Lombardi's in Bellingham — Restaurant in Bellingham

Lombardi's is not your typical Italian restaurant, it offers much more than just spaghetti and all you can eat breadsticks. The food is delicious, the menu offers a huge variety of locally sourced food choices. Options range from seafood salad to traditional lasagna to a big ribeye steak, with appetizers and desserts to boot. Not to mention the staff is phenomenal. Super friendly, very attentive, and knowledgeable. But as I was sitting and enjoying my meal it dawned on me that Lombardi's is unique because it offers something to everyone.

To the blue collar couple that saves a little bit of money out of both of their pay checks for a date night every month OR the college couple that donates plasma at BioLife twice a week to save up for a nice Valentine's day dinner - this place makes it easy to get the most out of your hard-earned money. All of their entrees are reasonably priced, the wine and beer list is incredible, and the bread and garlic-infused olive oil that comes with every meal is very tasty (the bread is always a big selling point for us.)

To the folks lucky enough to own one of those fancy boats in the marina right outside the restaurant- whether you are a local or just making Bellingham a pit stop as you make your way down to the Bahamas to spend the winter on your private island, Lombardi's has something that you will love. The wine list is as impressive as it is extensive, the wine comes from all over the place and the ones I tried were all great. The atmosphere is fantastic, everything is clean, they even give you a different fork for salads, the main course, and dessert! Also, you can keep an eye on your yacht while you dine.

And finally, to the highschool guy who didn't really want to go to Homecoming but your parents shamed you into asking a gal that you've been friends with forever just so they could have pictures to put on Instagram- Lombardi's is the answer to all of your problems. It's fancy enough to make it look like you made an effort, but it won't break the bank and the atmosphere is fun enough that dinner won't be awkward if it's just the two of you. On the other hand, if you've secretly had a crush on this gal for years and are excited about the opportunity to have dinner with her then Lombardi's is perfect because it's classy but it isn't so over the top that it makes dinner awkward. As you can see- there's no downside. Plus, it's new and it's not Anthony's (everyone goes to Anthony's for dinner before a high school dance) so you'll stand out as a real pioneer if you take advantage of this opportunity soon.

I can't say enough good things about this place, please do yourself a favor and check it out...

Definitely a pleasant experience...

Ok, Let's get to it. The hostess was very friendly and we were seated with no wait (arrived on time for a 530 reservation) . Our waitress/server was great and knows the menu well and never left us waiting for a refill.

Time to talk about the food!

Appetizer

Bruschetta w/ chive goat cheese, olive tapenade ,and angelica della korte. Very delicious and at the top of our list we've had! The Olive tapenade was AMAZING!

Caprese Salad - Very fresh and well put together. The balsamic reduction was spot on and not overpowering. The mozzarella wasn't the best. It could have been more dense. The texture seemed a little off.

Entrée

Chicken Marsala , the sauce is unlike any I've tried, mixture of sweet and savory. Almost like it had a hint of maple. Very delicious. The buttered fettuccine was dry but cooked well, but not my favorite and was expecting more of a homemade type. The brussel sprouts were could, again nothing to get excited over and could have been crisped more. Overall it was an OK dish, the chicken was moist and sauce was TASTY.

Scampi Diavolo - I cannot speak for the dish as a whole, I only sampled a bite of prawn, with that said the prawn was undercooked. The flavors were there and the overall taste was good, just need a little longer in the sauté. There was ample sauce and was not dry like the chicken marsala fettuccine.

Dessert

Lemon Tart - DELICIOUS, I can't remember what the topping was to save my life, BUT if you like Lemon Tart, I challenge you to find a better one!

Chocolate Mousse - Very good, and of course full of chocolate! Very rich and yummy. The cookie straw was perfect, next I'll request extra! Personally I'd like to see the dished dressed or garnished with crushed oreo to give it a little more base. The the chocolate fudge base was a bit much for me but then again I rarely eat chocolate.

Lastly, if you like a good red, try the Winter Wine Flight! You won't be disappointed!

Overall - It was a great experience and we'll be back to try other dishes! Don't forget to like and...

I'm sorry to say that we were disappointed. I know quite a few people that enjoy Lombardi's. These reviews were a major part in my choice to bring my wife in for our anniversary. We knew going in that it would be expensive, but for the food we had, it was not worth it. My wife actually joked that we should've stayed home ordered DQ. It may be fast food, but at least it's tasty.

To be fair, the calamari appetizer was really good! So many places get calamari wrong. It's usually overcooked with the consistency of jerky, but Lombardi's has this 100% correct. The calamari was tender and flavorful. Then our food arrived and it took a turn. I ordered the chicken parmigiana. It was 3 pressed discs of chicken with a side of fettuccine and 3 pieces of asparagus. The chicken parm was burned on the bottom and the meat was tough and overcooked. The fettuccine was so al dente that I couldn't twirl it on my fork. My wife was actually laughing watching me trying to eat it. The asparagus was also al dente. I ate a little of each item, but quit about 25% of the way through. It was terrible. It didn't even taste good.

My wife ordered the mahi mahi. Her asparagus was also al dente and when she started eating her fish, she was constantly spitting out bones. She finished half the fish and gave up. She said the rice beneath the fish was terrible and she only took one bite. She tried a few bites of asparagus, but gave up on that too. When we met all those years ago, we shared a slice of tiramisu, so we ordered that and... also terrible. We each had a bite or two and asked for the check.

Our server, heard our concerns and decided to give us $10 off our meal. While she was nice and well meaning, $10 off of a $120 meal somehow feels worse than just paying full price.

I'm pretty fair with my reviews and I try not to pick on little things, but again, this was an expensive meal for us on our anniversary, and instead of a lovely dinner, we just enjoyed the dark comedy of a shared bad experience... and a cup of noodles when...