Bella Amici

My husband and I decided to eat here after a movie since every other place was up to an hour wait. We were told the wait here would be 20 minutes. 25 minutes later a table became available. Since it was a table that could seat four people the manager’s greedy hat came on and he said we would have to sit with two complete strangers to get the table. It didn’t seem like there were many tables for two or that anyone was getting up anytime soon. So instead of giving the table to two paying customers he ended up losing two paying customers. Extremely poor management and I certainly will not be back.

This is a generous rating. My specialty pizza was a plain pizza with added spinach and broccoli and then reheated. It was good though. Owner was chatting with hostess while we stood there. Service was good. My husband had eggplant rolatini and was happy with it. Pasta was pre cooked during the day. My daughter had spaghetti and meatballs and everyone tried the meatballs. They were really cold. My older daughter spit it out. They were gross. My daughter could not get a salad she wanted as they were out of avocados and craisins. (We joked with the server as a publix is 1 min away and most restaurants would have a runner get stuff. It was 5 pm on a weeknight.) The specialty pie was good. I would prob still go back.

This place is absolutely HORRIBLE! Please save yourself time by NOT going to this restaurant. Me and all of my family had just seen Star Wars and afterwards we decided to go to this restaurant to have a nice bite after. To start off, we got this EXTREMELY rude waitress that essentially was talking with her friends the whole time and didn’t serve us anything. Because of her It took us around 45 min just for drinks and we had to ask here to move things along. Because this process was taking so long, we got this new very polite waitress who actually worked to get us our food (we never actually got most of it). Afterwards I received my Caesar salad which was fine. After this, about 90 minutes past before we even got ONE salad from the kitchen. We then asked the manager what was going on because the waitress kept giving us the same answer. She claimed that the kitchen was very backed up and explained to us that the kitchen was divided into two parts that are not connected. But no matter what she said, the truth was that there were multiple tables that had arrived before us that received their food and even finished their meals! What I really expect most managers to do at this point would be to tell us he is sorry for the service and maybe offer us a gift card for next time. In addition, after speaking to the manager we found out that there was no calamari even though the waitress earlier had taken that order and said NOTHING to us about them not having any calamari. The manager also just kept blaming his staff for the incident and did not take responsibility. In the end we gave up and left because of how OUTRAGEOUS the service was and hungry we were after waiting so long. So in summary, I don’t really know the cause of the problem but I do know that this restaurant failed to please me and my whole family in almost every single way. If you do go to this restaurant please leave about 3 hours and come full or else you will have quite a horrible time.

This place is not equipped to handle crowds. Their wait staff is full of explanations but after 1.5 hours of waiting for our food we left! Kitchen is not organized. Management is clearly not engaged. Waste of time. They neglected to tell us they were out of one of the dishes we ordered.

Food good and at market price. My only complaint was the Caprese appetizer. Way overpriced. $ 12 for two tomatoe slices and two slices of mozzarella cheese. Ridiculous.

Food is fantastic, service on good days is sub-​par or worse. My Suggestion get Takeout but make sure to double check your order before you leave.

My family and I dined in at Bella Amici on a Saturday night around 7pm after seeing a movie at the Cinebowl. Our first suspicion should have been that Bella Amici was the only restaurant in the complex without any wait on a Saturday night — all the other restaurants we tried to get a table at had at least 45 minute waits.
We were greeted by a hostess who seemed confused and disheveled, but got us to a table. Our waiter — who never told us his name — was all over the place. He stood at our table staring off into space while giving off a vibe that he clearly didn’t want to be there or helping us. He took our drink orders and wandered away for about 10 minutes. When he finally returned, we gave him our appetizer and entrée orders.
My father and I ordered the pasta fagioli soups which was one of the biggest regrets. Canned generic soup tasted better than what we had. The soup had old, dried up, hard ditalini pasta and clumps of what I guess they call soup slopped in a bowl. There was no broth. Our waiter said «you’re lucky you even got any because this is the bottom of the pot.» Instead of wasting our money on dried up clumps of what Bella Amici calls soup, I would’ve rather been told there was none left. We might as well have made a cat food soup after this.
My mother had the greek salad for an appetizer which she ended up not having after eating two bites. The lettuce was wilted and dried out — looked like it had been sitting in the hot sun old and drying up for 3 weeks. The veggies looked old as well.
Regardless, we tried to stay positive because our entrees were coming. We ordered a side order of Garlic Knots which were stale. Seeing how hard it is to screw up a garlic knot we were now worried and wishing we waited somewhere else an hour for a table.
With no check ins from our waiter, after waiting about 45 minutes for our entrees with no word, he finally stopped by and said the kitchen’s backed up, you’ll get your food soon. We should’ve paid for the soup, salad, and rolls and walked out.
The food was of course not worth the unnecessary wait. For our entrees, I had two slices of pizza (one cheese, one pepperoni), my father had the lasagna, and my mother had the eggplant parm sub.
My pizza tasted like old, wet cardboard. I think the pizza at Chuck E’Cheeses’ is better than this. As a New Yorker, I know my standards for pizza are high but this is a whole other level of disappointment. The dough was also hard as a rock — good thing I have strong teeth to bite through it.
My mom’s eggplant parm sub looked terrible and the taste was pure disgust. She said the eggplant tasted old, the bread was stale, and the whole thing was terrible.
My father’s lasagna was the worst of all. The lasagna was black as it had been burnt in the oven. The sauce was a deep, dark red and tasted like the bottom of the pot that the chef has been stirring around for a week. The pasta in the lasagna was crisped and burnt. It was inedible.
To top off the terrible food, our waiter was horrific. There’s a reason for all of these 1 star reviews. The only reason Bella Amici is probably even still in service is because of poor saps who are too lazy and hungry to wait at the good restaurants in the plaza after the movie (like we were).
Don’t waste your time, taste buds, and money on a terrible dining experience. If you’re looking for a quick bite before or after a movie, don’t come here — you’ll be better off eating a tub of movie theater popcorn for dinner.

