Bella Bella Mozzarella — Restaurant in Lavonia

I never leave reviews for places, but I wish I could give this restaurant less than 1 star. I found this restaurant online on my husband and I’s way back from a trip to Georgia, and saw the overall reviews seemed good, so we decided to stop. It was seat yourself when we came in, so we went to a booth in the back, and I quickly realized after sitting down how filthy everything was. I don’t even usually pay attention or notice, but I mean the wall next to us, the floor, the booth, everything was literally so dirty. I realize now we should have left right then, but we had a long day and were both starving so decided to ignore it. Our waitress was a woman probably in her mid 20’s (my husband I’s age) with blonde and blue hair, and she was so extremely rude and unfriendly immediately. It actually caught me off guard how rude and bothered she seemed. The sodas we ordered were flat and the cups seemed waxy and unclean. I realize now I shouldn’t have ignored it, but there were a few fruit flies flying around near our table which was really gross and hard to ignore. We both ordered salads, and I guess they didn’t dry the lettuce because the salad was so extremely watery that the thick dressing we poured from the cups on them literally wouldn’t even stay on the lettuce because the whole salad was so watery and turned the dressing so thin. I love dolmas (grape leaves) and when I saw them on the menu ordered them as my appetizer, and I’ve had a lot of grape leaves and they were literally the worst ones I’ve ever had, they were super super sweet (which I’ve never even had sweet grape leaves) and almost tasted like they were cooked in something with leftover syrup in it or something. I ordered stuffed shells as my entree, and I feel like it’s hard to mess up pasta but it was just bad. The waitress continued to be unbelievably rude, and like I said the food was absolutely terrible, like I’ve never had food so bad. When we went up to pay, the woman at the register asked if we were paying seperate, which I feel is a rude question when we’re obviously together. It had been a long day so we just paid and left without saying anything about the food or service, but I just really felt I had to warn people, because this is the worst restaurant I’ve ever been to and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s shut down soon for being so dirty. I usually love small hole in the wall restaurants, but this was just overall such a horrible experience and I really regret staying after the initial sitting down and realizing how dirty it was. It’s the worst food, service, and atmosphere I’ve ever...

My family and I have eaten here many times and the food is amazing. However, over the last several months, the service has become absolutely horrible. This evening, we went in around 5 PM. We sat and waited for a server to come over. Two walked by us multiple times without acknowledging we were there. After several minutes, one finally came over to get our order. At the time, there were only a couple of other small parties in the restaurant. One of the servers seemed to get mad when I suggested that she bring a pitcher of water to refill our drinks since all of us were drinking the same thing. She had actually started picking up one glass at a time, making a trip behind the counter to fill each one with a pitcher, and then returning for the next one. It would have taken her four trips instead of one with a pitcher (we only got one refill the entire dinner). Honestly, all three of the servers I saw seemed like they were stoned. The one who didn't want to get the water could barely open her eyes, and the lady that was supposed to be serving us acted like she was lost every time she walked by, and seemed very unsure of what table she should be going to or why she was even going. While waiting on our food, I looked over behind the counter where to-go orders were waiting to be picked up (which is also right by the kitchen), and another server was vaping. I actually saw her pull a vape from under the counter, take a long drag, and blow smoke all over the counter where the food was. When we got ready to pay, I stood for about 5 minutes at the register again waiting to be acknowledged. Finally, our server came to take payment ( after she finally turned around and saw me. She had been standing behind the counter eating a bag of chips) and said the other girl was supposed to be taking payments and seemed to be struggling to remember her name. Again, the food has always been amazing, but the service is an absolute joke at this point during the evenings. It's sad because this used to be a place where the food AND the service was top notch. Not anymore. I really hope this issue gets...

So, I saw the reviews and feel a bit bad about not rating higher, since everyone seems to really like the food here, but I, honestly, can't give high marks to the food. Maybe because I am Italian and cook everything from scratch, not sure.

The space is nice and clean, and it's nice to get a table by the window.

The food was just okay. Eggplant Parm was a bit greasy, although the pasta was cooked well. The sauce was extremely bland. It's so simple to make a good tomato sauce, but maybe the area has dictated the level of flavor (I find most of the food under seasoned around here).

The Gyro meat was good, although maybe frozen, not made on property? Didn't ask, just going on taste. Odd it was paired with french fries (not very Greek). Won't get it again. Probably try a pizza or calzone next time.

Chicken Parm was same as eggplant parm in taste, same bland sauce, but was cooked fine. My son was underwhelmed. Seemed frozen too.

Service was fine and efficient. Choice of music was horrible on sound system, especially when they could set the tone with Italian or Greek background music. Too loud, also.

I know it sounds like a negative review, but it's more... just not a recommendation to make a special effort to come here. I would come again in a pinch, but with less expectations.

I would say that, with a little effort to provide more fresh and homemade ingredients, they could definitely elevate their status with those who know authentic and homemade food.

Of course, I'll try it again and see if this is consistent or just an off day. I'll revise my...