I've been to Bella Cucina twice now, the most recent being last night. I wish I could give a solid four and half stars, but alas.
My first time I went without knowing much about the place except that it is the new "Italian Cafe". I meet a girlfriend there, and we split a bottle of wine. Limited bar menu, no actual bar...I'm assuming just some bottles in the back. We started with the bruschetta appetizer, and it was the best and most unique one I've ever had. Instead of mozzarella (which, hold back the knives, is tasteless to me), they used fresh goat cheese. They used a combination of sauteed proscuitto and caramelized onions for the topping with the tomatoes and basil. It was awesome. It's my new go-to appetizer I make when friends come over for wine, and it's an absolute hit. She got the pesto and I barely saw it on her plate before it was snarfed up. I got the putanesca, which I loved as well.
This time with Mom we both got a glass of wine. We ate a ton of bread, and the very friendly hostess kept refilling as much as we would eat. She got the scallop dish with angel hair and a pesto olive oil sauce. It was supposed to come with artichokes but unfortunately didn't have any in it. I wanted something spicy, so I got their hot dish, which came in a choice of hot, hotter and hottest. I got hotter, and it had a slight kick. I added a couple ingredients because it seemed pretty plain to me, but with my additions it was awesome.
My only downside here is the iffy service. The sweet hostess sat us, watered us, refilled all our bread and water, checked on us, boxed our leftovers AND ran our bill. I could see our server in the back on her cell phone twice.
Food wise? GO HERE.
This place is such a hidden gem. Â I have eaten here several times since my recent move to the Twin Cities. Â Everything I have ordered (or tasted off my friends' plates) has been wonderful. Â I'm a big fan of the Carbonara. Â Such comfort food! Â The service here has always been great, even when I order food to go. Â Try this place if you're in the mood for really good Italian, comfort food!
Review Source:Eating here made me want to kill myself as an Italian American I have yet to be to a place in Minnesota that is remotely good. Â I felt like I wanted to die misspellings of dishes on the menu and my pasta dish had processed peperoni on it. The chef should go kill himself! Â Nothing was remotely good and I had three glasses of wine, also got food poisoning !!!
Review Source:Great family atmosphere in a small shopping center.
The decor is a little generic, and the food is not very adventurous, but what they do they do well. Â I had the minestrone soup and the fresh broccoli and mushroom pasta. Â The minestrone was very authentic - by that I mean it both looked and tasted like it had been prepared the same exact way for a very long time. Â I felt like I was eating dinner at my grandma's house. Â The soup was delicious, although I wish it had some noodles in it like traditional minestrone. It had very large pieces of cut vegetables, but not too large and not too many that the soup was too stewy and thick. Â It had very fine ground Italian sausage in it. Â I would have liked more sausage.
The mushroom and broccoli pasta was fairly good, the pasta itself was average but the flavor combinations made the dish very delicious. Â It is not for meat lovers, and the very large dollops of goat cheese were a tiny bit too much. Â However, the fresh broccoli, tomatoes and mushrooms balanced the whole dish out rather well. Â There was no sauce, only the natural juices from the vegetables with some olive oil. Â Overall I'd say 7/10.
Service was good, decor was warm (although not very original) and prices were very fair for the portions. Â My meal was $18 and included bread, a bowl of soup, and the pasta entree.
Great food, atmosphere, and service. This wonderful hidden gem is the antithesis of chain restaurants. Eddie and Kathy (owners) are fantastic. They have treated us like part of the neighborhood. They make a special effort to stop by tables when time and workload allows. Eddie often has special entrees, but he never puts up a fuss if I ask for a dish that itsn't on the menu, if he has the ingredients. Eddie is busy heading up the kitchen. Kathy works with the guests when she is in town (she's also a flight attendant).
I have never been anything less than pleased with the food and wine pairings. Simply wonderful and not too fancy. Prices are good. But, as mentioned above, the atmosphere, friendly and professional staff, and welcoming feeling make this place special in a sea of commoditized restaurants.
Ok so I'm a little bias because I used to work here when I was in high school, but this is the best italian food in eden prairie/bloomington area. The fresh bread baked daily with whipped butter is great! I used to eat that all the time...so bad but so good. The bruschettas are great too, especially the carmelized onion one, not sure if they still make it. I worked there back in 2001-2004, when Charlie was the owner and it was called The Italian Cafe. The chicken salad is also great and a huge helping. I personally love the Spicy Potato Pizza! Sooo good! The Tequlia shrimp pasta is amazing as well as the tomato basil pasta. There are so many options though and all of them are great! I high suggest going here for lunch or dinner for a date or with friends. It has a casual but nice ambience and everyone is pretty friendly.
Review Source:We ordered take out from here last week, and I was very pleased. Â I ordered the carbonara, and DH ordered something spicy that I didn't try. Â We both loved our food! Â The portions are very large - we both had a full meal for lunch the next day. Â The carbonara sauce was really tasty, not too rich but very flavorful (might be the nutmeg!). Â DH ordered his very spicy and he wasn't disappointed - lots of water was consumed with his meal :) Â He picked it up, so I can't speak to the ambiance, but I can say that they told us 15 minutes and it was ready the moment DH arrived at the restaurant to pick it up. Â Lastly, the price was very reasonable, especially for the portion sizes.
