Villa Bellini Restaurant & Lounge

Reviews 4

HA

Harper McGroarty

So disappointed that I have to write this review. It was my birthday that someone previously reviewed about. I had reserved their wine cellar on a Wednesday which required a minimum purchase of $500.00. I had been to this restaurant once prior for my father in laws birthday and had a nice experience. Our experience was anything but pleasant. We arrived for our 7pm reservation. We were seated in the wine room but were only provided 3 menus for our party of 11. My guests had to share menus for over 45 minutes. We ordered our drinks which did come out quickly. We sat there waiting with no bread or anything until 8:15 when our waiter finally came in to take our food order still without menus for all the guests. He advised that the restaurant mistakenly booked 70 people all at 7pm. At that point we had been waiting over a hour to put our food order in. The manager should have come in at that point to apologize for the delay and offer either an appetizer or a round of drinks on the house. At 9:15 an hour after we put our food order in we started to see actual food enter our room. Unfortunately, the food came in sporadically. The men who ordered steaks did not receive the sauces that were to come with it nor their side orders. Not one of my guests received a full meal when the waiter returned. Fifteen minutes later they returned with the steak sauces and remaining sides, by this time the steaks and other meals were cold. Absolutely starving at this point my guests who did not order steaks ate their cold meals. The men sent their steaks back to the kitchen. Another 20 minutes later all of the other guests had finished their meals and the three men, one including my husband received there steaks. They were purple, not even close to being edible. At this point the rest of the restaurant had closed. I personally left the room to speak to the manager Roxanne. Completely mortified by this entire experience I then had to proceed to tell the manager how this restaurant ruined my birthday. I expected them to comp all of the meals that were returned as well as the two drinks those men ordered. I also told her that they should have discounted the entire bill. When you are required to spend a minimum of $500 you expect to receive quality service, you want to be pampered. The manager told me that she would have to call the owner. I told her that I would gladly speak to them if needed. She came back and told me that the owner was not willing to do anything other than remove the steaks that were not eaten off of the bill. The had to audacity to charge these men for their drinks after they sat in their restaurant for three hours and didnt get to eat a thing. The majority of my guests left the restaurant heading straight for the first fast food restaurant that was still open. I am appalled that the owner of this restaurant. They now have 11 people who will never come back to their restaurant and all of us will be happy to tell everyone we know about our experience. It is clear that the owner cares more about an extra $150 that receiving thousands in business over the years. I encourage the owners to contact me to make this situation right again.

JA

Jane Melamed

Classic elegant Italian ambiance. Our waitress appeared very knowledgeable and of course offered specials with no prices mentioned. She also informed us that they had their own labeled house wines and suggested a "nice" Valpolicella, which was indeed nice. There were 5 of us, so of course did order a second bottle. The waitress apologized that the exact same vintage was not available but had a bottle "even older". Small alarm bells started ringing, but I ignored them until my husband did a double take at the bill and showed me the first bottle was $130 and the second was $140. When we were ordering, the waitress said the fish and meat entrees were served with mashed potatoes and the daily vegetable. She had mentioned roasted potatoes with one of the specials and I asked if that could be served with the veal saltimbocca rather than the mash. She said it was not available but I could have pasta, so I requested angel hair with the same sauce as the saltimbocca. Entrees arrive and everyone had the roasted potatoes with their entrees. I had a flat glob of over cooked pasta pasted under my tepid veal. This was perhaps the clunkiest preparation of saltimbocca I had ever encountered. The veal had been sauteed and there were a few shreds of limp basil scattered on the plate. Each slice of veal was topped by a thickish slice of prosciutto that was rimmed with at least an inch of fat and barely cooked. No sign of the mozzarella specified on the menu description (and classic recipe) and not a hint of wine in the scant amount of sauce on the plate. Sorry no picture, but I was too shocked by the poor quality of the dish placed in front of me. The first course dishes were all good, and everyone else seemed happy enough with their meals, although none were hot. Very disappointed with treatment of a classic dish and VERY upset by the rip off with the wines.

RO

Rosalie Grenelle

My husband, two sons, and I visited Villa Bellini for the first time for Easter. It was AMAZING! My husband is from NY and had 3 Italian deli restaurants, so he knows authentic Italian cuisine. And Chef Chiro is definitely a master Italian chef. Everything from the crispy Italian bread to the house arugula salad with lemon dressing to the pasta bolognese to the lemoncello liquor.........all had the true Italian flavors that we have not been able to get anywhere in the area. His red sauce was light and flavorful. And we were also impressed with Emad, our waiter, who was knowledgeable and personable, giving us his undivided attention. And upon meeting and speaking with Chef Chiro, he is so warm and welcoming, and you know that the food his restaurant is serving is made from his passion of the art of Italian cooking. Being from Naples, he is bringing his talent to our area. From the moment you step in to this mediterranean villa, you are greeted by a smiling hostess. When you walk in, you truly feel like you have entered a villa, complete with the beautiful decor and setting. Word of mouth will spread throughout the Tampa Bay area, making Villa Bellini one of the better restaurants in the Tampa Bay area. We will come back many times again.

BR

brad lunger

We arrived with a party of 11 on a Wednesday evening at 7pm. After 1 hour 45 minutes we still had not received our food and our waiter stated they were behind due to having too many reservations at once. Once our food started arriving, it came out bit by bit and not even entire meals to each person. By the time each persons whole meal had arrived, the food was cold. I decided to send my filet back since it was cold now and they sent out another which was raw, like so raw it was purple inside. We spoke with the manager who apparently didnt care much, because not a single apology was mentioned. The owner "graciously" took the food off the checks for those of us that did not even get to eat it and did nothing else to try to turn the situation around. There is nothing worse than planning to go out with friends for a nice, moderately upscale dinner and having to stop at Wendys on the way home so that you can actually get food and have it cooked correctly. Needless to say, I wont be back nor will anyone else in the group and we will surely tell every person we interact with about this nightmare of a birthday celebration!