BellaBrava Bexley - Land O’Lakes — Restaurant in Florida

im torn about this one, my reviews are honest, but guided by my taste buds... that's where im a bit... scared by this place, here's the story. A. i got takeout, i did not eat in the restaurant that's point 1 that must be understood... 2 the hot honey pepperoni pizza i think it was, it was amazing, delicious, something I've never seen before and it was really really good, the sweetness of the honey was the perfect partner for pepperoni pizza, i loved it, it was not a perfect pizza by any means but the flavors are killer of the honey on pizza, too much cheese if anything, 3. problems brewing, the order was takeout i got chicken parm to go with it, it was pretty good it was crispy large portion first impressions are fine, not phenomenal but nothing bad but i had some leftovers and i heated it up in the oven the next day, 1 day later not 2 not 3 not a week the very next day. and when i make leftovers i really bake them to a crisp, i have a wierd thing about leftovers, i don't like them but it's wasteful being a single eater, so i baked it the leftover chicken parm at 385 for 20 minutes, it was hot, it lost a little of the crisp but it wasn't bad , but i tasted something off, 3 4 bites in, the chicken was just gross, sour vile tasting, i nearly puked, spit it out, couldnt get the taste out of my mouth, i won't go further into detail, i could describe it more but i won't, because the words that come to mind... its not good.. anyway that's my story. its a true story.. like i said it was takeout and it was leftovers so anything could have happened, outside of the restaurants control. I'm trying to be honest here. but nothing happened let's be real it went straight in the fridge after i ate the night before then straight to the oven. theories include the chicken was already pretty old and the 1 day and the thermal cycling just let bacteria grow, possible, B. it picked up some kind of flavor from my fridge? i don't see how but I'm not ruling anything out and 3. a mouse crawled in there and died overnight. 4 the chicken was already pretty rotten on one side but the other side was fine.. i dont know. i tasted what i tasted and I've presented the facts. i don't like leaving a review like this but... it was pretty gross. not gunna sugar coat it. honestly I'm torn would i get the pizza again yes. i want to give there food food another chance, of course i would dine in to give them a fair chance as i can. but I'm not sure I'll be able to do that or not. i don't know. i want to redeem them but I'm scared to put chicken from this place in my mouth again.... sorry to put this ridiculous story before you but... idk that's just what i do. check out some of my...

I want this review to reach all future diners. When it comes to Italian food I tend to rate in relation to a price/taste ratio. I make my own sauce, pizza dough, and pasta so the food should be something that far surpasses what I can make. Especially when the average price is around $18 a plate. This place wasn’t the case, I will list out each experience.

Atmosphere: this restaurant is sparkling clean and you can tell it’s brand new. However the lighting was a huge issue, someone kept accidentally turning the lights completely on and off in the bar, kitchen and dining room area about every 5-7 minutes. Not sure why but it was strange. Otherwise the place was immaculate and provides a great first impression upon entry. The staff is also well dressed and groomed which is awesome to see.

Service: This was severely lacking. To give an idea we were a party of three. We had a team of two servers and we only saw them maybe three or four times in between the two of them. They were very nice, but we had to ask for everything, including refills and boxes. It got to the point where the owner had to come over for us to get a refill and box. We were there for about an hour and a half and we only saw our servers at the very beginning and at the very end.

Food: For an establishment with an $18 per plate average, including appetizers, I was left disappointed. First impressions are pretty important and when we received the $16 calamari, it was over breaded, overcooked, and clearly frozen. To a point where it took a lot of chewing to even get it down. We wound up returning it because there was no way it was an acceptable dish for that much money. We also ordered the $20 pizza and $20 pasta bolognese. Now, they were good, but they did not have the amount of flavor a $20 pasta dish is suppose to have. Again, this is something that can be made for about $8 a plate, same with the pizza.

In summation this seems like a restaurant that is paying a lot of money for rent at a new outdoor shopping plaza and in order to dig itself out, it’s charging upscale dining prices for ordinary food lacking in flavor. Again, not terrible, just not worth the money you have to...

The absolute BEST restaurant experience I've had in a LONG time. It started off with actual straws. Its the little details that matter. We started off with some appetizers - some meatballs and Focaccia. Nothing amazing, but a solid start 8/10. My family ordered the Short Rib Ragu, a stone-fired Margherita pizza and I ordered the American waygu burger. The burger was amazing - and had REAL bacon. Not pre-cooked, refrigerated strips of fat... real, honest bacon. The burger itself was ridiculously good. Per my wife and daughter, the Short Rib Ragu was a 12 out of 10. They both absolutely loved their dishes. My son ordered the pizza. Its big enough for 2 'normal people', or one (very picky, chicken-nuggets-only) 13 y/o boy. I asked for some garlic powder for my fires. A simple request. Daniil, our waiter brought back freshly diced garlic. To say the taste was only slightly less than a religious experience would not be an understatement. This was by far the best garlic I've had in YEARS - and I'm one of the American Fat-guy statistics. I know its "just garlic", but WOW... Last up was the Tiramisu - I generally don't dig into these sweets, but this at least had to be tested / tasted. Again, a 12/10 with crushed lady-fingers covering the dish. I've not had food of this caliber in several years. Our waiter Daniil, treated us very well and was awesome. I felt it only right to buy the kitchen a round of beers. The Manager stopped by to check on us and I let him have it. He's probably still wondering why someone was so impressed with "just garlic". Its the little things. Real straws (yet still compostable), and Garlic. and EVERYTHING else in between. The restaurant was very clean and even had a very clean, 'airy' smell, if there is such a thing. We will definitely be back. Its our new Go-To for Italian and other food when we're...