Bellisio’s Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar — Restaurant in Duluth

We arrived on Saturday after UMD white coat ceremony, around 4:45 pm. The "host" was a younger man who seems unable to communicate well in terms of letting us know our options. To explain, my husband walked up to the host podium and this young man told him that lunch was ending at 5:00 and dinner was then going to start. Why we couldn't sit down and order dinner is beyond me. We would have had a drink and waitied 15 minutes if that is what was more convenient for the restaurant, I guess. They wouldn't let us sit at a table in the dining room though, which was completely empty. From what I gather, the dining room can not be used during "lunch time"? In any case, this young man proceeded to tell our group of 5 that our only option for dining there, even after 5 pm, was to either sit at the bar or sit on the patio outside. We felt like we were not wanted at all. It felt like we were being turned away, from a restaurant that had hardly any patrons at it at that moment. Which confused us. Now we did go to the bar area to sit and order drinks, but we didn't actually sit because my mother was with us and is 95 years old, and can not sit at a high top table, which was the only available seating. We headed out to the patio, and found that there was only high top table seating out there as well so we started to walk out. I complained to my husband as we were leaving at the patio that this isn't a place to bring anyone who has mobility issues since they have such a limited type of seating. A young woman with blonde hair must have overheard me because she came up to us and said she would try to fit us into the dining room as soon as possible if we liked. I agreed with her because I honestly didn't want to drag my poor mom anywhere else at this point and we had already paid for parking by the restaurant at this point. Let me back track - the young man previously, had told us that if we didn't have RESERVATIONS we could not sit in the diningroom AT ALL even once it "opened" at 5 pm. Well, the blonde young woman eventually "found us a table" and "made things work". We were there frm 4:45 pm to maybe 6:15pm. The dining room that was all "reverved" was essentially EMPTY the whole time, with only maybe a few people at tables in there, so I don't know what this young man, the "host" was talking about but he must have been very confused and didn't know how to do his job at all. Very disappointed. Now, the ambience at this restaurant is spectacular. But you pay for it becuase the prices are pretty expensive for the quality of the food. I supposed since i grew up in New York City area, I have experienced authentic Italian food all of my life, but still, this menu is over priced. There is no other way to say it. The quality is just so so, nothing to write home about. The service was decent, but not super friendly, but attentive at best. The over all experience sould really only get 1 star, but I hate doing that. I just feel that people should know what to expect when they go to a somewhat fancy restaurant for an Italian meal. It doesn't live up to expectations at all, and felt extremly unfriendly. My family was all dressed up and we are all professional people so we were not unacceptable as far as what type of image this place is trying to portray. One of the weirdest dining expriences...

What an awful experience. This restaurant has consistently been awesome; food and service. New ownership? Definitely going downhill.

We arrived per our reservation and were shown to back wall seats. I asked for a table in the dining area, the hostess said she had 3 and 4 guest parties arriving for those tables, yet she moved us to one of the tables.

We ordered, I am not an asparagus fan, I asked if I could substitute mashed potatoes for the asparagus and server said absolutely.

Asked about bread service, waitress said they stopped that but could pay $7.50 for bread. Ay yi yi.

We got our meals, our bottle of wine, and a martini as well.

Waitress never refilled our wine glasses, I ran out of water halfway through my meal.

Bill was $217.00, including an additional $3.00 for potatoes (which were subbed in place of asparagus). Waitress NEVER said or hinted of an up charge. Bill was reduced to $210.00 if you paid cash.

I saved $7.00 by paying cash. I reduced my tip another $3.00 cause the server charged me for something she failed to make me aware of (the mashed potatoes).

I also will note that less than 10 minutes after we were seated another couple were seated next to our table, so the hostess lied.

Perhaps now that wait staff now make the same as every other minimum wage worker they don't care about tips? What has happened to this restaurant?

We spent 57 total minutes in the restaurant tonight, our bill was $210.00. Had we received good service and not been scammed on potatoes, the tip would have been $52.50 (25%) and that's a heck of a lot more than minimum wage for an hours work.

Such a disappointing dinner. Food was very good, service was horrible. I think this restaurant has forgotten that the customer should be a priority opposed to treating us...

Having lived my life around excellent Italian and Italian-American cuisine in the Northeast U.S., I can confidently say that Bellisio's is an excellent Italian-American restaurant with great food, great service, and a lively atmosphere.

Our server Molly was extraordinarily personable and attentive, clearly well-versed in the industry with ample knowledge and awareness of the restaurant itself. Dining out is undeniably elevated when the staff presents as fully on top of matters, and can confidently converse with customers in a pleasant manner as we witnessed here. It being my first time to Duluth in general, this set a fantastic tone for the trip as a whole.

The Pasta Alla Arrabbiata with Italian Sausage was extremely flavorful and hearty, with an exciting, yet reasonable, spiciness to it. I ended up ordering the Crème Brulee for dessert, as recommended by the server, and having only ever had very traditional Crème Brulee previously, the chocolate drizzle they add was unexpectedly phenomenal, to the point where I am convinced that it should be the norm for all such desserts. My companions were also raving about the Gnocchi, and while I was unable to taste it for myself, I greatly trust that the execution of dishes here is a high standard across the board, and the portions were plentiful, which is always appreciated.

The pricing was quite reasonable considering the quality of service received, and I would recommend Bellisio's to anyone looking for a fine quality, meal...