Bella's Seneca Lake Steakhouse — Restaurant in Town of Waterloo

We decided to give Bella's a try, after hearing mixed reviews from others who have dined there. We were seated promptly, the server came over to take our drink order. My $10 glass of local wine was a generous pour. The server took our dinner order and walked away without telling us we could start with the salad bar. We headed there anyway. The first plate my husband picked up was dirty. The salad bar was very nice, fresh lettuce and lots of toppings to go with it. The rolls were very good. Dinner came - my husband had the fried Fisherman's Platter, it did not have tarter or cocktail sauce accompanying it as the menu had stated. A server should know when she picks up a plate from the kitchen when such items are obviously missing from a fried seafood platter. My husband requested these, server said she would bring some. I had the scallops scampi. The 4 scallops were cooked properly, but the scampi sauce was very bland. Salt helped a little. A pasta spoon would have also helped. The server asked if I would like some parmesan cheese with it, I said I would love some. She immediately came back with the 2 sauces but never returned with the cheese. My husband was very disappointed with his seafood. He said he expected the clam strips and calamari to be frozen, but said all the seafood seemed to have come from the freezer. There were 2 small, unappealing looking pieces of fish that my husband said were dry and he did not care for. The calamari was overcooked and chewy. The shrimp were good, the clam strips were fine. He said the creamed spinach side was the best part of his meal. The server never came back to check on how our meals were tasting, she did not come back to the table again till we were done eating and I had stacked my empty plates. I have been a server for many years, and it is so important to check back within a couple minutes of serving a meal. There was a large party in the back room, but the rest of the restaurant was mostly empty. We were seated next to the hostess stand, she could have asked how we were enjoying our meals as well. A good restaurant should be a group effort. We will not be going back - food and service were less than average at best. The three stars are mostly for the salad and the wine. To be fair, it is called Bella's Steakhouse, maybe we should not have...

I visited Bella’s for the first time this weekend with a large party that was reserved a week ahead of time. We waited 20+ minutes for drink orders, and waited nearly an hour before our dinner order was taken. Water bottles never got refilled until after dinner order was taken, even though we asked for more water when our drink orders were taken. One of the sodas that we ordered arrived and tasted like spearmint.. quite odd for a glass of Pepsi to taste and smell like a pack of gum unless the glass wasn’t cleaned properly. Food arrived after about an hour and a half to 2 hours after we had arrived, and at least 50% of our party was unhappy with the meals. My cousin & I both ordered the taste of Texas combo Medium & both tenderloins were cooked Rare, as well as arriving to our table cold. Pasta looked like something I could order at a local diner for half the price, and the prime rib was more fat than meat. Honestly, I’d expect more than 1 server for a party of 20 on a Saturday that was reserved a week ahead of time. I’d also expect a much more attentive server / bussers for a table that’s easily a $500+ tab. I’ve been a server before for multiple years, and I’ve been in that servers situation where you’re serving a party of 20 & serving multiple other tables at the same time.. Not an easy situation to handle, and it certainly wasn’t the servers fault. Management clearly didn’t handle this situation correctly and needs to have more of a presence in the front of house, especially charging the prices that they are. I also entirely agree with the previous reviewer commenting about the host stand being placed directly in front of the entrance… Kind of odd to have to stand there holding a door open waiting for a party to be seated because there’s no possible way to squeak around a party of 6 talking to the host right in front of the only entrance..

Overall, I don’t think I’ll ever be coming back to Bella’s except to maybe give them a second chance with a party of 2 to possibly make it a better experience, even though with a good reservation, party size shouldn’t change the experience… Between the prices, the poor management, and the food quality… there’s plenty of better options in...

Edit: 2nd visit. I returned this past Tuesday night with my son. We went early. The friendly staff was lined up waiting for us. Sarah P was our very attentive waitress. We both had the $19.99 grilled 10 oz prime rib special. It was served warm, cooked medium, and it was so delicious! I took a picture, but can't seem to add it to this edited review. The salad bar is much improved. Lots of greens, dressings and choices now, plus rolls & butter. One side with entree is still plenty. I took home leftovers. Total bill was under $50 plus tip. What a great value! When we left, the parking lot was full. I can say they definitely have the kinks worked out now! We will be back. 1st visit (4 months ago): We had a reservation for 2 this past weekend. We ordered drinks at the bar while the hostess offered to move our reserved table to a different spot, as she said the sun would be in our eyes. We so appreciated her thinking ahead for our comfort! (I had prewarned my companion about no free bread, as he is Italian and loves his bread!) We both ordered the prime rib special. We were delighted to be informed that it was $3 off for each order. The salad bar was nothing special. We did each have a small salad just to try it. We were disappointed when our meat arrived lukewarm, but it was cooked to order and a good value. We ate it all without comment, and it was very good. I couldn't eat my two sides: the baked sweet potato with the special butter, and the cornbread casserole. I only ate a few spoonfuls of the casserole, so I asked for carryout containers. Both were yummy. I'd suggest going back to offering one side along with one trip to the salad bar; or serving a side salad-and doing away with the salad bar. That is plenty of food! Our waitress was VERY attentive and friendly. It was the oddest thing to have the dining room wall lights above us flicker every time the A/C or something electrical kicked on. I seem to recall the former Emiles restaurant had the same quirky lighting issue. All in all a great first experience. We will be back, and look forward to returning in the future as they work...