Bella Cucina Italian Family Restaurant — Restaurant in Florida

Even with 4.2 stars I decided to give this one a try. For my mother. The service was good and that is always a plus for me. However, the rest was less than good. I ordered the chicken marsala with rigatoni and Marsala sauce over the pasta with a house salad and housemade dressing which is a balsamic vinaigrette, very good but a tad too sweet for me. My chicken marsala was a nice piece of pounded and grilled chicken breast with herbs and a darker than expected marsala sauce with about 7 canned mushrooms, and the rigatoni was cooked way past el dente. It definitively was not the best I had ever had but also not the worst.

My Mom had the eggplant parm with a side of angel hair and marina sauce. There were 3 nice circumference sized and thick eggplant medallions with a side of pasta and marinara. The eggplant was lightly breaded and had a nice fork cut to them, but I would have preferred they be cooked a little longer. My mom also had the same salad and homemade dressings as me.

All entrees come with their version of garlic bread. These consist of a small, almost hoagie style bread, sliced into 5 pieces. They are placed in a bowl/plate and then drowned in a garlic/olive oil/butter mixture. One piece of bread I squeezed and was able to release a good amount of the oil mixture by "wringing" out the slice. No lie, it dripped consistently for for a few seconds.

The place needs a MAJOR remodel. The painting on the wall to the left as you walk looks like it was painted by a 5yo. The decor hasn't been updated since Kirkland's sold all that green, gold, deep red and beige house decor. I can handle the plastic black/white tablecloths and the standard "I got them on sale" banquet chairs and tables but the rest just says I haven't cared in years.

The restrooms are behind the scenes. Meaning you have to walk past the service area, the prep stations, the kitchen and storage to get to them. This is where you see the years of absolute neglect. The women's restroom is disgusting. I could go into further detail but it's best I don't. Walking back to my table, I noticed stuff that had not been cleaned in years, yes years.

I can say that if my mother, who has dementia, wants to again I will take her, just her take out. I wanted to like this place. Sorry I...

BELLA CUCINA

I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur having served an eight year NATO tour of duty in Italy during my military career. Several months ago I returned on vacation for two weeks to Italy and not much had changed in the culinary field. As such, I am often disappointed when trying out a new Italian restaurant at home in Florida. From the spelling mistakes on the menu to the tasteless dishes I am served I often wonder if I expect too much. Such was not the case when a friend of mine invited me to dine at Bella Cucina Italian Family Restaurant in Sun City Center, FL.

As we parked and approached the non pretentious restaurant entrance I was pleasantly surprised with the aroma that greeted me as we entered. A large crowd was already seated as we were escorted to our table. Written on the wall was the saying, “May all who enter as guests, leave as friends.”

We were no sooner seated when a basket of bread coated with olive oil and herbs was brought to the table. After the first bite I was trying to figure how I could take what would be left of the bread with me when I left. I ordered a salad and a plate of Rigatoni ala Vodka with Italian sausage and went back to the bread basket. I observed the family staff waiting on and serving each table in a real customer friendly way. At one point I observed an elderly veteran who was struggling to stand as he prepared to leave after finishing his meal. Our server Gino rushed to his assistance putting his arms around the veteran and helping him to his feet. I became distracted when my pasta arrived and saw the size of the serving. I now realized why so many of those leaving were carrying take out bags.

The salad was so tasty I inquired about the dressing and Gino shared the ingredients with me. I was happy to see that I could take the almost full plate of Rigatoni and sausage with me when I left. It was truly an Italian serving. I was sorry to notice as I prepared to leave that there was no bread left to take with my pasta. The family members, Gino, Dandan and Jamie learned well the secrets of excellent Italian culinary meals from their parents and I look forward to working my way...

My waitress, Mandy, could not have been more obnoxious. She seemed exasperated that I asked for the price of the fountain drinks - the prices did not appear on the menu. I was told "well I'll have to ring one up and void it out to see". When out bread arrived we asked for some balsamic vinegar and olive oil - not an unusual request at an Italian eatery; many times those things are found on the table at such places. She returned with 4 bowls of various combinations of olive oil and balsamic vinegar quipping I brought you all these since I wasn't sure what you wanted. Perhaps she doesn't understand English since I clearly stated we wanted some 1) balsamic vinegar and 2) olive oil. At this point I was ready to leave. We waited for the food to arrive and promptly asked for 2 to-go boxes and the bill. She was the absolute worst part of our visit. I really wanted to stand up and publicly humiliate her in front of the entire place and staff for her actions, but at the end of the day it isn't worth it. She was the worst server I have ever had - and I have had a few 50 cent tips left in my day, but never zero. I left ZERO.

Aside from her, and she was hands down the worst part about the visit, when we got home we found the food to be average at the very very best. The lasagna was nothing to write home to anyone about - and in fact it was not even as good as frozen Marie Calenders. The side salads (so they are called) essentially consisted of iceberg lettuce. You have a choice of a grand total of 2 salad dressings.

For those who have left rave reviews of this place, I'd sure like to go there with you sometime. As for the portions being generous and always having enough left over to take home - well, perhaps for those who eat like birds. After we got home we each finished ours in 5 minutes flat. He had the chicken parmesian and I had the mamas lasagna. Irregardless, the food is not BAD, but it's not anything special. The service...