Address: | 10403 Main Street, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA |
Phone: | +1 703-293-2367 |
Site: | bellissimorestaurant.com |
Rating: | 4.3 |
Working: | 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 4–10PM 4–10PM |
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Alice Wang
Ever since my family moved to Fairfax in 2003, Ive passed by this restaurant with a desire to try it out. It looks so elegant and quaint inside. Finally for my birthday earlier this week, my parents and I made it to Bellissimo for dinner. When we arrived, there were only two other occupied tables. The restaurant is fairly small, but its very homey. I like the wall decor, as it reminds me of my Italy travels. We ordered two appetizers - the calamari fritti (fried calamari for $11) and the cozze en umido (mussels sauteed in garlic, olive oil, white wine, with tomatoes, basil, and lemon for $12). The appetizers were honestly not great. The fried calamari was very hard to chew through and the mussels did not have a lot of flavor. For my entree, I ordered their linguine bellissimo ($26). This is linguine with diced shrimp, cherry tomatoes, and portabello mushrooms sauteed in olive oil, garlic, and sprinkled with basil. Thankfully, the pasta dishes were great. Well-balanced, delicious, and lots of shrimp, tomatoes, mushrooms, and pasta. We managed to also squeeze in tiramisu for dessert, which was good although I prefer my tiramisu with a bit more of a stronger coffee taste. Service was fair, although not the most enthusiastic. They were attentive, although I think thats because at most there were five full tables. It doesnt seem like it gets too crowded here on weeknights, but I know that the restaurant does fill up on the weekend.
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A Private User
I am very surprised to see unhappy reviews of Bellissimo. We went for my birthday in April, and now in November are already returning for a third visit. The food is, in a word, spectacular. It is made with care and to order. Even the cappucino is above par. Expect to make this meal the highlight of your evening activity, not a secondary part of it. Importantly, Bellissimo is a welcome alternative to the selection of corporate chains and bright facades of beauty that primarily constitute restaurant dining in the suburbs. While many of these restaurants have wonderful food with friendly and accomodating service, they still can start to seem false over time, and their business model is reliant on you eating your food and leaving in a certain time frame. Bellissimo is happy to let you linger over your tasty supper in their small, friendly dining room (in fact, if you rush through the appetizers, you will be done too soon for the next course). They peek to see if you are still enjoying your salad before bringing your pasta. They wait to ask if you want to order dessert until after they have cleared your dinner plates and swept away the crumbs. It is truly a wonderful place to actually visit with friends or your loved one. A final note for locals: if you find that you tend to agree with Tom Sietsema from the Washington Post, then you will likely enjoy Bellissimo.
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Chris Earp
I want to start by saying that Im very forgiving when it comes to food and service issues- Ive worked in the restaurant industry and I understand that mistakes happen. No one is perfect and all that. Heres what happened. Went to the restaurant with my mother, ordered salmon "just with greens, please." I get it- I asked for something that wasnt technically on the menu. She got the ordinary salmon dish. After about forty minutes, we asked the waiter to check on the order- the place wasnt packed, and it was lunchtime after all. His response was curt and rather rude: "its coming." Fine, maybe hes having a bad day. Then he brings our food. My "salmon with greens" was a piece of salmon (it was good!), and two massive lumps of mashed potatoes with- get this- a single broccoli floret. Still not a huge deal. Then, my mother finds a hair in her food, so she doesnt want to keep eating (neither would I). We asked for the check and explained that my mother had found a hair and that Id asked for just greens. At this point, our waiter looks me dead in the eye and says "we consider potatoes greens." Then he brings us a check without comping my moms contaminated food. Not even an apology. Im writing this because while the chef might be competent, the front of the house is inexcusably poor. Sorry folks, take your business elsewhere.
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A Private User
The food is terrific and the service is quality. Bellissimo has done well by sticking to their formula and not expanding when they could have. As such, theyve mastered their Italian food in a small cozy environment. My only two gripes would be.... ...#1 The bread sucked. At a place where all of the dishes are top notch, the bread should be of a similar quality. I just ate my leftovers from last night with some artisan bread from Wegmans that was vastly superior to the restaurants bread. When a grocery store makes better bread than a restaurant where a meal for two can easily cost upwards of $150, there is a problem. ...#2 The wine list needs some less expensive offerings. The cheapest wine on the menu was $40, and the cheapest chianti was $65. While I dont expect to get a bottle of wine for $10, some $20 - $30 offerings would be well appreciated.
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A Private User
My husband invited me to Bellissimo for our 20th wedding anniversary last Saturday evening. The evening was unexpectedly fabulous from the moment we entered the room. We were warmly greeted and seated at a table right near the handpainted murals. We ordered the snails and mussels appetizer to share. Next, we each had the baby spinach and fresh fennel salad that was tossed with walnuts and covered with parmesan cheese. The main courses were indescribably delicious. I had the homemade veal ravioli and my husband had the linguini with seafood. The hostess brought us a tiramisu with a candle for our anniversary and two after dinner drinks courtesy of the owners. Lovely- this evening was a true highlight and wonderful memory. I do wish that the wine list offered a broader range of options. However- a superb evening overall!! We will definitely return!
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Jerrod Schultz
Bellissimo delivers again! My wife and I came here to celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary. We had our wedding reception here a year ago, so decided to come back to pay our respects. We cant say enough nice things about this place. Very intimate setting, the wait staff is attentive (our wine glasses never went empty), and of course, the food is to die for! My rack of lamb was perfectly medium rare and my wifes crab-stuffed Ravioli was very savory (though a bit dense). To top off our wonderful anniversary experience, the restaurant threw in free dessert and some limoncello. We will certainly continue to come back on anniversaries and whenever we need that good Italian food fix! Love it!
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David Mentzer
We were invited by friends to celebrate their sons birthday (our second son). Everything was wonderful - appetizers to main course, all 8 of us were happy. I had a special, scallops and large shrimp with red sauce over linguine. Not only did taste delicious, but the seafood seemed fresh and perfectly cooked (no rubber scallops there!). Im not Italian, but even the tiramisu was all I imagined the best should taste like. My son devoured his cannoli before I got to try it - assuming it was good as he scraped the plate clean. They even served 3 coffee beans in my sambucca :) The house cabernet went well with our meals, reasonably priced and tasty. We look forward to returning!
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A Private User
We read all reviews and went for dinner on Saturday night. The ambience looks good but the whole environment smells like bathroom air freshner. The bread was similar to what you get out of bag from Sara Lee. The salad tasted like one from McDonalds. The main dishes were very tasty and well sized. The wine list was small and way too expensive for the selection and the Italian beer, although at perfect temperature, cost more than anyone would agree to pay. Overall not worth your money, you can get a better meal for half of the price at a chain restaurant.