Severina Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in West View

So i stopped here thursday night at 615 with 45 min to kill and wanted to get a quick bite in before work. I had no clue what i was getting myself into. I was sat by a gentleman at a table outside. I was alone and waited more than a few min(5 to 8min) for my server to arrive. I should have took that as a sign and left right then but i thought 35 min was still a good amouy of time to enjoy a quick pasta dish and go. I ordered as soon as the server arrived at my table. Around 623. I ordered what i thought would be the easiest and fastest thing on the menu on purpose, the parpadelle with a bolognese sauce. I told the server i was in a hurry too. Pasta with sauce should be quick. Right? She informed me everything was made from scratch and i got excited bc in my head that meant the pasta should cook even faster. 2-3 min. Toss in sauce and good to go. I still expected to wait 15 to 20 min for my dish. But 30min go by. Im now going to be late for work. My clients house was only 10 min away so i message her that im gonna be a few min late. I then ask the server if she can check on my food and she says she will check on my ticket and she never returned to tell me anything. I then message my client and tell her im still waiting for my food. This is now at 657. I had to be at her house at 7pm. I thought i may be there 715 at the latest. Well i was very wrong. I sat and waited patiently for my pasta for another 45 min!! I had to ask for a box and my check before my food even arrived. My server didnt even come to offer me those things to make sure i could leave asap when the food arrived. She had no concern. I had to ask her for the check before my food came. I asked her another time about my pasta. Still nothing, but a salad came that i didnt order. It comes with the dish apparently. I ordered so fast i didnt even know, nor did she inform me. My pasta finally came at 745!! Wild. I wish i was kidding. I threw it in the box and drove to my clients house right away. Smelled really good but i didnt have time to eat it til later. I wish i had read the reviews on here or been told there was no way for me to eat in a hurry there. I waitied almost 90 min at this restaurant for a single easy to prepare dish while watching other families get their food and leave all around me. They had multiple courses. I had one thing. One thing that i know from cooking at home takes only a few min to prepare. Bc the sauce is prepared ahead of time. Its not a made to order sauce. All in all this is a sign of an understaffed and poorly ran kitchen. Ive been in the service industry for over 15 years. The food was amazing though. I definitely want to eat here again, I will however plan to not be in a hurry. I will give myself 3 hrs to eat here with friends. At least. Do not expect fast food service here! I wish i was told right away on the wait time for my food bc then i would have just got a dessert and left. Or possibly just went anywhere else for a quick bite. Instead i waited 90 min smelling good food l around me. I loved pasta when i got to eat it the next day. I just wanted to share my story so nobody else in a hurry stops here to be disappointed and late! I was an hour late to my appointment bc of this pasta dish. Worth it? Possibly. It was delicious. Thanks for the great food but some communication about how long i would expect to be waiting would have been nice! Waiting alone also wasnt nice. Next time i will bring a friend and enjoy a drink or wine...

I've been meaning to stop in and check this place out since I moved to Bellevue 18 months ago. The patio is beautiful and is often packed when I drive by. I was simply confused for a bit by the low profile that they keep. Initially I didn't know if they always served a full menu, or only at certain times. To be honest I still don't know. Regardless I had a great experience and this will become a habitual affair for me.

Food: I had the meatball panini and shrimp scampi. The bread was quality. The meatballs were served piping hot and tasted fresh, not like they live in a warmer pan all day. They were flavorful and well seasoned. The marinara was bright and robust. The shrimp in the scampi were large and cooked well. The scampi sauce was simple, clean, delicious. I'd love to see it served with crostini, but I was still very happy with it.

Service: The gentleman who was providing service was quiet yet attentive. This threw me off at first but I came to appreciate and actually prefer his style of service. When I needed things they appeared in front of me without discussion. After the food was served he checked in to make sure I was content with it. He checked in again later to make sure I had everything I needed. My drink was refilled regularly and without prompting. When I was finished, a box appeared beside me for my leftovers without me having to request it. Then as I got my food boxed I was informed how and where to pay. When I arrived I think I may have been their first customer for the day. By the time I had my food there were 5 other tables / bar seats sat. Having spent a lot of time in the service industry, I know how difficult it can be when multiple tables are in concurrent steps of service, but the gentleman taking care of front of house seemed to be handling it without issue. I'm a quiet guy who just wants to enjoy good food without too much fuss, and that's the experience I had. If you're someone who expects to be spoiled and caudled merely for having entered a restaurant, I could see you taking issue with this style of service. I, for one, appreciated it.

Atmosphere: Again, this place keeps a low profile. The entry is a bit confusing as you're in a bit of a cramped bakery/barista counter, but it's a small building. The staff were finishing their morning coffee together when I entered, which I found quaint. I was honestly very surprised by the dining room. It's spacious, bright, clean, and elegantly decorated. The patio is absolutely stunning. (Their clematis 🌺 game is on point! 👌👌) The use of potted plants and trellis to obscure the fact that you're on Central Ave in West View is very well executed. It's the sort of place you'd want to take a couple good friends for a coffee and a light meal.

The pastries and coffees looked great, but that wasn't what I was there for...

Poorly managed and understaffed made our first experience our last. No communication, we had to ask the bartenders name, a request for bread and at the 40 minute mark where our two appetizers were. Ultimately, we received one of our items fifteen minutes after I asked about it. When the mussels arrived, there was no apology, no crostini/bread of any kind and we were missing our second appetizer. As the restaurant became busier, the service went downhill and they were severely understaffed. Dissatisfied with the service, hungry, and annoyed we just wanted to close our tab and leave. Finally, the meatballs arrive, we inform our bartender the appetizers took entirely too long and we don't want them. Take them off our bill and we want to pay and leave. We were offered a box and the bartender went to get the manager.

Now we have to wait another 10 minutes for the manager to come, we just want to end our evening. A man approached us with no introduction, no name, and no apology. I'll assume this was the Chef and he bluntly asked what the problem was. We expressed our dissatisfaction with the service, lack of communication, and the exorbitant amount of time it took to receive our food. They didn't want to remove the two appetizers that took almost an HOUR and that we did not eat. Condescendingly, we were told how tickets work and that it was not fast food.

BIG MISTAKE! By this point, I could care less about the the money. I offered to pay for everything and no I don't want a box as suggested AGAIN! Just give me the bill so I can get the heck out of here! He then replied, take off the mussels and tried to give some sort of mediocre apology. After spending just under 100 dollars we left hungry and disgruntled.

You never know the guests to whom you are speaking to in such a manner. We absolutely know what a ticket rail is. One, you do not have an MOD/FOH manager speaks volumes. One server and two bartenders are not sufficient for a full dining room, bar, and patio. There were no support staff, not one food runner/busser. The lack of communication form the top down shows you are unaware of how many covers you have at a given time or how to appropriately train your staff. YOUR ESTABLISHMENT IS NOT FULLY PREPARED FOH OR BOH TO EXECUTE THE EXPECTATIONS SET AT THE SET PRICE POINTS.

We live locally and love bringing family and friends to local spots. We won’t be including Severina in that list of places sadly, and don’t feel we can recommend it as a reliable place to go.

I would strongly recommend the restaurant seat fewer tables until one can support the level of business with more staff. It's a shame, the wine, stuffed peppers, and the one mussel I ate...