Bella Italia

Amazing Traditional Italian cuisine. Made fresh as you order. If you are looking for authentic this is the place! Highly recommend!

Great little place!
The owners are wonderful and their passion for food shows in the careful consideration for their menu and the simply delicious meals!
The ravioli are all wonderful as are the appetizers and desserts!

WOW. So delicious and authentic. Am I in Italy? No, right here in Reno! Lunch gets you great food, white tablecloth, red fabric napkin and fresh flowers on your table. Leaving happy!

The food is absolutely amazing! Prices reasonable for the quality and tastefulness of the food. The atmosphere could be improved with some nice table motive candles and the service could be more social and friendly but that’s not going to stop me from coming back for the food; just maybe to go next time. Would definitely recommend giving it a shot.

What a friendly Authentic Italian restaurant. My wife is of Italian decent, we have traveled to Italy at least 6 or 7 times. When we discovered their original tiny restaurant at 719 S. Virginia called La Tattorria, (I think they opened in 1989 with another couple.) We thought we were back in Italy. We were delighted, we had never tasted Gnocchi in Pesto outside of Italy. Giuseppe is the original creator of The Eldorado’s FAMOUS Mushroom Ravioli. You need to sample ALL his HANDMAID pasta, including that famous dish by it’s originator! You’ll taste the difference. In fact we have enjoyed almost all their dishes, & never disappointed. Along with his darling wife Assunta (Zappala) this talented & industrious couple from Northern Italian have recreated a small slice of Beautiful Italy in RENO. We are lucky to have them.

Came here with a few friends because one of them had a groupon that’s about to expire. He has never been here and was looking forward to trying it for the first time. I have been here before and though my experience in the past was not mind-​blowing, I don’t remember it being bad either, until tonight.
The place was fairly quiet for a Saturday night, just 2 other tables were occupied, so we were seated immediately. My friend was willing to pay corkage ($ 13) and brought his own wine. As Groupon rules state, you have to inform the business if you’ll be using a Groupon, and so my friend did. No problem there. Then the server asked if she should open the wine. Yes, please. After the wine was opened, one of the owners (I’m guessing), came over and told us that because we brought our own wine, the Groupon can no longer be used. Huh? Why not? She just said it’s on the fine print. Okkaaaaayy… but shouldn’t the server told us that since she knew we had a groupon ANC brought our own wine?
Look, it’s not a huge deal. The groupon is not even that much. That is not the point. It just feels like a failure in customer service. It kinda left a bad taste in our mouth, and we haven’t even had dinner yet. They must not be hurting for customers. The expectations instantly became high. The food had better be good. And of course, they’re not. One of my companions thought both her dishes (yes, she ordered 2), needed a little bit more salt. My seafood ravioli was overlooked. The edges were hard. My two other friends thought their dishes were ok, but they’ve had better. We were underwhelmed that we didn’t even bother with dessert. Nor did they ask us if we wanted to either. Oh well.
When the bill came, we had to split it 5 ways, some in card, and some in cash. The owner then informed us that is not acceptable. It has to be all credit card. It’s a computer thing. Really? My friend actually suggested they should have it reprogrammed. So, again we had to concede. He was not even willing to work with us. Computer can’t do it, so you know that saying ‘the customer is always right’, that’s not true here. Well, needless to say. It’s very disappointing. I wanted to like this place, and I was rooting for it. But they kinda shot themselves in the foot. Competition is so tough in this town, especially Italian food. The thing that separates a business is customer service. People are more forgiving of the food, if they had a good experience. They’ll be willing to give a second chance. On the other hand, if the food is great (which in this case, it was not) but service sucked, people will be willing to walk away and give their business somewhere else. This is true for myself. I don’t think I’ll be back. And I doubt my friend who had the groupon is looking forward to coming back either. He has to because he still has to use the groupon, and hopefully then, he’ll have a better experience.

This place reminds me of the simple, casual food from the Auto-​Grills found in Italy. Homemade and fresh food served in a casual and quiet (even when full) environment. My experience was weird in that I ordered an artichoke ravioli with a Chardonnay wine and I was served meat ravioli. I didn’t send it back because upon my first bite I enjoyed the ravioli very much so I finished it… But the Chardonnay became a weird accompaniment. When I informed the manager I did not receive the artichoke ravioli, she really didn’t know what to say… and for the record there was a higher charge for the meat ravioli. Again, it was very good and I will come back because I want to eventually try the artichoke ravioli!

