Vella's Restaurant & Tavern

Vella's is a great place to eat and hang out!  When you're there you will feel like you're part of a big family, and the food is surprisingly awesome!  

Try the Vella's Special (think Groucho's dipper or Andy's Deli special, but better), the hamburger steak (covered in onions and peppers mmmmmm!), the spicy fried chicken sandwich (better than Chick Fil A), the buffalo shrimp, or the shrimp Caesar salad.  Really, try anything to eat there.  You won't be disappointed.  Check their online menu for nightly specials.  Monday is all you can eat crablegs, which I have yet to try.  Tuesday is 50 cent wings.  Wednesday is a draft beer special (skip this - see below).  

One word of advice though, their draft beers are NOT good.  I don't know if their pipes are moldy or what, but if you get beer, get it in a bottle.

All in all, Vella's is a friendly place with great food for a good price.  I love it!  :]

We recently visited Vella's on a Saturday afternoon for a early dinner, us and some friends -- 4 adults and 4 young kids. It was my family's first time (our friends live nearby and strongly recommended Vella's) and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Both inside and outside, Vella's looks a bit like a hole in the wall. Frankly, I like that -- some of the best food I've ever had came from holes in the wall! It reminded me a lot of a restaurant I loved in Indiana, and so I felt very much at home.

I ordered French onion soup, and a mushroom swiss burger. The soup was salty, but otherwise well-made. The burger was AMAZING, with barbecue sauce and bacon in addition to the mushrooms and swiss cheese. Their cole slaw is great, and I loved the "raw fries" (homemade potato chips). The kids each liked their various kids meals. I got to taste a few bites of my friend's mozzarella sticks (best I've ever had) and honey barbecue wing (delish!). The husbands took advantage of a 2-ribeyes-for-$20 special of the day, and were both extremely pleased.

Overall, this was a yummy dining experience in a pleasant, comfortable atmosphere. Our server was cheerful and helpful (not always easy when there are 4 kids at the table needing extra napkins and occasionally spilling water everywhere) and helped make the outing fun. We'll definitely be back -- for lunch on our own, or for dinner with the kids!

Maybe the back dining area is different, but in the front, where I was seated, there were only 3 TVs (2 19" and 1 25") of the tube-variety.  Difficult to see and even more difficult to hear with the volume all the way down.

I got the Vella's special based on the previous review.  I have to say... hard as they may try, they didn't come close to Andy's special.  Despite the description of the sandwich being 'served hot', it actually arrived at room temperature.  I'm not sure if it was *ever* hot, as the cheese just kind of sat on top and wasn't even melted.  The dipping sauce, which pales in comparison to Andy's, was cold and bland.  The bread was even more so... There were large bread-only gaps at each end but it was so... 'bready'... that I didn't even want to eat those bits (and I *love* bread!).  I tried a little dipping sauce but that didn't help.

The raw fries were pretty good.  And there was a sizeable mound served with my sandwich.

The water, however, tasted... industrial?  You know that odor in the air when you drive past the filtration plant in West Columbia?  Yeah, thats what the water tasted like.

"No, ma'am, thank you.  I would *not* like a to-go cup of water"