Evviva Trattoria Bedford — Restaurant in Bedford

I was genuinely excited to try this restaurant, as Italian food is my absolute favorite. I had received several gift cards from family who were also eager to experience it. On our first visit, my girlfriend and I arrived around 7 PM. The restaurant was moderately busy, and we stood at the bar where two open seats were the only ones available. The bartender acknowledged that the bar top wasn’t clean yet and said she would be right back to address it. However, after waiting for five minutes, we remained at the barstools without any progress.

To make matters worse, the same bartender leaned over to the customers next to us and complained about the establishment without even acknowledging our wait. My girlfriend and I decided to give the place a chance, chalking it up to typical growing pains for a new restaurant. We reluctantly took the seats with the dirty bar top, hoping for better service. Instead, we watched as those seated next to us were promptly served their food and checks, while we were ignored completely. We waited a full 15 minutes without anyone asking if we wanted drinks, a menu, or even water. This is utterly unacceptable, so we left.

On our second visit, on 1/26/25 around noon, the establishment seemed busy but not overwhelmed. Again, we sat at the bar, where the bartender was pleasant but clearly overwhelmed. She had no support, which made her tasks inefficient. I appreciated her efforts and tipped over 25% to acknowledge her hard work. However, the cocktails she made were rushed and lacked quality—evident just from the photo of the espresso martini I took.

Once more, the bar top was filthy, and the bartender simply couldn’t manage to clean it amid her chaos. The general manager eventually came out to help, which initially seemed encouraging. Unfortunately, he seemed more focused on maintaining a “cool” image rather than genuinely assisting, which led to further disarray. He ran dishes to tables, causing confusion and making it difficult for the servers to do their jobs, rather than helping the overwhelmed bartender, who clearly needed the support.

After waiting an hour and a half for one appetizer and our food, we opted to have our meals packaged to go. We won't return to this establishment unless changes are made. There are clear issues with management and operations that need urgent attention. Thank you for reading this review. I don't enjoy writing negative feedback, but I felt compelled to share my...

We were looking forward to see for ourselves what the buzz was about at your new place. We reserved our table online. When we got there it sure was busy as expected. Seeing I had a reservation I asked for a booth vs a high top, we were told by the hostess the booths were for parties of more than 4. Ok, understood, but that wasn't the case, there were parties of 4 sitting there. The wasn't a good start. Oh and 3 booths were open too.

Got at our high top table, we were promptly greeted by our waitress, she asked us if we needed a few minutes to decide what we were going to start with and we said yes. We expected she would have come back in less than 10 minutes? She walked by our table 5X, I finally had to call her over to let her know we were ready. We also asked for water 3X, finally got it during our meal. She wasn't very attentive, but maybe she just had too many tables to attend to.

Also, when we reserved online there was a question are you celebrating anything? I did state we were celebrating a newly engaged couple. Nothing was said about that, so why ask in the first place?

The food was good! However the bagged lettuce in our cesaer salad was not fresh. I'm not going to deny the good meal but you were busy, the service suffered! Also, while walking to the restroom, the floors had trash on them. At least someone should have done a quick sweep?

Lastly when leaving I told the hostess about her mistake of telling me about the booths, the reply was, "yup". Call me old fashioned, but I believe the reply should have been, "you're right, I see that now, my apologies."

We'll go back, but not anytime soon, it was clear to me the bugs in operations still need to be worked out and more service training need to happen.

I think for the more than $300 we spent I expected more. Do better! I'm rooting...

Highly Recommend This is my second time here and I must say this place is a great find for Italian food in Bedford. I would say they are even better than my previous favorite Carraba's.

My first trip was on Friday 4/4/2025 around 7PM and man was it packed. The front of house was very quick to greet me and grab me a table as soon as possible.

-Appetizer: garlic cheese bread.

-Main: cheese ravioli, chicken cutlet, and meatballs.

-Dessert: salted caramel cheesecake a la mode.

My waitress Carley is a 10/10. Never had to beg for a refill of my drink, she was attentive while not being overbearing, genuinely friendly and I felt like a welcome guest at all times!

My second trip was Friday 4/11/2025 also around 7PM. Even more packed and now I know why. Once again front of house was very quick to greet and get me a table with minimal wait considering how busy it was!

-Appetizer: garlic cheese bread, with pepperoni.

-Main: dinner sized oricchiette, (had broccoli rabe and sausage) chicken cutlet, and meatballs.

-Dessert: salted caramel cheesecake a la mode again as it is just that damn good. I asked for confectioners sugar and chocolate sauce on the cheesecake. 🤌🏻🤌🏻

Carley was again a 10/10 and had a new person she was training. Both very accommodating and on point with all points of service.

This is going to be my regular go to on Fridays and I am excited for my next dining...