Bella Italia

We actually live near Plano, Texas in Collin, County which is known as a test-bed for restaurants as the volume of eateries is immense and the competition fierce. If you can make it here you can make it anywhere so the saying goes. Suffice it to say that we've had exposure to some of the greatest restaurants in this area and surrounding municipalities. Couple that with growing up in a section of NE Ohio known for its Italian restaurants, given the immigration to the area from 1st gen Italians, and I think I can offer a semi-informed opinion.

This restaurant, Bella Italia, is not flashy, nor is it designed for stuffed-shirt clientele with great big budgets. It is quaint, quiet, with a wait staff that is personable and professional. It is affordable, and as such family oriented. What really separates this little jewel from the rest may not be the quality of their vinyl booth seats, or how to serve the perfect drinks to the privileged and pretentious, but rather the delight in knowing immediately the attention to detail in their preparation and the absolute best ingredients being chosen for their fare in the first bite. One need only to taste to fully appreciate that this place is all about the food and they do that really, really well.

So, while it may not have that ever-so-popular cookie-cutter chain ambiance it does have privately owned charm and great food. For those wanting to support a family owned business because they've had enough of gentrification and the dominance of franchises I can definitely recommend this restaurant, their staff, and most importantly the quality of their food. For those that want loud, bumpin', standin'-in-line, cool-stuff-hangin-on-the-walls (that wasn't collected but rather swooped up in and bought in bulk) come to Collin, County Texas. We will pass each other going in opposite direction as we drive over an hour once in a while to eat at Bella Italia. It really is that good.

Oh, incidentally, they make their own Italian sausage and a fresh batch of pizza dough each morning. If your palate is tuned you'll know it like I did even before asking.

The "dim, ambient" lighting came across as more run down and shady to us, especially with almost every booth seat having rips in them. But the food and service is great (excluding the calzones, which are roughly five metric tons of cheese and some crust). Have recommended to friends and will be coming back for more!

Great food. Attentive staff. Quiet place to enjoy an intimate meal.

Mediocre food, excellent service. Pizza was not great. Chicken pesto was processed chicken wrapped around mozzarella with only a few spinach leaves and the broccoli side was completely unseasoned and part of the broccoli was brown. The trio was just okay - felt like mass produced food heated up and arranged on a plate.

Our waitress was super nice, attentive, and brought our food out very quickly.

The food is great. Customer service is outstanding. I asked for my noodles a specific way and the cook came out and asked me how I wanted it prepared because he wanted to make sure he got it right. The prices are great too!