. Once we ordered some apps, they finally brought us some bread and asked us about drink orders. We were further pressured to order our meals - and finally did before the rest of our group arrived. They were about 45 minutes late, and ordered quickly. At just before 8pm we were asked if we wanted dessert or coffee and we declined. We were given the check. We asked about splitting and were told we could use 4 cards equally, which was fine with us. A minute later the owner came over and said the credit card system was down, and they could only accept cash. He pointed us to an ATM across the street. A number of us from the group walked over to get cash, and another asked about writing a check which the owner said was fine. When we came back from getting cash the others in our group said they saw other customers paying with credit cards. We asked the owner about this and he got hostile quickly saying we had been in his restaurant for 4 hours, and half our party was very late, and that we must pay cash! A couple of the guys in our group were not happy with this and argued with him, and it got heated and the owner yelled and made it clear he lied about the credit cards being down and that paying cash was his way of getting back at us. He was completely unprofessional. Before a fight could break out, we left cash to cover the tab and got out of there. Never have I felt so badly about spending money (it was not cheap either), on a dining experience. I could never recommend anyone visit this restaurant as long as it is owned by the current person. read more

We had an amazing meal here! Service was wonderful and food was very good! I would go back next time we are in town!

I hadn't been here in at least five years and now I've eaten at Bellini twice in the past two weeks. I love this place! The handmade pasta is amazing...mmm...those ravioli! read more

Amazing authentic Italian food. The melanzane alla parmigiana is what my dreams are made of! Love this place, definitely recommend it to those looking for that true Italian experience! read more

I went here for restaurant week with a few friends. We had a 4 course meal for $35 bucks each. When we first got there we were greeted by the owner who took us to our seat in the little cute italian restaurant. Our waiter came right over to open our bottles of wine (BYOB which is always a plus) and poured us all a glass. Everyone of in my group got something different so we could all try each thing, I did not try one thing I did not like. Definitely would go back! read more

This is a fraudulent Italian restaurant. Way overpriced for store bought box macaroni and store bought Francesco Rinaldi gravy(sauce). Stuffy service and small portions as well. Alot of yuppie Center City people eat here and are under the impression that this is real Italian food. There are alot of Italians in Philly and alot of Italian restaurants, if you are visiting the city and want some Italian food I suggest going elsewhere. read more

We went with a party of 10 and the service was impeccable. They were very attentive to all of our needs. The food was very good. All 10 people enjoyed their entress and appetizers. It is a BYPB and we brought severalo bottles of wine and they were very accomodating. They even let me sing to some of their customers. read more

My super attractive and amazing Fiance and I traveled to the city to meet up with some friends and check out Bellini Grill. I'm always up for a new and delicious BYOB. In this case, it was mostly new. The service wasn't too bad. I can't really knock them since we may or may not have been acting like we had 4 Bottles of wine on the table (we finished). And seriously, who has all that "city money" to spend afterwards anyway? Gotta save where you can. Anyway, the apps were decent. Calamari and Bruschetta were worth it. The bread and dip it came with were also a stand-out. Entrée time: The ladies ordered some sort of spaghetti with crab meat. The crab meat was lacking almost as much as the flavor. I like a good crab sauce and this didn't really cut it. Now, the appeal of a BYOB is mostly that it's a cost-efficient way to dine. I made a horrible mistake and I'm not proud of it. I noticed that their meat/beef selections consisted mainly of veal. I'm never a fan of veal; however, I figured if they had so much veal to offer, there must be a reason. Perhaps this is the hidden veal capital of Philly! So as soon as I heard that one of the specials was a veal chop with broccoli rabe, I was all in. The meal overall, was just ok. The cost of the meal was outrageous. A $31 dollar special! When I go out to dinner, I don't mind spending money on an amazing dish that was unforgettable, but the only thing I'll remember here was that I paid 31 bucks for a sub-par meal. What made it worse is the fact that they had half a menu's worth of veal selections for $15. Did I pay extra for the bone? Please, Mr. Bellini, I'd like to get back to discussing food and not price. I enjoyed the decor and bright lighting. Sometimes it's a nice change of pace to see everything you eat. It's probably a nice place for a loud family dinner. So overall, I'd like people to try this place out for themselves, but proceed with caution. Finally, check the price of that special before you order it! read more