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Bello Restaurant
Rating Details »
- Nearest Transit:
-
59th St-Columbus Circle (1, A, C, B, D)
57th St-7th Ave (N, Q, R, W)
50th St-8th Ave (C, E)
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
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- Neighborhood:
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"I was about to give this place 4 stars... But you know, there is nothing wrong with this place, as far as I can tell. The servers were…" read more »
6 reviews for Bello Restaurant
I love this place. Hell's Kitchen may be an up-and-coming area, but Bello hasn't seem to notice. This place is so not cool. The decor is early 90's shades of medium to light blues, the crowd is my parent's age, it smells like a damp basement (it kinda is in a basement), and the service is pretty bad.
So why do I love it? Well, first the bread hits the table and it is probably some of the best bread I have had at a restaurant: crusty, warm, and not gummy or stale. Then the wine comes and the reds come at that perfect, almost chilled temperature, not warm like some places. On to dinner. I make my own tomato sauces and their sauces are quite good (try the bolognese). My wife is into fish and is always more than happy with their preparations. Deserts are great, and they know how to serve a chilled Sambuca.
Puttanesca is next door, and the crowd is younger and hipper, and the decor is far more chic, but hands down, the FOOD at Bello is far more authentic.
My roommates family was in town and took us here because they had gone a couple years ago and loved it. They had already been to the place twice this week so I was expecting phenomenal. Not so much.
I'm not a chip fan but their homemade potato chips were delish and their bread was the best part of the meal. I ordered mussels for an appetizer, but they were out so I had a Caesar salad that was covered in dressing that had way too much parm in it and was kinda yellow and watery in the lettuce. We split scaloppine saltimboca (veal sauteed with spinach, prosciutto and wine sauce) and it was good but again, nothing great. For dessert we had caramel custard (a.k.a. flan). Not sweet enough at all.
The decor of the place was cute though. I felt like I was in a home more then a restaurant and it was kinda nice with the window and the snow. But this is definitely not somewhere I would take anyone anytime soon. Not to mention the weird situation going on at the table next to ours. It isn't exactly a loud restaurant. The two girls eating alone got up to leave and got pulled in by some older gentleman next to them. Very bizarre and turned into a very loud time. It was clearly bothering many people in the restaurant but nothing was done.
Granted, coming here wasn't my idea. I'm skeptical of almost all the restaurants in Hells Kitchen/Theater District, and will continue to be skeptical after eating at Bello Restaurant.
Warning signs went off as I entered the dining room. It was half filled with a mixture of (obviously) tourists and codgerish Octogenarians. Not exactly a happening place.
The menu features standard and simple Italian fare. Nothing earth shattering or fancy. I think I could cook 90% of the menu in my sleep, It's pretty hard to mess this kind of stuff up. So why was it so messed up?
For starters, instead of a Comstock Castle range and a Henckel chef's knife, I think the chef's primary kitchen tools were a can opener and an EZ-Bake oven. EVERYTHING that hit my plate was obviously scooped from a can or packet. It was a salty, clumsy, disgusting, terrible mess.
I'd never seen a veal marsala so disrespectfully treated in a kitchen. A sad looking piece of veal, beat and battered mercilessly, and drenched with a horrible canned gravy, with canned sliced mushrooms. On the side was a small plate of limp, canned and re-heated green beans. My grandmother would have been ashamed to serve something like that.
Overly salty calamari, dried out spaghetti pomodoro, wilted salad, the list of atrocities went on and on. Even the next day, my tongue still burned from the saltiness of the food. I wouldn't wish this meal on my worst enemy.
Bello has been on 9th Ave. since the early 80's.They cater to the "old money" crowd. It's Northen Italian and it's solid as a rock!
The stuffed Veal chop is unbelievable ! It's not on the menu but it's always the nightly special. It's on the bone in a mushroom gravy sauce and filled with lots of yummy cheese. It's a bit pricey ($30+?) but it's (almost) enough for two people. You really can't go wrong with anything on the menu.
Old-time Italian above Hell's Kitchen. This unassuming, but still a standout has been here before the rush of new trendy eateries on 9th ave. No high-concept decor or menu, but reliable, very good Chicken Marsala, gracious service, good wine and yummy tiramisu.
Bello is a great choice for Italian delivery (the restaurant is good for dine in as well). I think it is closed Monday nights. Take advantage of the complimentary bottle of wine!
