Ciao Bella

Pros: The food is delicious and creative; your standard Italian favorites and more.
Gluten free options.
Free range organic roasted ½ chicken; super tasty, crispy, and sustainable.
Homemade house salad dressing; sweet and great for table sharing.
Cons:
Limited seating for in-​house dining and can be crowded with busy take out counter (sign of good food).
Lots of chicken dish options (chicken parmesan was very good), but only one organic/​free range.

they are closed.

What is going on with this place. I walked past it over a year ago and it was under construction and walked past it again today and it doesn’t look like they have done anything.
I went on a first date here many years ago and wanted to go in last year and again this year… Closed

My Mother and I ate in the outside patio area around dinner time on a Friday. The waitress was delinquent in all aspects of her job, except of course, bringing the receipt. Staff aside, the food was unremarkable. Italian cuisine is known for its freshness, which was not apparent in our meals, from the browning oranges doused in vodka to the lifeless salad greens.
In the Summer of 2009, we vowed never to visit again. Subsequently, I wrote a formal letter of complaint to the owner. Judging from the reviews, nothing remarkable has changed.

This is a gross restaurant. My friend wanted to eat lunch outside on a sunny Saturday afternoon on Newbury street. Of course everything was packed except Ciao Bella. The menu is boring. The service was beyond bizarre. The waitstaff are young, untrained and unprofessional.
The salad was small and overpriced. The waiter appeared is if he was strung out on coke. The service was slow. I would never go back to Ciao Bella.

When I say «Ciao» to «Ciao Bella», it’s definitely in the GOODBYE sense. When college dorm room ramen in a foam cup tastes better than your dish at a restaurant, you know it’s your first and last visit.
I ordered the fettucini alfredo with grilled chicken and peas. Yes, peas were the ONLY vegetable I could have with this. Believe me, I asked. Would it be so difficult to shove a piece of broccoli or something in there? That’s when you know you’ve got a really half-​assed kitchen. I’ve worked in restaurants, so I know all about prep and all that jazz. Peas should never be the only veggie alternative…
The grilled chicken was charred and dry, and the fettucini alfredo was mediocre at best. Kind of mushy-​very-​past-​al-​dente. I had to ask for my food several times, after a 30 minute wait. I could’ve made pasta by hand and cooked it myself in that time.
Dearest Ciao Bella, just because you’re on Newbury Street and hire waitresses/​hostesses who wear spandex mini dresses 5x too small, from the children’s section of a dept. store, this does not make you a hot, go-​to restaurant. Your food and service blows like Monica Lewinsky in her heyday.
Ciao, not-​so-​bella.

Why did I eat here? Well, maybe it was my starvation from walking for 4 hours, or maybe it was because the view of Newbury isn’t so, so bad.
Not only were there about two people working, I basically had to beg to get water, god I was ready to pass out!
But my sandwich, was just okay. Maybe only because I was starving and desperate for anything. Kind of soggy in some areas with that half-​melted cheese that the writer before mentions. Kind of just lame. My riesling, tasted like $ 9 dollar apple juice. I really questioned the alcohol content and wondered why I can’t just byob in Boston?!
Basically, could you sit on the sidewalk of Newbury Street with a Starbucks to go sandwich and feel the same way? Yes. What are you waiting for? Plunk on down next to the homeless man and share a bite. Maybe you’ll even have more fun.
What I want to know is why do we torture ourselves with the «lame» experience of Newbury? It’s not even that worth it. I’d rather go to South End.

«Without question, Ciao Bella represents the finest in Italian dining that Boston has to offer.»
While googling through la-​la-​land, I happened upon that piece of lore. (What a hellish place Boston would be were it true.) I promptly delivered a prayer of thanksgiving to Saint Francis Caracciolo, patron saint of Italian cooks. It went like so:
Despite the aforementioned encomium,
Ciao Bella has yet to reopen.
Thanks be to Franco.
Ciao Bella was home to 5 of the 6 «Worst Service Ever» experiences I’ve had in Boston, in parties ranging from 2 – 6. It was so pathologically bad it seemed farcical – at least until one wondered what on earth was making the waitresses so miserable, or if the establishment just systematically mistook «aloof» for «cool.» The food – if and when it came – was too unremarkable (even for Newbury) and too overpriced (even for Newbury) to overcome the litany of accompanying foibles.
The second star is for the basil pesto.

I’ll have to agree with a lot of the reviews for Ciao Bella. I wouldn’t come here for a nice big meal, more like a relaxed drink and snack situation. Great during the summer and fall because of the patio.
I would recommend the scallops with ravioli, or the caprese salad for a light snack. and they have a pretty good drink selection.
This place might get a few more stars from me if they looked into becoming a certified green restaurant through the green restaurant association.
The only certified green restaurant in Newbury is Boloco, and I would love to see the certified green decal on more restaurant windows and menus! =)

I went to ciao bella with a friend not too long ago. definitely not impressed with the food. the food wasnt bad per se, it was just really expensive for what you get. however, the service was good.
the only thing that makes it worth it really is the patio and its newbury street location.
go to this restaurant for the location and the patio and your ability to people watch while you enjoy your meal on newbury. if you’re looking for good italian, go to the north end.

I thought they did a good job with the panini sandwich and also the tiramisu.

The only thing that makes this place A-​OK is the outdoor seating. I have to agree with the other reviews. The food and drinks are overpriced and boring. But, I would return only because of the convenient patio and they don’t make you order food if you just want to sit outside and have a drink.
If you are hungry. stick to something simple like their sandwiches.

