Great staff and premises, awful food. (Bella Italia in General)

Member Name: rxbeef

Product:	Bella Italia in General
Date:	24/10/09 (11 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent service

Disadvantages: Dry, uninspired food.

While a Bella Italia can be found in many different areas of Britain, and really I can't remember the last time I visited a new place without walking past one, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a wise choice for dining. Although I will elaborate below, I would say that in short it's overpriced, mass produced and highly overrated food.

I've never eaten full price at Bella Italia, because there are always vouchers available online and of course nobody wants to pay full price if they can avoid it! For just this reason I went to my local Bella Italia, which was new at the time to sample some of their food. The menu is rather boring and uninspiring and doesn't scream authentic Italy to me at least. The appetiser that we shared was very dry and dull and not really presented in the ideal way. It was supposed to be a small platter of sorts, which was one of the more expensive options and the meats had been presented very haphazardly leaving me with very little desire to eat them. Not a good start. The olives that were also supposed to be marinated, were quite obviously just standard olives you buy in the supermarket. That in itself is fine, but I do not go to restaurants to buy overpriced supermarket food.

My main course was a pizza with some meat on again (common theme!) which looked like exactly the same meat we'd had on the starter. It was very dry again and far from appetising looking. There was nothing particularly exciting about this, and having been to Italy and eaten the food there, I didn't find this to be a very good match. After these two courses I skipped dessert, so I cannot comment, but from the initial impact that those meals made it appeared as though a lot of premade food had been ovened and served up with a bit of fresh salad.

Although the food was pretty poor, the premises was very clean and new, which obviously might not be the case for your local, but mine in Cabot Circus in Bristol was spotless. The staff were all charming and the service was very good, it's more the food that let the whole evening down. Had we not had a buy one get one free voucher, we would have spent over £30 on our meal, which in my opinion is WAY overpriced for very mediocre food. The other options available to us in our local area, just next door to this branch, mean that we won't be returning, with or without a voucher, for the food available at those outlets is far better quality.

Summary: Even with a voucher I wouldn't return.