Bellino Ristorante Italiano e Bottega

This was the most disappointing Italian restaurant experience I've ever had, and the experience was characterized by a series of hiccups that should have made me walk out the door much, much sooner. So let's talk about it. I didn't like how the waitress offered me bread service while I was browsing for the menu for the first time (a service that is often complimentary) when it turned out to be a separate expense. I don't mind paying for bread service, but there was no transparency there. I don't like unexpected fees on my bill. She could have had the courtesy to tell me there would be a charge and I would have accepted it. The bread was ice cold. Made fresh or not, I don't understand why you would serve ice cold bread to your patrons. I asked her if it was intended to be served cold and received a non-answer. Have some respect for your patrons, heat up your bread if it's ice cold. The calamari appetizer, average. I could go to any cajun or seafood restaurant and order the same thing and the flavor profile would be vastly the same; you're not getting anything special when you order the calamari appetizer here, is all I'm saying. But it was okay. It just wasn't special. It wasn't something I would really recommend to others. The main course harbors my main complaints, chicken parmesan. Let me wedge a compliment in here real quick and say the sauce was delightful, they did a good job. I enjoyed the sauce. But the noodles were undercooked, very chewy, not al dente. And the chicken was overcooked, stringy, chewy. It was the most unpleasant main course I've had anywhere in a while. And it's especially disappointing because the place is lovely. Yes, the place is nice. The atmosphere is great. They take pride in their aesthetic and tables are dressed nicely. But when a place looks and feels that good, I want the food to taste that good. And when it doesn't, it's just an incredible disappointment and the contrast becomes unbearably noticeable. The Bellino restaurant exudes fanciful vibes of an elevated dining experience but the food only exudes mediocrity.

My experience , we went around 2:00 and able to get lunch hour prices. Thankful for that. First impression walking in was beautiful and looked like a fine dining restaurant. Our dishes were good but definitely not great. To start we ordered the calamari, calamari season and texture was good, but there was an old oil after taste. The main dishes flavors were there but meatball consistency was a little soft for my liking. Pasta was more than Alden te, and our meal did not come with a salad or bread. I did ask for bread after we started eating and I have to say, instant regret! Bread tasted old and stale. In my opinion if brushed lightly with butter and toasted, it would have made the world of difference, definitely would have paired better with any and all their food and made for a better experience. This place definitely has potential to be an awesome restaurant, just a couple of simple changes that wouldn’t cost a penny just a little more TLC! Waitress knew her job and was great at recommending menu items. Very friendly!

This was a new dining experience that was at first a nice one, but that bubble was popped quickly. The atmosphere was giving New York cramped, yelling across tables, not enough space to breathe (trust me, I know). Because there was a lot of people, they were not paying attention to the temperature inside either so it was super stuffy with barely any AC blowing. The bathrooms are mixed amongst the chaos in the back, and you need to be careful with the staff running back and forth from the back to the front. There is a bar off to the left of the restaurant. The service was one of the worst so far. Our waitress was more interested in her big table tips than handling her smaller tables, either that, or she was new and had absolutely no idea what she was doing. For such a small place, and the amount of workers that they have, you wouldn't think it would be such a task. We were not offered anything not even basic water when our drinks came out, and then we kept being told that our food was coming out soon over and over, so by the time that it did come you could tell the top layer had already gotten cold. We were not offered any cheese that you typically get here at Italian restaurants, and then we didn't get a water bottle until midway while other tables that came after us got the next ones. The ignorance was blasting. So if you come here wanting a small personal dinner with only one other person, good luck, they only care about their bigger parties. By the end of it, we just wanted our ticket to leave, and finally my partner had enough and we had to ask another waitress for assistance to help the girl. Seems like there needs to be a better system for the service workers to keep track of the tables. The food. We tried 3 different alcoholic beverages, and to say that they were bitter was an understatement but it was okay. The appetizer we started with, the Polpettine di Caprino was amazing. I do wish the bread for this dish would have been toasted a little more because that would have been perfect, but it was still delicious nonetheless. My partner had the Salmone Croccante, and they said it was definitely underwhelming on the salmon part, there was nothing amazing about it, the potatoes and spinach were the spotlight of the dish. I had the Fusilli alla Trapanese, and it was really a mouthful of flavor. It did not have the balance that it needed, but it was delicious if eaten with bread, which by the way they do not give complimentary that is extra and only if you ask for it. Overall, it was a very underwhelming experience, and doesn't seem like anything really extraordinary, more that people go to say that they went to that restaurant in the first place. Will not return back there to spend more money than what its worth, which it can get pricy quick! There are plenty of other places that excel in creating the atmosphere and provide the customer service that you deserve.

Great service, great food. We have been here twice and each experience was lovely. The ambiance is calm, and a great place for a date night. With drinks, appetizers, and an entree, you'll expect to spend around $50-80 per person at least, depending what you order. I absolutely loved the chicken parmesan, I devoured the whole thing. Calorie counting goes out the window with that dish, but its worth it. My girlfriend had the fish, I cant recall the name but it was very delicious. They do charge a "non cash" fee which comes out to about 4% of the bill. It seems that several restaurants in the city have this charge, so its not exclusive to this establishment. The bread that is brought out does not seem to be complimentary either, which is $2. It is still worth getting. Careful, the pepper in the oil that is brought with the bread caused me great discomfort by irritating my throat and had me coughing for a few minutes. Not the restaurants fault, just be careful dipping your bread to not get a bunch of pepper with the oil! Overall, a great experience.

Really lovely restaurant BUT we were really disappointed in the service. Kimberly was kind but not attentive. Our wine and water were never refilled during our stay, she had another employee come take our dessert order and never gave us a wine bag to take home the rest of our bottle. The bread was dry and old - thankfully, we weren’t charged for it. Overall, the service felt “turn and burn” despite this being our special date night that we spent a lot and had hoped would be a grand experience for what we paid. Very disappointing.

Had a good experience here overall. The service was great and the staff super friendly. The atmosphere is okay, some of the tables are a bit small and/or too close together but it’s not a big deal. The food was good but could’ve been better. Still, I recommend and hope to visit again in the near future.

The food, the experience, the service were perfect. You can taste the difference between a random pasta and the fresh pasta from Bellino. It's a little expensive, we just had one plate of food each and it costs around $130 in total but it was totally worth it. All of the waiters were extremely nice to us and they were interested in making us feel heard. 20/10 we are totally coming again!

Beautiful restaurant with a modern and elegant atmosphere. The service was fantastic and the food came out hot, fresh, and tasty. Good wine selection too. The food portions are perfect and the pasta in pasta in particular is to die for. I'd recommend going early for dinner as it gets pretty crowded after 6pm.