Bella Sera of Boerne — Restaurant in Boerne

We had been to this location about 2 years ago when it was under a different name of Fredo's, we did not become returning patrons. So, seeing the new name Bella Sera and reviewing the full menu online, it had us interested enough to go.

Walking in and being seated by a quite hostess which was telling of itself that she must be new, and then our server "Isa" (not sure on the spelling - no name tag) came to get the orders for us. Bread came to table with waters and shortly the wine and beer appeared 5 mins later. The wait time for our appetizer, fried calamari with marinara, came half way thru the wine, beer and bread. Yeah it was hot and tasty, so tasty it was finished it off. This item will be reorder on the next trip. This was consumed with another bread basket that was brought after another server came by to check the table.

The restaurant was 70% full and there were only 2 servers and 1 kitchen staffer bringing food to all of the tables. Busy, busy, busy. The entrees came to the table about 10 mins after the hot appetizer was finished off which was brought by the other server. We were cautioned about the hot plates and asked if there where be anything else. The Lasagna and Chicken Parmigiana is what we ordered and everything looked good with very large portions, plenty of gooey cheese, bright fresh sauce and rising wavy steam going up into the air. Yes! This was a visual moment that we both smiled about. So, we started digging in and slowly experiencing the flavors, the dishes was a smash hit.

Saving half of the Lasagna for lunch tomorrow was a no brainer. Now that cannot be said for the Chicken Parmigiana, this entree did not survive. It was devoured and nothing was remaining for a leftover to take home. My husband completely enjoyed this dish and if there were any issues of not cooked properly he would know. He is retired now from the food industry with the past positions of chef and kitchen manger to go back on for a reference point on food issues. And he had no issues in regards to his plate.

The only lag of time that we had was after we had finished eating and while waiting for our server to return to our table with a to-go box. The time lapse was approximately 10 mins and when he did return, we had to remind him of the to-go box and that we wanted to get a dessert.

A desert was ordered and we got it free because of the offer that was printed on a table top card displaying the message, "text this word to this phone number to get a free dessert or glass of wine". We did and within in 5 mins the cheesecake with 2 spoons came to our table and it was yummy. It was the Chocolate Cheesecake, that was not as big as imagined but the size was about 9 to 10 bites. Very creamy and delicious.

When we were done our server came with the bill 5 mins later and was delightful with a smile and light banter about my husband being lucky because I was getting the bill and he did not. My husband laughingly reply that the luck was short due to the bill at the end of the month. The billing was correct and written by hand showing the drinks and food that were very economically priced. Not waiting for our server to return to the table, I just walked over to him and we had more light banter as the bill was completed and our total with tip came to approximately $76.00.

Side note, the last Italian restaurant that we went to (Leon Springs Rd.) had a final bill of $150.00 for that same number of drinks and dishes. Wow right and at that place the Lasagna was sent back to the kitchen and another dish had to be ordered. Portions were smaller too, and we are not going back there because it was so overpriced for us.

To conclude this review, the decision to work our way through the menu will be fun and we are looking forward to trying more. So, you can say that is review is in the 80% positive and...

Overall it's a decent restaurant. As with all restaurants it has its ups and downs on certain dishes. I've been there 3 times at this point and the pictures listed are those visits indicated in order from worst to best. By far my favorite item I'm the list is the garlic bread with garlic and olive oil dip which is splendid. The spaghetti and meatballs are delicious as well with the angel hair pasta and light sauce . The fettuccine carbonara was entirely too saucy and rich for me and it made me sick but I dont k ow of that was because I ordered it take out or not but the price was unreasonable for what I got. It wasn't super busy the times I went and the staff were fairly pleasant but it could use some work. The decor is very old school Italian with the music as well. Not pictured he was the nicks special salad is smothered in lemon juice and its too over powering. The regular tossed salad is oknut I got some slightly wilted lettuce and im not a fan of that personally. The portion size on the spaghetti and meatballs is really large and the fettuccine is not especially for the price . The other dish. I got was the pasta sampler which is pictured above as well it is cannelloni lasagna and manicotti covered in cheese. The lasagna I did not like at all the other two I did I liked the cook fruit of the dish because I got to sample more in once sitting and it was decent if you are undecided about what you...

Been here twice before and the food was phenomenal! When we first arrived, I walked up to the bar to order a beer and two waitresses kept looking at me and divert their gaze when I was able to catch their attention. Then one of the waiters walked up and completely ignored me. I finally had to holler out to one of the young ladies and ask if the bar was open and the first thing that came out of her mouth was, "do you want something to drink?", I couldn't stop laughing, because the first thought that popped into my head was, here's your sign.

Tonight though, everything was off. It took one of our patrons 35 minutes to get their salad and the only reason they got it was because my wife had to go find the waitress. The food was warm, not hot, most got their orders on time, but others did not get theirs until we had to go and find the waitress, AGAIN. One plate was taken off the bill because our daughter couldn't get past the horrid foul odor of the sauce. When tea was poured, there was no ice in the pitcher and the tea was warm. Several times ice was asked for, but never came. All in all, I doubt we'll be back. It's just not the way...