Not Quite Bella Notte Italian Trattoria in Lexington, Kentucky
Written: May 30 '04
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Food and Presentation: |
 |
|
| Ambiance and Decor: |
|
|
| Quality of Service: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Excellent food, reasonable prices, nice ambiance.
Cons: Service, music loud, too dark.
The Bottom Line: Bella Notte is very nice yet casual. The food was excellent; the service fair.
|
|
|
| jo.com's Full Review: Bella Notte |
On a Monday evening in May we ate at Bella Notte Italian Trattoria in Lexington, Kentucky.
Bella Notte is located at 3715 Nicholasville Road. Their phone number is 859-245-1789. There is plenty of free parking.
Although reservations certainly were not needed this particular night we made them anyway but it was fairly quiet. It is a large restaurant that gives the appearance of being small because the several rooms are either divided or closed via a door for a private party.
Bella Notte accepts reservations and all major credit cards. Their hours are Monday-Thursday 11:00AM to 10PM and Friday/Saturday 11:00AM to 10:00PM.
One in our party is in a wheelchair and as I waited for my husband to park, a hosted opened the door for us. We entered into a very cute area which they call a café. It is a small eating area with a bar and also an area where you can take out food.
We were graciously seated by the hostess.
Pros: The food was excellent and cooked to order. Two of us got Grilled Fresh Salmon. It comes with butter and capers on the top which we said we didn’t want. It was excellent. The fish was a large portion at 10 ounces, cooked on a wood fired grill with Bella Notte’s house marinade. I asked what was in the marinade. It was basically garlic and oil. It was cooked perfectly, not at all dry and very tasty. Sautéed vegetables were served on the side. They too were cooked wonderfully; they were tasty and plentiful. I asked that they not be cooked in butter and was told that they never are. This dish was $14.99. We ordered salads which were an extra $2.99. They were fresh and full of vegetables-cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, olives and croutons-. It wasn’t just a bowl of lettuce! There was also a bread basket put on our table with homemade bread. In fact since we were the last to leave they asked us if we wanted to take a couple of their loaves of bread home. The large sized bottle water (750ml) was $3.99.
The menu at Bella Notte’s is eclectic with an Italian flair. You’ll find ½ dozen appetizers and soups and salads. Most of the dishes come in smaller portions (sole) or family portions. Our dishes which were listed under “from the wood fire grilled” were the only 7 without that option. If you wanted an appetizer of fresh mussels in white wine you could pay $6.99 for the sole or $12.99 for the family portion.
You’ll find 17 types of pasta dishes from Bella Lasagna for $8.99 or $16.99 to Fettuccine with Wood-fired grilled chicken for $9.99 or $16.99
There are 8 types of pizza including a vegetarian 8” for $6.99 or 12” for $9.99.
Bella Notte has a separate lunch menu which is offered every day except Saturday and Sundays. The lunch menu is extensive as well. You can get salads, appetizers, soups, pizza, sandwiches or create your own pasta. The prices average about $7.00 for lunch. They also will cater your event.
The restaurant is very pretty. The tablecloth and napkins were cloth. It appeared very elegant. There were a lot of plants including a tree in the middle of the room we were in. Much of the restaurant has glass windows although the view was nothing to write home about. There were a couple of rooms for private functions.
Cons: Before we even were seated (and that took a couple of minutes because we had to get the wheelchair situated which we did ourselves) one of several wait staff came over and asked us if we wanted anything to drink.
Once we did sit down and ordered drinks we found we had no settings and had to ask the second of our wait staff for setups.
The Italian music was very pretty but too loud. It wasn’t so loud that we couldn’t have a conversation but it was loud enough for me to write that I thought it took something away from the restaurant (like a star in the rating).
The restaurant was too dark. I like dark for an intimate, quiet evening so I wouldn’t have minded dimly lit. This was darker than dimly lit. We could read the menus- barely.
One of us ordered fettuccine and got spaghetti. The waitress changed it but rather than just bringing over the fettuccine made a production out of it. She asked if our cousin wanted the spaghetti taken off, if she wanted the plate taken away- it would really have been the right thing to just say, “I’m very sorry, I’ll bring the fettuccine over right away” and leave it at that.
If you remember we both asked for the butter on our salmon to be left off. She had butter on hers. It was a dollop of butter so she just took it off but in my opinion, this was a nice restaurant. It certainly appeared to be but they were making too many mistakes. Charlotte had been there many times, has a friend who works here and said the service had never been bad previously. This could have been a fluke. I am basing my review on my experience and this was what I found at Bella Notte.
Interesting information (from the menu):
Casalinga Cuisine is what they call traditional home-style cooking in Italy. At Nonna’s she calls it dinner. The Tuscan dishes are the recipes of their chef’s grandmother. She never wrote them down but Tino, the chef, watched his Nonna cook for years and has brought the dishes to Bella Notte.
Bella Notte’s own cold-pressed unfiltered extra virgin olive oil is produced exclusively for Bella Notte by eh Rodolico family of Florence.
Although the English language we are told doesn’t have the right words for a trattoria it means more than just a restaurant. It’s a casual gathering place. A place to break bread with family and friends. A place to talk, laugh, discuss, argues, and analyze. “Italians say, “A tavola non s’invecchia” meaning people do not get old at the table.
Jo’s Final Thoughts:
I really liked the food and ambiance at Bella Notte. I thought the portions to be just right and the food cooked just right. Unfortunately they got too many things wrong for me to give the restaurant 5 stars. I would go back if I find myself in the Lexington, KY area again and will recommend it.
There is no children’s menu and there were no children this particular night. I wouldn’t recommend bringing children to Bella Notte for dinner unless you are at a private party; however, having pizza or a salad with your child for lunch is something I am comfortable recommending.
Please feel free to leave me a comment or question.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: No
Best Suited For: Romantic Evening
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.