We will most definitely eat here again!
I'm a young professional who often travels for business, and I commonly will use Yelp in unfamiliar places to find good places for dinner. Â I just created an account but dined here about 2 months ago and remember loving the place when I left. Â It was definitely the best option in the area, but I would frequent this place if it was closer to home, too.
I can't recall exactly what I had but I recall being very satsified. Â I recall there being a lot of pasta and meat and fish options, which is nice for groups. Â Their wine selection is decent as well. Â The best part was probably the ambience: Â the restaurant is essentially an enormous room with high ceilings and a long, wooden bar sweeping the one side. Â I think the kitchen is also semi-exposed. Â There was just such a warm and inviting feeling in the air despite the snow and cold outside.
I would definitely make it a point to re-visit this place.
My sister and I stumbled in here around 9:15 on a Friday after a LONG day of driving from South Dakota to Iowa to Minnesota. Â Needless to say, we were very excited for a comforting meal of pasta with some healthy salad thrown in.
We sat down, were immediately asked what we'd like to drink, and to the surprise of the waiter (who most likely assumed we were both over 21 and would like wine because everyone thinks my sister is older than myself), we ordered two raspberry Italian sodas.
Those were delivered promptly, along with bread! Â
Now onto the food....
My sister and I decided to be somewhat healthy and balance our orders of Pasta Carbonara with a half order of the Mediterranean salad. Â The salad came and it.was.huge. Â Enough for a meal for one person! Â
The two orders of Pasta Carbonara came out next (ooooh, too much food!!!). Â The noodles were drenched in a creamy, smoky, buttery, bacon bit-filled cream sauce. Â The sauce had a bit of a sweet taste to it. Â It was delicious, but we ordered far too much food with the salad.
The waiter and waitress who took over later were both very attentive. Â The atmosphere was comfortable and small; a nice local place to enjoy a good meal with family or friends.
A little bit of my heart belongs to this place. Â Ah, Bella Cucina. You used to be The Italian Cafe, but a pizza by any other name still tastes as sweet (errr, um, savory).
Ever since I moved to Bloomington when I was five, this cafe has been an important part of my eating/real life. Â The Spicy Potato Sausage pizza is a staple of my family's diet. We've even brought the dipping sauce home and put it on myriad other foods (veggies, bread, etc). The Siena Salad with chicken also is wonderful. Â Ooo, and get the grilled vegetable plate. Yum. The pastas are generally solid.
And if you're having a particularly low day, I recommend the monster cookie sundae. Absurd? Yes. Tasty? You betcha. Will it send you into a sugar coma? Fo' shiz. But the combination of gooey, warm cookie and heaps of vanilla ice cream smoothes many of the little bumps in the road of life.
The atmosphere is comfortable and welcoming. The owners are lovely, lovely people. They are engaging, charming, and warm. Â Bella Cucina also caters, which has come in handy for us on countless occasions. Â If you're not from the area it's difficult to find. But totally worth the effort. There are so few independent restaurants out in the suburban wasteland; what's even better is this place is quite good! Thumbs down for chains and their homogeneity. Thumbs up for Bella Cucina.
A hidden treasure in a really hidden part of the Cities. Â
After driving around Bloomington for a while looking for this location, once I found it looking like a sterile dentist office in a strip mall, I took a nervous deep breath and went inside.
Much to my sha-grin, it was a sweet Italian bistro, complete with wonderful service and a welcoming atmosphere.
The food was tasting and some what authentic. Â I had a vegtable pasta dish that was more than enough to share, but delicious none the less and also was able to try bites of others pizzas and salads. Â Great food.
Bella Cucina is fantastic! Â
Service is friendly and fully knowledgeable of the entire menu. Â
The steamed mussles are fabulous. Â Their hand tossed pizzas are fresh and very flavorful. Â The half Sienna salad is large enough to split for 3-4 people (full is enough for a full 5-6 people to enjoy). Â The Fresh Broccoli and Mushroom pasta is warm and healthy.
I was impressed with Bella Cucina on my last visit. Â I loved the previous owner Charlie (when it was Italian Cafe) and was sad to see him leave. Â But the new owners have perfected the original flavor and adapted their own style!
I've been to Bella Cucina probably 20 or more times. Â I have never been disappointed by anything on the menu. Â Favorite meal is the Cannelloni Florentine. Â Very dense meat filling and the pasta shells are homemade. Â Topped with a very creamy white sauce and a red marinara sauce. Â Heavenly!
Best dessert is the Monster Cookie sundae. Â Oatmeal cookie base with chocolate and caramel, topped with 4 scoops of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauces. Â
Prices are reasonable, service is always top notch and the owner (Eddie) is always there, greeting and chatting with patrons. Â One of our favorite restaurants in the southwest metro area.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
