Bella Italia — Restaurant in Longbridge Deverill

We arrived at Bella Italia with high expectations and after a day packed full of activities, we all couldn’t wait to eat. However, the food and service was terrible, arguably the worse dining experience I have ever had. We ordered 5 starters, of which 2 came out after 15mins, the other 3 failed to arrive and were “lost in the kitchen”. From the first 2 starters to the next 3 starters coming out, was about 25/30mins. But ignoring the long wait, the starters were tasty and we all enjoyed them.

Convinced it was just a minor mishap and things would improve for the next course, we waited in anticipation for our mains.

Albeit, after another fairly long wait and the waitress losing our mains orders, we received all of our mains (at the same time).

However we all quickly realised the decision to visit Bella italia was a poor one. The chicken dish was over cooked and rubber, zero effort for presentation. The carbonara was tasteless slop, made using the cheapest spaghetti, with large pieces of under cooked grissle. Very different from the “ham chunks’ described in the menu. We called the waitress over and explained that the carbonara was tasteless and that there was no ham, just bits of grissle. We also ordered a lasagne and this was disgusting, microwaved slop I can only describe this as. The kind waitress then asked if we wanted to see the manager.

A hand was placed on top of the shoulder of one of our party by the manager and she introduced herself to the table with, “What is the problem?”, in a short and abrupt tone. We then proceeded to tell her the issues we’d had with the starters and now the mains. We explained the chicken was over cooked and pretty disgusting but the manager argued and said that she had eaten it for lunch that day and that’s usually one of their best sellers! We said the carbonara was not as described with inch cube lumps of grissle and then the manager replied, “what do you want me to do, take it off the menu?!”. The reply she got was yes, it’s not fit to sell, it’s not as described and you want nearly £17 for it, so if your having issues with your “ham supplier”, then don’t sell it and let your customers know. On a side note, we did not appreciate being acknowledged as “my love” every 2 mins from someone in that position.

By this point the children we had were tired and hungry, half of the mains went back not even half eaten. We couldn’t even be bothered to mention the poor lasagne and in truth, we couldn’t wait to get out of the place. The manger did knock the chicken and the carbonara off the bill which we did appreciate, although we never actually received a “sorry” from her the entire evening.

This is the worst dining experience I have ever had and I was embarrassed to take my children there. NEVER AGAIN!

Bella Italia, during our stay at Center parcs, Warminster, you stuck out like a sore thumb. Our weekend was thoroughly enjoyable and all the other staff at center parcs were fantastic. I hope this is addressed but after reading several previous comments, I’m not holding...

Very mixed experience.

We love Bella Italia. The food was fabulous, beautiful location, lovely atmosphere.

However, we felt there was an issue which could have been handled much better than it was.

My daughter who is 3 months away from being 17 asked for an alcoholic drink with her meal. As a personal licence holder and having done all the training, I knew this was perfectly legal and was OK with her request. She never ever drinks alcohol but as we were on holiday, she thought, yeah go on, I'll try something. When she went to order she was refused, as it was explained that despite it being legal, Bella Italia have chosen as the licence holder not to allow this. OK that's fine, that's their prerogative. She was happy to order a soft drink, not at all bothered.

My mum ordered a cocktail and when it came she said my daughter could taste some of it, which she did. She had a small amount of my mums drink. I didn't really bat an eyelid and take much notice, it was very little, she was happy, my mum was happy and we were having a lovely evening. Good food, great atmosphere. Really lovely.

Then the waitress asked if anyone would like another drink and my mum asked for another cocktail. The waitress said "well my Manager's been watching you, and they know she's been drinking some so it may be refused". I explained that it was perfectly legal for her to have some with a meal, and the waitress said it wasn't their policy. I said we were responsible adults and wouldn't allow her to drink, as such.

That was that. No drink ever appeared for my mum. No one returned to the table to explain that the order was refused or kindly ask us not to allow my daughter to have any of it, should we order more, or offer my mum another choice of drink. Nothing. We were made to feel like we'd done something really really bad. Almost being told off and refused any further alcoholic drinks.

In our opinion, it could have been handled so much better. The Manager 'Adam' never put in an appearance to explain his decision, or ask that if we had more drinks we didn't allow my daughter to have any. We would have been fine with that, and just said 'ops sorry yeah, our bad', but nothing. We were just well and truly treated pretty badly I feel. With a bit of contempt.

If my daughter was necking all the alcohol on the table, I get it, but seriously. The amount she had was minimal. I felt the reaction was over the top, and they completely spoilt our night. Very unnecessary.

And to think the Manager has time to stand there and watch customers in that way, made us feel very uncomfortable. Very poor customer service and in my opinion, an unnecessary policy by Bella Italia. Some communication and discussion could have resolved it without us feeling as terrible as we were made to feel.

Will not be choosing to eat here again, at...

The worst restaurant experience I've ever had - quite frankly, diabolical. Out of everything ordered, we only received our drinks and a starter, oh and some burnt kids garlic bread. In fairness those arrived quickly so well done for that. As for the rest? Well - nearly 1.5 hours later (yes - 90 minutes), and being told three times "it's next" - never arrived. I ended up asking to cancel so I could storm out, and they seemed happy to void my whole bill. Free starter and drinks, but I paid a high price: a very hungry toddler and 4 y.o and unhappy parents. Lovely.

Who cares about glorified trays-on-wheels if they aren't carrying anything to your table!

No issues with waiting staff - they were apologetic, but seemed to be utterly powerless at controlling the flow of food. When the waitress was having a pop at the kitchen team about my order - their faces and body language in response said it all - "not bothered". Seems a little toxic behind the pass.

It wasn't just me either: at one point I looked around and nearly every table was eyeing up a robot passing by with a plate of food hoping it was theirs. Even more laughable - they still had tables available to book for our timeslot.

Personally - if you want to go for a starter and drink, you'll have a good time. If you want anything more - AVOID until they've stepped up.

Massively brings down the Bella Italia brand for me - going forward I simply can't trust them to just do something basic like serving a main course and a kids meal. Unbelievable. If I was CentreParcs I'd probably boot them out and put a Zizzi in - better...