Mia Bella Trattoria — Restaurant in Jersey Village

I tried to leave feedback on their site but it isn't working so I'll leave it here. We had eaten at the Mia Bella downtown and it was great, so we stopped in at the one in The Vintage this evening. I guess it should have been a clue that all the other restaurants were packed and Mia Bella was nearly empty. The hostess warned us they didn't have enough staff, but that they would bring us bread and wine until a server was available, in 5-10 minutes. We said that would be fine. 45 minutes later we were still sitting at an empty table and gathering ourselves to leave when a waiter finally approached. We ordered, and he brought me the wrong drink. At this point we looked inside and realized the restaurant was empty inside except for three small tables and a huddle of 4 waitresses laughing and talking amongst themselves. Then we began to wonder why we'd been waiting so long. Our waiter came by to ask if we were going to want anything else from the kitchen because it was closing (we had not even received bread at this point - and in fact we never did). When our food arrived, the waiter tried to leave without providing silverware so I requested some. We watched him walk inside to the kitchen and stand around chatting with the waitresses for a few minutes before remembering to grab some silverware and bring it to us. My husband's chicken tasted like it had been frozen, and was hard and chewy. My meal was fine. We ate quickly, paid and left. I did ask to speak to the manager and was told he had left at 4. Having worked in restaurants in the past myself I cannot remember a single shift that was left unmanaged like this. We had been there for almost 2 hours and had planned on having appetizers, dinner, wine, and dessert. We had none of that. I can't imagine we will return. It's too bad because we had a great experience downtown and this one is near our home. It's obvious to me why it stands empty while the other restaurants nearby are doing a...

This was a very disappointing experience and my first review.

Got a reservation for 7:00 and a text confirming 7:15. Not an issue but representative of how things weren't working quite right.

Our server may have been new. I imagine the core issue is staffing right now, maybe they'll need to pay higher wages, who knows?

The restaurant wasn't full but things were slow. We reminded about getting water. Long wait while we were ready to order. We ordered the Tomato Bruschetta based on our past experience of it, along with some wine, to get started.

Long wait. Waitress spending lots of time at a computer terminal with another staff. Reminded about order again.

Bruschetta came, no wine.

Bruschetta was not anything at all like what we enjoyed on prior visits. This one was very basic tomatoes over toast but it was so soggy that the toast literally disintegrated into moist toast bits.

At this point we started to doubt the situation would get better, as we waited for the wine and pushed the Bruschetta aside. Not only was it a mediocre bruschetta recipe, it was executed poorly.

Should we go ahead with an order for an entree, or bail on the experience before it went further? Go somewhere else?

We waited, considering canceling the wine unless it showed up soon. The wine finally came, which was okay.

We didn't order any more food and asked for our check. Waitress wanted explanation, we gave it, then the hostess/manager came by.

Apparently the bar order system needed to be reset a few times and orders were lost.

We explained our decision to cut the visit short. They adjusted the tab, which was thoughtful.

There are so many great restaurants in the area, it's a shame to see this.

My advice to Mia Bella is to aggressively fix the menu and operational problems quickly. Brand damage is...

I took my mom here for brunch, it was our first time here and it definitely did not disappoint! Giancarlo was our waiter, he was absolutely AMAZING from the knowledge of everything on the menu, the way he described the food and drinks, the flavors in the meals right down to the incredible enthusiasm he showed when suggesting his favorites when we asked what he would recommend. Giancarlo was so passionate about the food here that my mom and I ende up getting what he recommended and let me tell you it was delicious. He went above and beyond from the very beginning when he approached our table and introduced himself with a big friendly smile. Giancarlo never missed a beat when checking on our waters, drinks and clearing our table whenever we finished. In fact my mom ordered the Lemontini and I order the Mimosa, her martini was garnished beautiful and my mimosa was just that… a mimosa haha! Well when Giancarlo came back to check on us for a second round I said I’m sad mine didn’t have a beautiful flower it, he brought back the second round and he went out of his way and made my mimosa fancy! It’s the little things that can make someone’s day! GIANCARLO you are the best waiter I have ever had and I am one picky girl! Thank you for such a excellent dining experience, I will be asking for you every time I come and dine there. Below is my Mimosa her garnished so beautifully, I do highly recommend the Eggs Ratatouille & the NY Strip & Grilled Polenta!!! Both recommendations from the one and only Giancarlo, tiramisu and the saffron Crème brûlée is to die for with...