Bellini Italian Restaurant And Bar — Restaurant in Naples

April 28. First visit to beautiful Naples to see friends we hadn't seen in 20+ years and they wanted to take us someplace special. Yeah, right. Ironically, among other things our table-talk turned to people we knew who made a habit of complaining about every little thing to get a meal or room comped. Right about then I pulled a dark hair out of my mouth that had been in my pasta dish. My hair's gray so it wasn't mine. Called our server, told him and he said he'd replace the dinner. Thanks to the hair and the resultant reduced appetite, I asked for a small portion of a different pasta dish. Great, it was hairless. Assuming there would be some "consideration", I got the bill and was surprised to see the full price charged. I called the waiter over and told him I expected something off the bill, he said, "We gave you another meal." I told him that was an unsatisfactory answer, thinking they couldn't have done anything LESS, but then realized, yeah, he could have told me to continue eating my meal, hair or no hair. Not being empowered to do anything further himself, he got the manager, who -- evidently working from the same playbook -- told me, "Well, we replaced your meal." Though already uncomfortable because of the close quarters and other patrons very close, and thinking about our previous table-talk, I nonetheless pressed on and repeated my comment to the server, and told the manager that was unsatisfactory. He asked what I desired and I should have been more directive. but suggested he should come up with the appropriate "service recovery". Mistake. The server returned with a bill with a $6.90 reduction, 30% of my meal charge, with of course the automatic 20% tip added. Had the circumstances been different, I would have given it back to him, and told him if he thought that was appropriate, go back and create another bill without any reduction, since $6.90 seemed to me to be a meaningless gesture. At this point it was less about the hair and more about the utter cluelessness of how disgusting it was as well as appetite-killing. But I'm not like the people we had talked about so I moved on...incredulous. And started to think about how I would...

Bellini is an Italian restaurant located just a few miles north of the well known 5th Avenue. It is located on the property of the Best Western hotel. Parking was ample and valet service is available especially helpful during rainy season.

We were seated in the back, overlooking the garden area of the pool, by a lovely woman named Janice.

The beautiful dining area seating was well spaced allowing diners ample room to move about and converse without the fear of interrupting other guests (see picture).

Zanella, our server, and her team, Lorena and Marcos were amazing and made our experience even more memorable by their professional service and attentiveness. The owner, Mike, also dropped by each table to either check on his guests' dining experience or to catch up with a returning guest, a practice lost by many restaurant hosts today.

The menu choices were extensive and appealing to all. For our meal we began with the burrata and procuitto special appetizer which was plentiful enough to share. As a main course. I enjoyed the chicken marsala which was served with potatoes and vegetables (see picture) What I loved most about this dish was that it was not only delicious but, it was not floating in marsala sauce. My husband enjoyed the Veal Valdostana. Sadly, I did not get a picture of his dish before it was eaten but, I did snap a picture of what his plate looked like when he was finished ( our thanks to Lorena for providing us with extra bread to clean up our plates!).

We finished the night with one of their many delicious desserts and coffee (espresso) and tea - yes they do have decaffeinated!

One comment I would offer to enhance the elegance of the dining experience would be to change from laminated dinner menus (most likely instituted at the height of Covid) to a more formal look. I would also present the dessert and after dinner drink menu, now presented on copy paper, with a more formal look.

Overall it was a wonderful dining experience which I hope one day you too will be able to enjoy. Bellini is certainly one of the hidden...

A very clean, white, elegant Italian Resturant and bar. Not stuffed with all the Italian cliches of old world Italy. Dinner music was appropriate and tasteful, relaxing even, at just the right volume. Made me want to go have a romantic dance with my husband.

Excellent service. The waiter and owner Mike remembered my husband from last week when he came in for the first time. They even remembered what he had ordered.

Fresh hot Italian bread was brought out with a good grade of Extra Virgin olive oil with herbs and some Parmesian/Romano cheese. Of course the water goblets were kept full with refreshing cold water.

I just had to order a Bellini (thus the name) which was sparkling and refreshing.

Not on the menu but always an available gem was there Caprese Burrata Salad. A baseball size of fresh mozzerella burrata, the creamy innards spilling over the largest sweetest tomato slices arranged around it with crostini, fresh basil leaves and thinly sliced italian ham. All of this with a drizzle of balsamic reduction. Such an explosion of an Italian countryside in your mouth.

I ordered Veal Picata which came with just the right amount of savory sauce made from wine, butter, garlic, and lemon which was served with crispy on the outside Rosemary roasted potatos, carrots, and broccoli. I ate almost ate every bit but my husband kept looking at my food so I kept giving him bites. lol

My husband had linguini with lobster, shrimp, clams, calamari, tomatoes. What a scrumptious broth that made. He topped it off with fresh grated cheese. He would have finished it but there was so much, I made him bring some home for lunch the next day.

We just want to say we highly recommend Bellinis and we will definitely go back...