Bella Cafe and Grille at Chevy Chase — Restaurant in Lexington

An absolute joke of a restaurant. Completely unprofessional performance from server and manager. I ordered a soup and salad and the server said “I’ll get your soup out first” and it came a few minutes later. It was fine. But when I finished it, I just sat there, waiting, with no food, for almost an hour. In that time, I saw the server twice; once when I asked for a wine menu and once when she asked if I had chosen a wine. She never mentioned the salad or any other food. She just didn’t care that I was waiting in the dark. Then the host comes and asks if I’m being taken care of because my table has been empty for so long at this point and I said no and explained what was going on. She said she’d expedite my order and comp it. The salad comes out 15 minutes later with the manager cheerfully saying “we got you squared away!” as though this wasn’t a horrendous failure on their part. He did say “the salad never got rang in”, but there was no apology at all. I asked him to box the salad and when he and the host came back, I had already been crying and shaking because I’d had such a hard few days and hadn’t eaten anything all day and I finally told them how unacceptable it was. They apologized at that point but tried to say “well your server did come and check on you so it’s not her fault”. I told them I would never come back but they had the nerve to offer me a gift card??? Unbelievable. As a server myself I would never allow a guest to feel so neglected, and I certainly wouldn’t be so remorseless if I’d made a mistake like that. These people just don’t care about...

The brunch buffet consisted of mostly stale pastries that were probably from an Aldi budget pack. Same with the charcuterie. The butter tasted of cheese and the juice was from concentrate. They delivered me a burnt matcha with instant-coffee foam on top when I ordered a dirty chai. The replacement latte was also burned, lacked the sweetener I asked for and had a draught-beer like head of frothy foam.

My partner had the chicken and waffles and I had the brunch burger. We waited nearly half an hour to receive these even though they weren't busy. The only thing on both plates that wasn't cold was my fries.

Despite my burger being cooked medium rare, it was dry and the presentation would not have been out-of-place at a Waffle House.

My partner could see her chicken sitting on the serving station for 10 minutes before we were finally served. Her waffles were made with at least as much baking soda as flour and, as a result were inedible. The chicken was dry and very average.

Truly awful experience made all the worst by costing more than $70 for 2 without any alcohol.

We go to brunch several times a week in the city and were looking forward to trying Bella because of the high star rating. It was only digging through the actual reviews afterwards that we realised this rating does not seem to present an accurate picture of the...

This is my second time mother and children date dinner there, this time, with my youngest son who just finished his first year in college. He got a cafe burger and I got a Portabella mushroom burger. My son ordered a side salad and it was beautiful and tasty. I ordered Italian Soda in peach flavor and it had the just right sweetness. We both loved our dish and loved their presentation as well. We had a walnut torte because I love any nut related desert. The atmosphere is always pleasant and it is chic there. Loved jazz music flowing through and miss Holly was our server and she was awesome.

When online reservation says there is no table, try calling them. That's how I got my table; I tried to make a reservation online only to be "rejected" but when I called, Jonathan told me they had 2 tables. I am glad they turn the old bakery into this restaurant. Their price is not too cheap but not too expensive. For us, it was perfect for a nice little treat. Thank you.

P.S. my pics were an afterthought after taking a bite or two. Their food presentation is beautiful and the bun was never torn like that. Please don't blame...