Bella Italia — Restaurant in West Oxfordshire

In a nutshell, this place is not ready to open and is clearly suffering from a terribly dysfunctional and understaffed kitchen.

Went last night for food about 7pm. Greeted by really friendly front of house staff and had our orders taken. Placed an order for a bottle of wine, to be told 10 minutes later that they didn’t have that bottle in stock. So I order another, and the same thing happened. This happened 4 times! I was eventually invited up to the bar to pick a bottle that wasn’t even on the Menu. 😵‍💫

After an hour. Our starters came. I received 5 grossly overcooked prawns and some burnt chilli’s, for the price of £8. A serious let down but by this point I was so hungry I just had to eat. My partner received bruschetta that looked like it had just been thrown on the plate, and was pretty bland at best.

At this point, the other 5 tables around us started to all complain to the staff about the wait for their food. Some tables even had to change their food orders to take out as they had places to be! Credit to the front of house staff, they were very apologetic and attentive. Chasing the kitchen, and supply drinks on the house to pacify the issues. They were truly doing the best they could.

Another 40 minutes and our 2 pizzas arrived. But we wished they hadn’t. My pizza was really unappetising. Overcooked chicken, vinegary BBQ and just all out not enjoyable at all. However, again I was so hungry at this point I just had to eat. My parter tucked into their pizza and after one slice, realised the dough was completely raw in the middle. Again credit to the front of house staff and supervisor, they were shocked, apologised, wiped the item from the bill and offered an alternative meal. We declined as we’d already been waiting over an hour and half at this point and quite eager to leave. We were subsequently offered 2 large glasses on the house for our troubles which were appreciated.

Our bill came to £54 (£70 including the uncooked pizza) and it’s fair to say, we didn’t get £54 worth of an experience.

It’s pretty clear that the kitchen is totally dysfunctional at this point, resulting with a pretty terrible experience, somewhat helped by the wonderful front of house staff.

I’ve subsequently been up most of the night with a terrible stomach. A coincidence, maybe? But possibly not.

We won’t...

I’m extremely disappointed with my recent order. I specifically ordered two gluten-free pizzas — one Margherita and one Vegetarian, both with extra mozzarella — but instead received two regular vegan pizzas.

This isn’t just a simple mix-up. There are multiple serious issues here: The order ticket clearly wasn’t read correctly. The food wasn’t checked against the order before leaving the restaurant. Most concerning of all, I was given a regular pizza base after ordering gluten-free — a major health risk for anyone with gluten intolerance or coeliac disease.

Mistakes like this are unacceptable. I could have ended up seriously ill because of this oversight. The restaurant must take food safety and order accuracy far more seriously.

I wound up not being able to eat and only got a partial refund through Deliveroo regardless of sharing photos. If I could give zero...

Lovely lunch with amazing service.We booked a table at 13:00 to celebrate a lunch birthday.The manager Marchino was amazing with us and as he speaks Spanish aswell it was so easy to order the menu for 5 people ( 2 adults and 3 kids).To order the deserts , Toni (other waiter) helped us to choose it.Toni helped the 3 children to order their ice creams with sympathy and affection. We have been to other restaurants that when they serve children it seems that they bother them or waste their time An ideal restaurant to enjoy a family lunch and thank the waiters for their friendliness and their ability to speak different languages ​​depending on the needs of the customers. Of course, we will repeat as soon as we can.Tasty food and excellent quality and price. Highly recommend the mushrooms as a starter and the spaghetti with...