Bella Cucina — Restaurant in Franklin

I REALLY wanted to like this place. Visiting PA to help a friend with some work and he took a couple of us here as a thank you. I was under-dressed admittedly. My bad. I apologize. Wasn't expecting the nice atmosphere. It looks nice. Very loud though. Waitress Jennifer was genuinely charming, funny, and did a solid job taking care of us... But the food... the food was poorly... My friend ordered three things. They were out of each. Not a great start. Decent bread with really nice dipping oil. We ordered the daily special flatbread. It was very rich and very sweet. More a big pile of toppings with some thin, soggy, chewy bread under it. Sometimes less is more. We left half uneaten. The asparagus soup de jour would have been excellent if not for the giant wad of parm cheese floating in it. It made a nice cream soup very messy and heavy for no reason. Then the long wait for entree's... The menu sounded great. I took the waitress' advice and chose the crab and squid ink ravioli over the blueberry chipotle duck breast. Bad call... unless the duck was somehow worse. 1st it came out stone cold in the center. Then it came back... It was just a hot mess. Nothing texturally going on at all. There was so much piled on the overcooked ravioli that it was indecernable from the sauce and accoutrements. The frizzled leek or whatever on top was a terrible idea. Stripped with the grain and fried I believe, it reminds me of what I imagine a pile of celery strands would be like to eat. The dish had no balance. It was beyond rich and desperately needed some acid or something cut through it. It would have made a decent dip/spread for some crusty bread but it's hardly an entrée. I also tried my friend's strip steak with fingerling potatoes. It was chewy, mealy and poorly seasoned. Like a cheap sirloin, without with gristle though at least. The other dish was strip steak with farfalle(SP?) AKA bowtie pasta. He was unimpressed and ate little of it. Said the past was overcooked and is was bathed in cheese. He took it to go to be nice. A good amount of food went to the trash and we left unsatisfied with a large bill for what we were served. I won't return. The chef should seriously evaluate the menu and its plating/ingredient proportions. The ideas are amazing, the execution......

Brought wife & kidz here for an early Mother's Day dinner and had a very pleasurable experience. Crushed the fresh bread & crackers in the paper cone in about 30 seconds. Staff were very accommodating of my wife's needs related to Coeliac, and told us they could make basically everything on the menu custom to meet her dietary restriction. Zuppa di giorno was bean and ham, very savory and satisfying. The restaurant's flexibility on half portions was appreciated - although the Pecan Crusted Chicken half portion was plenty big enough! Even the Salmon & Lobster half portions were substantial when combined with the other vittles at table. Wife ordered a Grapefruit mule as a Mothers Day treat, and it was expertly made and tasty, but potent. Kids' menu Fettucine alfredo was heavy ballast for my little girl's belly, but I suppose that goes with the territory, since I'm not a fan of that particular dish - although the flavour and the creaminess was appealing. Dessert was creme brulee and you could tell it was fresh made and spent zero time under a heat lamp! Caramel shell was just thick enough, custard was warm, rich and unctuous, an absolute winner. Loved our experience at BC and walking around on LIberty Street before and after our meal. We will be back to Franklin for fine dining, and if time allows, I can indulge myself playing some of the fine import instruments at West Park Guitars. Support Local Businesses! Thank you...

Boyfriend treated me here. I have to say, I do not enjoy these types of restaurants in the first place, so my opinion may be biased. Upon arriving, i felt stuffy and crammed. If you have any type of claustrophobia, i do not recommend this place because you are seated directly by others, and it is LOUD. It was packed and the noise level was much to that of a cafeteria. Plus side is that we made a same-day reservation and were seated immediately. The lighting is pretty, but makes it hard to see. I witnessed several people blinding us and using their phone flashlights to read the menu lol. Im not sure how the wait staff gets around not seeing, but they do a good job, no problems there. Staff was well dressed and polite during our stay. The menu was pretty scarce and didnt list non alcoholic drinks. I got the crab stuffed shell in mushroom sauce (or something to that) and not any crab in site unfortunately. It was more a mushroom soup and i did not enjoy it as much as i could've. Boyfriend got some kinda steak that was not cooked to what he ordered and ended up not eating it either. Bill came to $100 something and we both left hungry. To...