Bella Blu — Restaurant in New York

I lived in Rome and traveled all over Italy, loving all the food! I must say, Bella Blu Restaurant is by far the BEST authentic Italian food in all of NYC that I had experienced! I live in upstate WNY now, and every time I visit NYC, this is a MUST go to! Some of my most favorite and most memorable dinners I’ve ever had! So glad I discovered this gem of a restaurant on a lovely walk roaming around looking at menus, and since then, I’ve been back for more!! I highly recommend you spend an evening here and come hungry!! We really enjoyed all the food!!! I never had such a delicious eggplant parmigiana in all my life! It was mouthwatering with so much flavor, so lightly breaded, perfectly crisp in a sweet and savory sauce! The raviolis were amazing! Muy delicioso! Everything from our appetizers, salads, main meals, and desserts were all so decadent and very delicious!!! It’s always an excellent meal!! Such a delightful experience! The chefs use only the highest quality, freshest ingredients, just like the chefs do in Italy! The owner and all the staff are off the boat Italian, such beautiful people, very warm, friendly, kind, smiling, attentive, timely, and generous to go above and beyond to give you an exceptional experience with their 5 star dinning service team, and not forgetting to mention, they’re absolutely gorgeous and have lovely accents ;-). It is a very busy restaurant with visually pleasing, artistic, top end sexy decor. It can get crowded, but they still make you feel like you’re their only table and make you feel special! If you need anything, just ask, they’re very accommodating! You truly feel just like you are in Bella Italy!!! I also think the prices were very reasonable and cheaper than other fine dinning experiences in NYC! You only live once! You have to indulge sometimes and treat yourself to the finest things in life - and that’s high quality food! You deserve it! Go to Bella Blu - tonight! You will be so...

My friend wanted to get a bite and do a quick little birthday dinner. We were looking for a place to eat and said walked into Bella Blu because it seemed relax and was empty. The hostess was nice. We were seated in a corner which was great because I do not like being in the walkway and have people pass me.

However, our waiter Jaime, not sure I do not recall him introducing himself to us, was horrible. He ID us which is fair we do look young but he made a comment, " You look older, so..." And, I replied, "That is rude, but this is my birthday dinner." He did not even say Happy Birthday, just shrugged , because he could care less.

The pizza was great. He kept checking on us over 5 times. May I add there were other people present and they were not visited a much as us. I may need to also state that we both are females that are of color ( West Indian and West African). I did not appreciate the over-customer service. I was uncomfortable and was debating if I should say something to the waiter. But, we both did not want a disingenuous apology.

His whole aura exuded that he was tired, over it and did not want to be there or to be bothered.

I hope Management can see this post and speak to him.

There was another gentlemen who cleaned up our tables. He wore glasses and a ponytail. He was friendly, polite and seemed genuinely sincere. There was a dramatic difference between the two employees.

As we left the hostess was kind, even the gentlemen who was a waiter for the outdoor seating. What was up with this man Jaime or whomever that was Latino, a big round and short in stature with greyish-black hair in a ponytail?

We likely will not be returning. I also strongly feel anyone of color should not visit this...

Me and my girlfriend went to Bella Blu for lunch and after asking the servers multiple times if the veal ravioli contained nuts, to which they said "no", my girlfriend suffered an anaphylactic allergic reaction.

I believe them when they say it didn't directly contain nuts, however, there is no disputing the 6 hours we spent in the hospital. I went back shortly after we left to once again explain the situation as my girlfriend hadn't fallen into anaphylaxis yet and we thought everything was ok. What were the first words out of the server and managers mouth? "There are no nuts in the veal ravioli."

Once inside a taxi her throat closed up making it one of the scariest experiences of my life. This all could have been avoided if they had mentioned there was cross-contamination. Later that night, I called again to explain how serious the situation had become and request a refund. Once again, the first thing the manager said was "there are no nuts is the veal ravioli." The manager complied with a refund which I thought was nice, however, I cannot and will not be able to comprehend the experience I had with the staff at Bella Blu.

I work in the service industry and I understand making mistakes. However, I expect them to be rectified and not made to feel as if both me and my girlfriend are delusional.

I don't even want to think about what could have happened if we didn't get to the hospital when we did.

I am not posting this review to hurt the business or its staff but out of concern for future diners with allergies, there should be more attention to ingredients and cross-contamination. All the server/manager had to do was mention there could be cross-contamination and we would have chosen...