Bellissimo Restaurant — Restaurant in Fairfax

Not worth the exorbitant prices. Food quality was poor, decor is extremely outdated, service was so-so, and cleanliness is a big concern. Save yourself the hassle and make the trip out to a place that's worth your money like Ciao Osteria in Centreville.

The complimentary bread that was served, while warm, was tough, not nicely crusty or dense, but tough. It was served with olive oil and cold shredded parmesan cheese that was brought to us in a glass dishes and then sprinkled into our olive oil by the servers bare fingers. Assuming the server washed their hands frequently, we ate the bread and oil, but the flavor was so bland, we desperately wanted some salt or pepper (no shakers on the table) or some balsamic vinegar... anything really.

I ordered a glass of house white wine and while the server couldn't tell me what type of varietal of wine it was, that was fine, it was brought to the table in it's own little glass and then poured into my wine glass. I find it so odd that they wouldnt at least pour it out of the bottle that it came in.... it did taste like it was either Sutter Home or had been in a fridge for a week and had gotten soured. Either way, I understand I ordered the house wine, but for almost $10 a glass I was expecting better.

The calamari we ordered as an appetizer was tough. We figured this was something any restaurant that claims to be Italian should be able to get right.

My date and I each ordered a pasta entree. Mine was a lobster ravioli which was terrible, I ate 2 bites and pushed it away. It was fishy and it was mostly sauce which was thick and skunky tasting. He ordered a seafood fettuccine pasta in a tomato sauce and it was somehow really tasty and he was nice enough to share with me. (This is the one and only reason I'm giving Belissimo 2 stars).

We were seated in a booth next to the bar which was lined with wine bottles... each bottle was covered in a 1/8 inch thick layer of dust. It seriously made me wonder how often they cleaned this place... I looked down and noticed the carpets were severely stained and they were littered with crumbs everywhere (we got there at opening time). I don't want to know what the kitchen looks like.

After spending almost $200 on the bill for dinner for 2 people, we left extremely disappointed and won't...

DIETARY RESTRICTIONS BEWARE!!!

I went for a birthday party (and apparently so did everyone else as there were 5 different birthdays while we were there). The ambiance was very nice, and the wait-staff was very personable.

The problems started when I ordered an entre requesting gluten-free pasta. They offer GF rigatoni and a GF lentil spaghetti (I applaud them for being an Italian restaurant and offering multiple options). When my food came out, the pasta I was served looked exactly like everyone else's who ordered a dish with a base of linguini, so I asked the waiter about it. He took the dish and came back later to say "we ran out of the gluten-free rigatoni, so the kitchen served you the regular pasta." THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!! If being gluten-free is medically necessary, you cannot simply serve me food that I cannot eat. They offered to redo the dish with the other GF option - good, this is what should have been done in the first place.

They said they would bring out the food as soon as it was ready and that I would receive a discount. However, the food wasn't brought out until the entire rest of the party was finished and already received boxes for their left-overs. Then when they actually brought out the bill, the "discount" was 10%. ONLY 10% for serving food that would make me sick, then not bringing out anything until I basically was getting it to go after watching everyone else eat. On top of this, the dish was all of about 4 shrimp and some mushrooms on top of the noodles. Definitely not worth $30.

If you have any dietary restrictions, go somewhere else. While they have options, they simply do not seem to care if they serve you something that will make you sick, and don't care to do much to make it...

We finally went to this restaurant last Saturday and were very pleased. The place is small but charming, the staff is attentive and not overbearing, and the food we ordered is good. I had the veal Marsala with portobello mushrooms which was amazing. The veal was perfectly prepared and so soft (not tough at all), and the sauce was fabulous. I had a small salad to start with and a cannoli for dessert which was fine and nicely presented. We definitely plan to return. The tables and chairs were comfortable. Often they’re too small but that was not the case here which was helpful since sitting in an uncomfortable chair during a meal can ruin the whole evening. We made reservations that same day but they weren’t needed, as there were still two small tables available at certain points, so I’d recommend making them, especially if you have more than five in your group. The menu had lots of good choices in each category so that would likely keep everyone in a large group happy. We parked nearby in a free lot. Downtown Fairfax has been so nicely renovated over the last 20 years or so and there are lots of things to do and see. The City often has events downtown here they built an open theatre venue. It’s a charming place to wander around. It was a nice summer evening and there were a number of people taking advantage of the weather to visit this charming area which makes it as nice place to visit both day and evening. They will often have events in downtown Fairfax like outdoor movies and concerts at night, fairs and craft events during the day. During the Winter the events like the Chocolate Festival are held in the Old City Hall right near...