I love this place when the weather is nice! The outdoor patio seating is fantastic and great for people watching. What place isn’t on Newbury Street though?
I have had dinner and just drinks here on various occasions. The food is done nicely and pretty reasonably priced for the location. The pasta dish I had was fresh and hot with good flavors. What I really like about this place is the wide variety of specialty martinis (can we say YUM for a Godiva white chocolate martini?) and their absolutely delicious white wine sangria. Normally I am a red wine sangria lover but this stuff was phenomenal.
Of course, dining outside does have its ups and downs. One memorable experience that had us horrified and laughing in stitches was this lady walking her small, white, poofy dog. It stopped at the tree right in front of the restaurant and laid a humongous (and I mean, ridiculously large) dump in front of everybody. We were amazed that so much poop came out of such a small, frivolous dog that we almost forgot the gross factor. Good times.

I was in Boston for the first time for a conference. Ate here one night. Great neighborhood. Nice sitting outside and people watching. The service was great but the food was just sub-​par. Prices were average. I had the pumpkin tortellini and it was a bit too sweet. Some people may like it.

I used to really like this place, I don’t know what happened to it, it just sort of happened over night too. The staff became rude and the food became mediocre and was just overpriced. If you want to eat here to people watch on Newbury Street, go to Stephanie’s instead, because this place doesn’t cut it for me, at least not anymore. Service is terrible and if I wanted a rude waitress, I would have gone to Dick’s Last Resort.

My low review is mostly because of the server. I’m not surprised that the other reviewers agree with me on this. I feel like the managers should know that they have a waitress on their patio who is at best aloof. A.k.a. stand-​offish. Ashley, our server, never once smiled at me and whenever I said thank you she said «mmm hmm». Ha, sure. When she took our order, she actually placed two dirty dishes on our table. Now, I’ve served for about 8 years in some nice places, and that’s a huge no no where I come from. I don’t know who hires at this palce, but servers are supposed to be friendly. Ashley was anything but.
The food was good, but overpriced. My boy toy got a chicken cesar salad, and it was as small as a side salad. $ 13 to boot. My goat cheese salad was pretty good, but the red wine vinaigrette had too much vinegar. Too tart. I added shrimp, and even though a shrimp cesar was ony $ 13, my salad cost me about $ 18. So, $ 33 for two salads and a bitchy server? Thanks but ciao Bella, I won’t be back the next time I’m in town!

I had a different experience than many of posters here. I toyed with giving it four stars. But ended up with 3 ½. (But it only let me give three).
I enjoyed Ciao Bella. Our waiter was outstanding. Attentive, never had to track her down. Although it was very, very busy. So despite the reviews here — people don’t seem to be staying away.
Sure, it’s on Newbury. So it’s going to get a crowd. But at least the patrons around us seemed to be happy. And all four of us really enjoyed it.
The food was good. I had the seared scallops and my date had the pork tenderloin. Both came out piping hot. The other two in our party had… something. Sorry. Forgot. But I know there were no complaints.
For appetizers, we had calamari and the funghi portobello. Calamari — ehhhhh. No so much…
But by all means, you must order the portobello appetizer. It is so perfectly seasoned. Whatever it is sauteed in gives it a wonderful chop. Tangy. A spiteful kick. Yum.
I could have just ordered a couple more of these for my entrée and I would have been happy.
Atmosphere is sooooo important for this reviewer. And Ciao Bella doesn’t miss a beat. I’ve eaten here before and I recommended it. We weren’t looking for an intimate hideaway. We wanted some bustle. And we got it.
Outdoor dining is superb (we didn’t get it last night). But the inside treated us just fine.
I’m rowing against the tide here. But I didn’t see any problems. The other three in my party loved it.

I came here with a friend for some apps to tide us over until dinner. When we first walked in, it was pretty empty. Some of the décor didn’t seem to match the restaurant (the chrome and black leather chairs and barstools seemed to be missing their 80s backdrop).
We ordered the cheese and fruit plate and the sauteed portabella mushrooms. The cheese plate arrived and it was random bits of cheese, some crackers and a few pieces of fruit. It was the type of cheese plate you could buy at a grocery store. The mushrooms were set atop some spinach leaves and had some slices of roasted peppers on it. It was okay. Overall, I would say there are better places along Newbury Street to spend your money.

Newbury Street is synoymous with New York City’s Fifth Avenue. After a day of shopping I went here to relax with a Cosmo, a Caesar salad, and Penne Pasta with sweet Italian sausage. The Caesar dressing was very good, but Penne pasta sauce was rather diluted with water as it’s not rich – thus the three stars.
It’s extremely over-​priced and over-​rated.

I rate Ciao Bella 2.5 stars.
Over the last 10 years I’ve stopped by Ciao Bella, my disappointment has grown with each visit.
Back in the day, Ciao Bella only hired model-​type waitresses, and was catering to the kind of crowd that places like Sonsie (down the road) have managed to keep since its inception. Back then, I never cared much for the lack of food quality (which is at BEST is 3 stars, but averages 2 stars) because we had the waitresses and the ‘pretty people’ sitting around us.
These days, perhaps in line with Joe’s (the owner) perceived lack of enthusiasm, the place seems to have become a relic of the past, where the only regulars I see are the older guys that used to come over for the sake of catching up with other Paisans. Without the ‘pretty’, but with the maintained attitude… guess it’s just ‘ciao’ for now.
It gets 2.5 stars because it is on one of the better corners of Newbury street with a patio.