Cucina Bella — Restaurant in Galena

How do you sum up an exquisite dining experience in just a few short paragraphs? The words written below will still not do justice to the sublime taste and experience of Cucina Bella. I am writing this review less than 45 minutes after having left.

Reservations are always recommended but, not necessary. That being said, I would reserve a table as this establishment gains popularity. To my understanding, it's only been open about 2 months now. They are off to a great start.

My wife and I arrived promptly at 5:30 and were greeted warmly and shown to our table. A carafe of ice cold water was quickly set down for us and our waiter, Jason, arrived shortly thereafter. We were offered focaccia bread along with a balsamic and olive oil that had quite a few other seasonings and spices that, for the life of me, I just can't recall. What I can recall was that we exercised extreme restraint as to not devour the entire loaf of bread, and thus, ruin our appetite. It was that good.

Having forwent appetizers, we went straight for the house salad and main courses. I admit, I am a stereotypical meat and potatoes guy but, that salad and, more specifically, the house dressing are positively divine. So good, in fact, we inquired as to whether it was sold separately. Sadly, it is not. Cucina Bella would do well to bottle it and place it for sale.

The missus ordered chicken piccata that is atop a generous serving of spaghetti. Naturally, as most couples are want to do, my wife shared a bite of her dish, and I agree with her assessment wholeheartedly. She said, "I've never had chicken piccata so good, this is ten times better than the piccata my sister usually has catered!"

I asked Jason for his recommendation between the bolognese and the carbonara. After a brief discussion, I decided upon their carbonara served with fettuccini. When you choose to "build your own pasta", you can also choose from penne, cavatappi, or spaghetti. You're not limited to one pasta. That being said, the carbonara was astonishing. Rich in flavor but, not overpowering by any stretch of the imagination. Both portions were generous in size and will offer us an adequate portion for lunch tomorrow. Full Disclosure: I'll probably have my leftovers later tonight.

My wife and I will benchmark Cucina Bella against all other Italian restaurants from this point forward. It's funny because we never thought that we'd even think about something like that but, our dinner was so phenomenal that we feel compelled to do so now.

TL:DR...Eat here tonight. Eat here now.

DISCLOSURES: I am not affiliated with Cucina Bella in any way, nor have I been compensated for this review. You may notice that I have not recommended a dish. This is only because we have not...

We came for the first time over the past weekend. Seeing as it was one of the highest reviewed places, I was pretty excited to check it out! Unfortunately, the food here is really nothing to write home about.

I ordered the chicken saltimbocca and my partner ordered the lasagna. The saltimbocca had a decent sherry sauce, but the chicken seemed like it was boiled - it was rubbery, didn't have any sort of char or color besides the meat itself, and was pretty bland.

The lasagna was honestly disgusting. Neither of us are picky with lasagna. Personally, I think it's hard to mess up if you have all the proper layers and decent ingredients. However, this one was the most bland lasagna I've ever had in my life. It made Stouffers taste like it came from a Michelin restaurant. It was clear that there is no love in this food, and it likely is all frozen and processed ingredients. Cisco perhaps?

Our cocktails also felt lack luster. For a $15 aperol spritz, it largely tastes like club soda with a little aperol.

There were some redeeming factors: I did enjoy the complimentary focaccia with oil and vinegar, I'd say that was the highlight of the meal. The salad that came with the entree also was very good and included olives and pepperoncinis.

Overall, the prices for any dish with a protein being at least $30 a plate, and then to have such a lack of flavor is really disappointing. Nothing about it was fresh or flavorful. It really seems that there are a lot of cost-saving measures happening, which I can't fault them for on its own, but if I'm going to spend over $100 for a couple entrees and 2 beverages, it better be worth the price.

On top of that, if you care about spending money where your values are aligned, you should know that the business Backs the Blue Line. There were symbols throughout, as well as on their merchandise. To each their own, but in case that...

We catered an event yesterday and could not have been happier. The process was smooth, it was affordable and everyone enjoyed the food. Nia (spelling may be wrong), was the coordinator, I told her the amount of people and the items we wanted to order, she easily saved money as I thought I needed more food for the amount of people we had but it worked perfectly with a bunch of leftovers still.

We chose to pick up rather than get it delivered as it worked for our schedule and saved us some money as well.

Food: This far exceeded expectations.We have some family members that are gluten free and some that are vegetarian. We ordered chicken tenders and fries for the kids, garlic bread, Caesar salad, house salad, gluten free chicken piccata-delicious even for those of us who were not gluten free, Italian sausage and peppers-this seemed to be the most enjoyed meat dish, I don't like sausage but I had it and was delicious, then vegetarian pasta options including ravioli, spaghetti with marinara, and Alfredo. Each pasta was incredible and we had more than enough for people to take leftovers.

Everyone agreed that this will be a new must go to whenever visiting Galena. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it and it is better than any Italian we've had in Colorado. Don't hesitate to go here and Iespecially recommend if you cater a...