Ciao Bella — Restaurant in Portage Township

We just left here and it was truly a disappointing experience. This was our go to restaurant for great Italian food. We got to the restaurant early for our reservation, but when I told the hostess what time our reservation was for she said she didn't see it and they must have forgotten to write it down. Luckily we came early and it was not a problem or this could have been bad real quick. The waitress took our drink order for a couple Sangria's and she brought them out and said they didn't look like they normally did. We didn't realize this meant they were almost devoid of alcohol. For $10 each that would have been nice to know. She then took our appetizer order for their Calamari, and also we then placed our entree orders too. For the whole first half of our dinner we were seated next to a group of six people three of those being small children who did nothing but yell and run around the tables almost hitting us, and no one from their party or from the staff ever corrected them. After getting some bread and a refill of water and waiting a little while one of the wait staff brought out our entrees. We looked at him and he asked if we needed anything else, we said what happened to our appetizer? His response was, oh did you order one? He said the waitress must have forgotten it!. He could have the kitchen make it up now to get it to take home. We said no thanks, cold spongy calamari would not be good later on this evening. My wife and daughter got the lunch option entree which is half the entree plus a side salad. Both of their side salads were slimy browning lettuce with mushy vegetables that was totally inedible. My daughter's entree main ingredient was supposed to be shrimp, and her whole entree had exactly 2 shrimp in it! It was mostly pasta and veggies very disappointing. The waitress was visibly absent after she realized the mistake she made forgetting the appetizer and after hearing how bad the salad was. The Manager came out and asked how things were and he heard about it all. He offered to get another salad for them, but they figured it would be more of the same thing so said no. We got a couple boxes for what was left, and asked for the bill. It turned out the Manager took the price of one of the lunch meals off the bill which is nice, but this was supposed to be my birthday dinner and father's day dinner all in one. To have bad drinks, no appetizer, bad salads and find out they lost our reservation was just really a big letdown. Unfortunately we will not be coming back here and cannot recommend Ciao Bella as a place to come...

You call this Itaian?! Pricing is EXTREMELY high for the quality & just barely average Italian food! Im Italaian so I'm a little picky, and this does NOT qualify as authentic Italian! Too many small issues to count, like the mushrooms were chewy like they came from a can & not fresh as you would expect! Just a severely over buttered sloppy mess! Hey, if that's 5 stars for you, to each their own! We ordered the Lobster Al Forna. It was just alright and no one enjoyed it enough to actually even eat the meal! The lobster was NOT a good quality & Very difficult to chew. It had no sauce or anything. Doesn't even come with a salad or anything! What true/authentic Italian doesn't load you up with all the antipasto, salad, breads, etc?!? This food definitely misses the mark for True Italian and is more ofca cheap chain mall or Truck Stop Quality! 8n case anyone is interested, I was able to duplicate this recipe at homE:

COPYCAT CIAO BELLA RECIPE (came from a real Caio Bella Cook!) Lol. Joking, but probably pretty close! 2lbs of artery clogging Butter. Adjust lbs of butter to taste. 1 pound of chewy canned mushrooms! Cheapest you can find 1 tablespoon chewy canned Lobster from an already open can. Need to conserve a little. Throw in some noodles and top with whatever left over cheese you can find since it will burn anyway! Don't bother adding any garlic or other spices, it will just drown in the butter! No sauce needed, if it wasn't for the gallon of butter, ours would have been completely dry! "WARNING: WHATEVER YOU DO, Do not provide a fresh salad or antipasto platter to go with it under any circumstances!

Lol. UR welcome to all the home cookers looking to duplicate this amazing...

Made a reservation online and arrived early, so had to wait But no big deal. It was a busy night. We get seated and my boyfriend gets his soda right away. After the bruschetta arrives (which is cut too large and doesn’t come with mozzarella?) the waitress informs me that my cocktail will probably never come because there is only 1 bartender. Doesn’t offer me an alternative beverage, I had to catch her before she left the table to ask if I could get some kind of drink, I get a sprite. After eating our apps, I notice that ppl at the bar AND ppl in the waiting area are all getting regular cocktails at the far end of the bar. Still wanting a drink, I go stand in line and order wine- I pay cash because for some ungodly reason, I can’t have it added to my bill, fine. At least I have an alcoholic beverage. As I am being served my wine, our waitress sees me at the other end of the bar and Then decides to puts the wheels in motion to finally fix my original drink order. Brings it over just before the food arrives even tho she saw I already got my own drink, doesn’t even offer it on the house. The whole thing put me off my appetite and I had to ask not to be charged for the late drink. I can understand if it’s a busy night… if so just tell me my drink is delayed or on its way. Don’t tell me “it’s probably not gonna happen “- those where her exact words. And if the bartender is an idiot, maybe OFFER TO BRING ME ANOTHER DRINK! So glad we are on vacation and that we never have to return to this place of business. Calling it a restaurant...