Betta's Italian Oven

To be fair, I have yet to try the wood-fired pizza that drove me to Betta's in the first place.  Outside the signs claim "Best Pizza in Cincinnati", which, again, is not much of a claim, but it remains to be tested, which could greatly alter this review.

Atmosphere is pretty cute.  A single room Italian restaurant with a big wood-fire stove near the back center, behind the counter.  The people that waited on me were friendly, welcoming, and prompt with their service.

I decided, in my on-going quest for decent Italian in Cincinnati, to test the sauce, since this is largely how I judge an Italian restaurant.  I ordered the spaghetti with marinara, which is easily the simplest thing on an Italian menu.  If you can't get this right, what are the chances the more complicated stuff is any good?

And that's where I felt a little let down.  The spaghetti in marinara came out, cooked al dente.  I imagine the sauce ingredients list began with tomato paste, which is correct, but it would seem that the ingredient list ended right there.  The sauce was tart, and honestly, it just tastes like tomato paste.  It's not savory or robust or any other adjective you'd want when describing  marinara.  It was much closer to a Margherita sauce, which is a pizza sauce that I'm not a huge fan of either.  I found myself adding gobs of Parmesan in hopes of improving the flavor, but that just gave it more of a stinky feet flavor than anything.

Don't get me wrong, the sauce wasn't bad, it just wasn't very good either.

That said, I would totally go back to give the pizza a whirl.  The place was lovely, warm, friendly, and the food wasn't bad either.  I just think we can do better on the sauce.

Betta's is the only decent restaurant withing walking distance of Xavier's campus.  They are known for their pizza and it is pretty good--some people will disagree, but I actually like the dryness of the wood-fired crust, although the tomato sauce tastes too much like canned tomatoes taken out of the can and placed immediately on the pizza.  Each pie is about $12 (depending on toppings), but they are smallish in size and one hungry college boy will easily devour a whole pizza by himself.  The beer selection is excellent, featuring many of the brews from the Listerman cooperative. Betta's is a great option for a small dinner for 2-4 people.  However, I don't recommend it for large gatherings.

I brought my students to Betta's for an end-of-the-semester celebration.  We sat in the new bar area because my students had to come and go and the Betta's staff was hesitant to seat our group of 15 when they knew people would be coming and going (which is fine).  In hindsight, this was probably not the best idea because the bar area is very narrow and it was difficult to talk to everyone.  All in all, it was fine, especially considering our local options.  

There was just one problem--a kid in the bar.  The owners' (owners' families'? someone's?) five year old was free-range in the bar area and decided to befriend us.  He is a cute kid and it is a family establishment; I know.  The kid crawled under our chairs, butted into every conversation, climbed on my students, and told one of my students he looked like "a Chinese guy" (the student is a Chinese guy--so that's not offensive, and the student laughed about it).  In other words, the little boy acted like a five year old.  I have a good sense of humor; kids will be kids; etc.  However, when I go out, I don't want to babysit.  My students, likewise, did not want to play jungle gym, assist a young child with his dinner, or blow into a saliva-filled toy whistle.  The kid made me and my students uncomfortable, and the proprietors of the establishment didn't seem to notice.  Eventually, our group had to leave because we reached the limit of free babysitting tolerance.  I am not sure if the kid is around every night or if it was a special occasion, but our enjoyment of the evening was diminished by our pint-sized "guest".  I don't mean to sound like a jerk--I just don't think it is fair to force kids onto unwilling customers.  

I will probably go back to Betta's because I like the food and the beer.  However, because of the space constraints and the possibility of conscripted babysitting, I won't hold any more group events there.

I got a take out order of Lasagna shortly after I moved to Cincinnati. It was delicious, creamy & meaty..it reminded me of my mom's, the funny thing is my mom hardly ever made lasagna..too much work. After the take out I sort of forgot about this place. I moved to Norwood last August & am now less than a 5 minute drive to Betta's..that is dangerous. I took my folks here when they came down for my birthday. The sign out front reads "The Best Pizza in Cincy" it didn't live that title down. I ordered a bowl of pasta that I must admit..tasted a bit like feet. My folks both ordered pizzas that looked & smelled amazing. Since that night I have gotten take out from Betta's several times & each time it does not disappoint. I will be returning to Betta's. if is was so good why only 4 stars...alas, they do not deliver.