Casa Bella — Restaurant in Denville

Let me start by saying that the alcoholic beverages were very good and the servers were very professional and attentive. I would give 5 stars for how professional the servers were this evening. The outdoor deck area is also lovely, overlooking a small lake nearby. All of that said, the food was mediocre at best. The two appetizers my husband and I received were really awful. We got the baby artichokes oregonato and the spedini alla romana. I initially thought I was being "punked" because the artichokes were literally pickled and right out of a glass jar with vinegar, what you can readily buy at your local Shoprite. The cook had plastered a tiny but of breadcrumbs to a small section of the outside of the baby artichokes and then heated that up a bit in a lemon parsley sauce. I have never had pickled, jarred artichokes at a restaurant before, it was unbelievable that the chef thought that was acceptable to serve to paying customers, not to mention that they then charged $13.00 for 5 tiny jarred, pickled baby artichokes. Think semi-homemade with Sandra Lee on the Food Network. A diner would have done a better job with this dish, I think. The second appetizer was just as bad and did not resemble what it was supposed to. The spedini alla romana did not come with a buttery, lemony sauce with capers and delicate flavor of anchovies, and melting mozzarella cheese, as it is supposed to. No, what we were served instead was an incredibly salty, overly strong fish flavored, dark colored heavy paste on top of lukewarm, not melted mozzarella between two pieces of white bread, sliced in half. Whatever that was, it resembled a version of a bad, salty cheese sandwich more than spedini alla romana. The chef needs to actually eat the proper dish because he/she clearly has no idea how it is actually supposed to be made and how it is supposed to taste. A good, inexpensive place to experience the real thing is E&V Restaurant in Totowa, for example; the chef may want to take a trip and order this appetizer there to learn what it is supposed to taste like and look like. This version was unacceptable and unrecognizable. For an entree I got the black ink fussilli with crab meat and shrimp in cherry tomatoes and olive oil sauce. It was decent but way too greasy with too much oil, and portion size was a bit small for the $34.00 price; how much does dry, not fresh, black ink pasta cost, really? My husband got the veal porterhouse special and was disappointed that most of the veal actually consisted of large bone. The host also made my husband and I wait 25 minutes for a table for 2 on the upstairs deck because i don't think they wanted to seat us at a table for 4 eventhough we arrived at nearly 715 and we had a reservation for 2 for the outside deck, so they basically disregarded our reservation and had us wait at the bar for 25 minutes instead. Overall, the incredibly poor appetizer experience, greasy pasta dish, serving a costly piece of veal that consists mostly of bone, plus relatively small portions compared to price, will ensure that my husband and I do not return here again. It is a shame because we were searching for a nice Italian restaurant in our new neighborhood and the service was great, the ambience was romantic which was nice and welcome, but the food was very underwhelming and definitely lacks culinary skill. Whatever this place offers, it is definitely not fine Italian cuisine. If they could improve the food I think this place would be a true hit, but they need new...

Another wonderful meal last night. A group of 18 or so went out for a birthday dinner celebration. We were seated upstairs and pretty much had the floor to ourselves. The food was amazing and the service was perfection as always. I'm always impressed when 18 entrees arrive at our table within minutes of one another and all are perfectly prepared. Great night with great friends made even better by celebrating at Casa Bella. May 2023 - A group of 13 went out on Cinco De Mayo to a new Mexican restaurant. About 50 minutes past our reservation time with no no hope in sight of being seated my wife called one of our favorite restaurants just down the road. We had little hope as it was 9pm on a Friday night but the folks at Casa Bella said come on down. Within 10 minutes after arriving we had drinks in hand and appetizers ordered. Everything on the menu is great but do try their specials which are always fantastic. Everyone in our group has eaten here before and many birthday celebrations, graduations, repasses...etc have been held upstairs in a private dining area. We were the last table there and were going to skip dessert so they could close up but they insisted we stay and enjoy coffee and dessert. Ever since we discovered Casa Bella 10 years ago we never have to wonder where we can get a great meal and be taken care of by a great staff. Happy Cinco De Mayo LOL. June 2013 - We wanted to have a High school graduation dinner for my daughter which included about 35 family and friends. I call Casa Bella at the last minute (2 days before the day) and they were able to accommodate us in a private room upstairs. Our gracious host Angelo made sure everything was perfect and perfect it was. The room was set up beautifully and we were able to mingle before dinner service started. We had four different appetizers and each one was delicious. There was a choice of three different salads, the most popular being their Caesar salad. Everyone commented on their entries which included pasta, chicken, fish and beef dishes. Portions were very filling and I did not hear any complaints. Not sure which one was the winner but a heard a lot of great comments about the homemade pasta. Everything was cooked perfectly and the whole party was well executed by 3 wait staff who made sure we always had a drink, a clean table and full water glasses. These gentlemen made what would have been a good dinner into a great dinner. After coffee and dessert was served we were able to mingle some more without any pressure to leave. We had only eaten at Casa Bella 2 times before, both within the last 2 months. We would pass this place all the time and would say we should stop in at that place on the hill. So if you are on Rt 46 and see Casa Bella on the hill do stop in, you won't be disappointed....

Place looks great from the outside but is as old as a Dinosaur...the Couples tables are Extremely Extremely small. They will let you order and change any pasta , any sauce...problem is they have no clue what a Bolognese is and the Quality of the Pasta is medium at best. we were very Disappointed ordering pasta ( Angel hair and spaghetti , both Bolognese. my wife's angel hair was ok. my spaghetti was sooooo well done and full of water that when they spreaded some cheese over it became a tomato/cheesy soup. the Sizes of the Drinks are Ridiculous and if you dont ask for olive oil for your Bread, they will not ask you at all......the most negative highlight of the Afternoon was ordering what they have listed on the menu as " Fried Breaded Mozzarella" anywhere in the world this will be some type of mozzarella cheese fried in the form of a Stick or a Patty or something related to the word..." Fried breaded mozzarella" well.....they brought us two slices of loaf bread cut in half and they covered with Mozzarella.........more of a cheap ugly Grilled cheese.!!! Horrible, just brutal....this place is a Disgrace to Italian food. I just told the waiter" go ahead and take it away, we dont want it, we dont like it, what we read on the menu is not what you brought to us....maybe here people have no clue what " Fried Breaded Mozzarella " is........also , the salad was old, nasty with Brown old frozen pieces ...totally disgusting!!!! at the end i asked for the bill, and I was really expecting either one of those items to be removed from the bill.....well, you guess wrong!!!!! not a word about it!!!!! nothing......not a comment!!! traveling around the country for Business we get to really eat in great places , specially Italians.....and we have to say this : One of the worst , cheap made pasta we ever had in the U.S.....what a horrible Experience...do not be fooled by the building or the greeting smiles....the manager and the kitchen and the waiters got engaged in a really really heated argument in laud and clear in front of the entire restaurant , near the Bar/entrance. I refuse to give this place a star. Casa Bella? this was more of a Brutta Casa Cibo Cattivo Casa........only reason i gave it a star was bcs if you dont , u can't post it. opps, before I go...the access to the front door is as Dangerous as going to Newark , you can easily fall down and go straight to the Hospital and the Food is Extremely Overpriced. ...