Bedda Mia — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

Stop 🛑 and LOOK at pics of food in the other reviews; an absolute MUST! It will tell the tale; this place, No Flavor - No Bueno. I failed as I did not look at pics and went totally on the rating. Second fail, I did not go with my senses; gut, visual, smell before sitting down; totally my bad. If u love risotto ($25.00), do urself a huge favor - DO NOT order it here. The brochette was a good choice only because I love garlic and I used it to flavor the risotto! If u don’t like garlic, DO NOT order it. Bread was unpleasantly over toasted! Great staff! However, nice staff is not, at all, any reason to throw down $75.00 plus tip on a flavorless main meal, and a couple tasteless appetizers u can make at home or get at Trader Joe’s. Quite literally, one ☝️ thing that must be said - if u know, and u love Italian food, DO NOT even attempt! Or u will lead urself to a guaranteed journey of extremely high price point and completely tasteless food, which will end in, “What the hell was that?! Even the meatballs and the sauce were flavorless and underwhelming! Super SAD as the staff are very sweet and friendly. Heartbreaking to think that perhaps the staff will suffer consequences from not so happy customers that may take their absolute abject horror out on the staff. My suggestion to the owner, please for the sake of ur staff and respect for the value of ur customer’s hard earned money, invest in professional Italian cooking classes for your cook!!! Folks, my recommendation - drive to Capitola! If u still decide to eat here, I suggest u splurge on 4 pieces of brochette ($13.00) as u can use it to flavor ur other dishes! If u can order a dish and a salad, just know the Caesar Salad ($15.00 I think) was safe and was equal to a salad kit form a market, edible. If u are not yet deterred, order one dish. Taste that first. Better yet, stay home and get frozen Trader Joe’s Italian meals! Friends, save ur self the trip, the money and the literal shock of this experience! My prediction, they WILL be out of business in the not so distant future, if they fail to invest on professional Italian chef! My suspicion, the 4.7 rating by 141 alleged persons - possible AI or Digital Robot company paid by owner, IDK 🤷‍♀️. I have never written a review. I was moved to write this to save others from the horribly, grave disappointment and the money that you will waste at this NOT ITALIAN locale, especially in these financially tough times for most. And, as in everything in life, simply hoping something is good is not enough to make it so; and in this case proved to be not enough to make it edible or worth the well earned dollar....

What a fantastic new Italian addition to the neighborhood! We'll go again and again. Highly recommend!

My husband and I went to Bedda Mia for the first time for dinner on a Monday, which was very convenient as so many restaurants are only open W-Sat for dinner. We had 6:30pm reservations, showed up 10 minutes early, were greeted so warmly and seated right away. We chose to sit outside since it was a nice day. Plenty of tables outside to suit you.

Our server was Maddie and she was incredibly prompt, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable about the menu, drinks, and specials. Had a great personality, and even dealt with a less than friendly person with poise and kindness. 5 stars for Maddie!!

We ordered the onion soup as an appetizer and oh wow. We'll definitely be ordering that again, especially in the cooler months. It was smooth, aromatic, warming, and had many layers of flavor. It's not a French onion soup even though it comes with a fontina smothered crostini. It's so much more than that. ☺️

My husband ordered the Chicken Cotoletta alla Milanese. And holy Moses. Was it incredible! It's lightly breaded, pounded flat, cooked to a beautiful golden color - and STILL so tender and juicy. Take advantage of the roasted onions and peppers that come with it, it's a wonderful flavor combination. The potato fries that come with it aren't your normal fries. They are thinly sliced, airy, crispy, and seasoned to perfection. This dish is a winner!

I got the Trofie Pesto pasta and added chicken. This dish... I'm so glad the servings are so large because I had enough for lunch the next day and got to experience it twice. The pasta, perfect texture. Pesto, gorgeous. The tomatoes and sliced almonds add texture and depth to the dish. And of course, the chicken was perfectly tender and flavorful. This chef is working with magic, I'm telling you!

The check came out fast after it was requested, and they even have a super convenient option to pay for the check online from your phone. That was a nice surprise!

All in all, excellent food, outstanding service, and I can't wait to see and eat what's next at this...

We went to Bedda Mia on the east side for a late afternoon lunch. Overall, we don’t regret giving them a try. The staff, though slow, were all incredibly friendly and kind. Both of our entrees were delicious. But unfortunately our appetizer was a disappointment and the corrugated plastic roofing over their outdoor seating area was so hot it was like eating in a greenhouse.

We started with the calamari and crab cake appetizer. The calamari was lightly breaded (which we love) but unfortunately extremely salty. We couldn’t finish it. The crab cakes were quite overcooked, dry and not very flavorful.

My bf ordered the fettuccine with fish ragu . It had an abundance of mussels, clams, salmon and calamari. He loved it. The seafood was cooked perfectly and the fettuccine was wonderful.

I ordered the mushroom risotto. I’m a huge mushroom lover and this risotto did not disappoint, full of porcini and cremini mushrooms. This is hands down the best risotto I have ever eaten!

We will definitely go back. However, we will sit inside on our next visit and skip the calamari...