Casa Bella — Restaurant in New York

Of all the restaurants in all of Little Italy, I made the mistake of walking into this one.... My niece and I were excited to grab some authentic Italian while visiting NYC and were headed down Mulberry Street towards a place with great reviews, but we were getting hangry and the guy out front was raving about the Italian chef, so it wasn't a huge challenge to persuade us to go towards the open door. When we walked in there was nobody there and we did a double take, but the guy from out front said they were just opening and we were their first customers. They sat us by the front window, which we through would be perfect for people watching, though in hindsight I'm pretty sure we were the bait to lure in other unsuspecting tourists for their trap.

We ordered the zucchini fritti, lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, and chocolate mousse. The zucchini was not great, but not bad, so I figured there were better things to come. Unfortunately that was false hope. Both pasta dishes were made with what appeared to be homemade noodles, but the sauces were watery and very bland. I actually asked for garlic powder to try and add some flavor, which did help a bit, but not enough to move the scale to good. We each ate some of our food, but thought we'd finish with a dessert to end on a high note. And sadly the saga continues....we had the mousse and the very first bite I took had a chunk of something that had to spit into my napkin and my niece decided not to try it, so that's where the meal ended.

I love to support small business and hate to give a one star, but we couldn't find much to try and bolster the rating. The visual of the place was nice, but the "atmosphere" while we were there was on-par with the food. The place remained empty for quite a while after we arrived and the staff acted as if we weren't even there - loudly conversing amongst themselves about something being lopsided, playing rather loud eighties music on the radio (actual radio with the commentary and all) and the guy that had persuaded us to enter would occasionally pop his head in the door obnoxious complaining the restaurant was empty and they they were amazing, but people were too stupid to stop. I just wish I had been too "stupid" to...

So many places to choose from, In Little Italy Nyc. So we decided to stop here for a cocktail at the bar The Manager Steve (😜) Made us feel So comfortable and at Home ! After we had a couple of Drinks, we decided to walk the block and check out the other Restaurants in the area! So we went Back and Chose CasaBella And let me tell you this place was really good We had a couple of cocktails at the Bar To start the evening.Then we moved to the dining room We started with Appetizes We tried the meatballs Which came with 2 meatballs and 4 slices of garlic bread freshly chopped garlic For me personally I thought the meatballs were very Good Nice and tender and soft not too meaty and stiff like most places. Also had an order of Baked Clams Cooked perfect with a nice bread crumb topping And just enough little sauce on the plate to dab with a piece of Hot bread-and-butter 😍 We also tried the mozzarella crozza Which consists of bread and fresh mozzarella fried in an egg batter With a side of tomato sauce. The main course We had 2 Orders of Chicken alla penny vokda It came at 2 nice juicy tender chicken breasts on top of a bed of penny.And veal saltimBocca 😍Which came with A slice of prosciutto eggplant and mozzeralla which i think was a light butter sage,wine,dabe tomatoe, broth And potato Croquette For dessert we had an Italian tofu Split 3 ways And sliced into pieces which was plenty which was Complimentary on the house from Steve The service was fast friendly and professional From the waiters to the Bus boys to the Bar tenders Don't forget to tip the hard working bus boys In these establishments Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures. Maybe because the Conversation, atmosphere was so cozy And comforting and Food was Delicious that I forgot where I was. Like I was lost in love with this place, Stopped in time!No one looked at the phones. Was not Rushed either But this wont be my...

The restaurant itself is nice which is why I came in the first place. I was craving Italian food but honestly this was not it.

I got fettuccine Alfredo and paid extra for chicken. Bland, the Alfredo sauce had no flavor and the chicken was meh.

Boyfriend got chicken parm, had more flavor because of the red sauce and cheese but once again chicken and pasta were bland.

Ordered 2 appetizers, those in my opinion were the highlight of the experience. The Mozzarella triangles were the highlight of my experience. The bruschetta was tasty but 15 bucks for 4 pieces of bread, I honestly don't think the portion was worth the price.

The hostess that seated us was also very nice, but the server we had seemed like he was the only one on the floor working with customers which definitely could have influenced his service. Slamming plates whenever he brought us anything. And his attitude was not giving welcoming, or friendly energy. Honestly talking to him spiked up my social anxiety and just having to wave him down for extra parmesan cheese and ask for bread for our table made me feel like i was doing something wrong by needing to ask him for something.

All in all i honestly should've just went to the pizzeria by my apartment rather than coming here for the quality of food. I spent 120 for what to me felt like should've been a 60 dollar bill because the price for the portions and taste of the food as well as the service was not worth it. Still tipped because it's not the servers fault if he's overworked but whether or not you're overworked you shouldn't make customers feel like they're a nuisance by being there.

Would I recommend, no. Honestly feel like i wasted my money trying to take my boyfriend to a nice place and got swindled. The atmosphere of the restaurant can only...