We really liked Bella Italia. The atmosphere is simple, and VERY clean. And I like clean restaurants because it shows they care… and the food is well prepared. The mushroom sauce was excellent. Both my boys loved the simple broth soup with tortellini, wanting more, which is hard to find both liking something together. Yes, the owner is old school, all about efficient service without the charm.

I have always enjoyed Bella Italia… The prosciutto and melon is to die for… I am a simple person who loves simple pasta– the Capellini Pomodoro is my favorite… Our daughter recently had the lobster ravioli… Very good! Simple but complex… Very good! We decided to have a Tiramisu… The tiramisu is the best I have had…

Disappointing. We went on a weekday night and were seated quickly, were given water, then ignored for 15 minutes. There was only one waiter and he was stretched too thin as it was a busy night– but he or the cashier should have at least come by and apologize for the wait and say they would be with us in a moment, or give us bread, or ask a drink order. None of the above happened. We discussed between ourselves that if in 5 more minutes he didn’t come take our order we would go somewhere else. He did come and we did order, but at this point the food would have had to be excellent to make up for the service. We tried the chicken cacciatore and mushroom ravioli, neither were worth finishing let alone coming back to have again. The caprese salad however was seasoned and presented nicely and we enjoyed this. Also, the atmosphere of the place resembles a cafeteria. I know locals own this place, so I hope they can improve on the customer service aspect as this is so important.

We went here last night for dinner. The first thing we were greeted by was a dining table filled with things to purchase. It was a little off putting, and the atmosphere was not what I would expect after tasting the food… The food… it was amazing. I ordered porcini mushroom pasta with tomato cream sauce. The portion size was perfect maybe even on the large size. It was delicious. My friend ordered meat ravioli I don’t eat meat, but his looked yummy too. The best part of the meal was the tiramisu… OMG! We shared a piece which was good because it was huge. The marscapone cheese filling was velvety and smooth. The coffee flavor was perfectly balanced. Not too sweet not too bitter. It capped off the meal wonderfully. Along with a glass of wine for him our total was less than $ 50. It’s a hidden gem and locally owned. I’m going to go back for lunch and maybe even to buy a unique Italian gift.
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I would give it a five star if the cheese they offer to tip your pasta was freshly grated Parmesan but the pasta is fresh and ravioli was amazing! The Veal was tender and both myself and my former chef boyfriend ate our plates clean. The service was very good as well.

Let me start with-​we found this wonderfully authentic Italian bistro on groupon.
The owners are Italian and the food is to die for.
My BF had the chicken Parmesan and I the lobster raviolis. Everything was hand made. For desert we had panna cotta and the Tiariamasu … Both delicious… We will be back…

Very yummy homemade Italian food, went during lunch and it wasn’t too busy. Had the mushroom ravioli it was great and too big to finish.

This wonderful Italian restaurant was a total treat to dine at. Me and my fiancé had acquired a Groupon giving us a good deal, and it was totally worth it. I had veal Parmesan and my fiancée had ravioli. Food was terrific and the restaurant had a family/​local feel. We will be back.

We love the food at Bella Italia. Service is excellent. The owner Giuseppe and his wife are not at all outgoing or very friendly but they give excellent service and run a fine restaurant.

We bought a groupon for this place because we live really close and wanted to try it. I had read some of the previous reviews and was nervous going in. I didn’t need to be. The food was delicious! My husband had the Spaghetti Carbonara and the sauce was so creamy and good. I had the crab ravioli. It was a large plate full but very delicious and the sauce, not sure what kind it was, was very good. We also had the calamari appetizer. The sauce served with it was one of the best I’ve had. The calamari was light and crunchy. We will definitely be going back to try more of the menu. The man who seats you, takes your order and brings it to you isn’t very cheerful and talkative but the food is worth it.

This is a local’s secret! Our favorites: cream of asparagus & cream of artichoke soup, lasagne and ravioli. All the pastas are housemade and the prices are really affordable. I’m always surprised that this place doesn’t have a line out the door. It so SO good!

Family owned and amazing food!!! Prices are reasonable and they have a little gift shop to purchase Italy imported food/​wine as well. Highly recommend. The owner and his wife are always doing their best to make sure everyone is happy with their food. Five stars!!!

Purchased a groupon because I had been wanting to try this place, and very happy I did! Great food, and even full priced menu items aren’t expensive. The owner was our waiter, and although he wasn’t the most talkative or friendly person, it was great to see a family owned business, and authentic Italians doing what they do best!