Bella Napoli — Restaurant in La Spezia

Maybe we were out of luck or it was a bad time for the staff but I can't give them more stars for the service. We were 9 people and only got 4 cards from the menu. The waitress came very quickly to get our orders, but 4 people weren't ready as they didn't have a chance to read the menu. After the final ordering, the dishes were freeze-dried for 1.5 hours! It's impossible even in the worst restaurants. We should be informed that the time will be so long. The first 4 dishes were served after approx. 30 minutes, the next 4 courses after another 30-40 minutes. The last course was pasta which came after more than 1.5 hours when we were ready to pay the bill. We were totally surprised. The risotto had no flavor, nothing special and the plate was broken. We had several waitresses who didn't speak English, German, French or Russian. Maybe it's our mistake that we don't speak Italian, but in a place where tourism seems to be the main business, other languages ​​should be acceptable. There was a lot of take-away traffic at the entrance and it was hard to switch between pizza delivery service. The waiters were hitting the guests without apologizing, which was unpleasant. No smiles, total rush, mis-brought dishes, the overall impression was that there was chaos. Unfortunately, taking into account the opinions on Google Maps, I counted on better service and tastier dishes. Overall, I am disappointed...

I was really disappointed with this place, especially after seeing all the positive reviews.

The pizza was cheap, but the ingredients seemed cheaper. The consistency of cooking was off. It was burnt on the outside but soggy in the middle. The onions felt like they were boiled and were soggy as well. We got the Romano crust which had potential but it was very hard and cardboardy.

The pasta we ordered was very hard, as if not cooked long enough. It felt more like a conglomeration of ingredients thrown in rather than a properly cooked dish.

Our appetizer claimed to have fresh mozzarella but it was noticeably not fresh.

Typically I don't care much about service, but it was really hard to get the waiter's attention. It took multiple attempts to ask them for something, and they needed to be reminded a couple times about our request.

I usually don't have too many complaints about restaurants, but I think this place is highly overrated. Although it is comparably cheap, I wouldn't...

The pizza here was actually good. Unfortunately, the service didn’t always match the quality of the food. On more than one occasion, staff seemed to prioritize local customers over tourists. For example, we had to wait while several other tables received menus before us.

The organization at the entrance is also confusing: there is no host to guide you, and waiters are not easy to find. One evening we sat at a free table and only after five minutes were told it was “reserved.” There was no clear sign — just a small, scribbled note in Italian placed awkwardly on the side, which could easily be mistaken for a forgotten scrap of paper.

On another visit, a waiter appeared visibly upset about not receiving an additional tip, even though service is already included in the menu price. That left a rather unpleasant impression.

Overall: good pizza, but the service and customer experience could use ...