We dined at Bella Amici last evening and despite the reviews here, we thought it as A-​ok! We were greeted and told to select any table we’d like, by Will. He was also our server and was attentive and pleasant. The restaurant was very busy and the staff kept up with the pace. We ordered the chicken parm with a Caesar salad and a pepperoni calzone. The food was good and the prices very fair.
This is not a fancy Italian restaurant but it’s a good pizzeria plus! We’d go back for sure.

Food ok, service ok, perfect for after a movie and you don’t want a big dinner.

Yikes. Everything being said here is true. The incredible enigma wrapped in a riddle that is Bella Amici is that the food is quite good, but the service is absolutely horrendous and the management nonexistent. This is the kind of place that would have Jon Taffer of «Bar Rescue» fame hollering at the managers to actually manage, rather than hide from criticism — and in plain sight, I might add. The owner, by the way, makes every effort to look cool behind his dark shades but no effort to actually mingle with the customers or staff to ensure quality.
We waited 15 minutes to even be approached for seating, then were ushered to the restaurant entry only to watch our table to be given away. The only way we actually dined was through some verbal advocacy of someone in our party. Our server, Chelsea, was a bright spot and saving grace — though to wait over an hour for a relatively straightforward large pizza is a failure that all of the team members must share in and take responsibility for.
Someone needs to stand up for these frustrated servers and instill a spirit of teamwork, caring and customer focus. There are too many good South Florida restaurants that have cracked the customer service code that are willing to swoop in and embrace finicky diners.

DON’T EAT HERE!!!
The service here is absolutely the worst I’ve ever experienced. Disappointment started at the door.
The hostess didn’t greet my friend and I when we walked through the door. She blankly stared at us with her unenthused, «I’d rather be home posting on my Facebook about how much I hate my job» face. We didn’t get a «hi, how are you?» or, «welcome, guys!» She asked no questions, and took us to a table that was stained, which she proceeded to blankly stare at, and slurred, «oh, I’ll have someone wipe it.» She threw the menus down on the table and walked away.
Our waiter was this balding, middle aged man, who never smiled once, or even told us his name. When we realized he hadn’t given us napkins or silverware, he was nowhere to be found, and we had to ask the woman assigned to the table next to ours. She asked us who our waiter was, she gave us the stink-​eye, and stormed off. When our waiter finally came back, he threw us a pile of napkins from ACROSS THE ROOM, without even looking at us or saying anything. Nothing.
The food is disgusting. Frozen pizza is by far superior. I feel personally offended by the pizza, and it makes me want to punch myself in the face. The cheese was made out of rubber and broken dreams, the sauce tasted like the floor of a Chuck-​E-​Cheese, the music is ideal for people who are dead, and the restaurant felt dirty.
I understand its convenient as it’s located directly across from the movie theater, but there is a Publix in the Marketplace, and I promise, it’d be better to just stop by and get a frozen pizza, than to sit in the stain thats «Bella Amici.» I promise, their pizza tastes like regret. Don’t bring your children here if you love them, and don’t bring your elderly if you want them to live.

On June 23, 2015 about 6pm my wife and I decided to have dinner Bella Amici and then attend the movies across the street. Wanting to dine outside I went in to check with a hostess. When I walked in there was no hostess greeting anyone. I saw three young gentlemen behind the counter obviously picking up orders and waiting on seated customers. I stood there at the front door entrance for about 3 minutes. No one acknowledged me. So I decided to move down the counter area to where the cash register was located and all the waiters that were on duty were walking back and forth. I stood there for an additional 6 minutes and no one looked at me, no one said «we’ll be with you in a moment» no one said a word they just kept walking past me. I took my wife and left went across the street to the Mexican restaurant and was acknowledged, seated and served immediately.
This Bella Amici is a joke. Don’t waste your time going there. If you decide you must I would suggest you hurry because they won’t be there very long with their approach to customer service.

We were seated quickly, ordered within 5 minutes of sitting. Took 20 minutes (literally) to two slices of pizzas. We were running late to a movie so we asked for the check, server brought it out right away and, after 10 minutes of waiting, my wife and I decided to just pay at the counter… Place is either running Erin or short staff. Either way, this is the third and last time we’ll be here. Sucks, it has great potential being so close to the movie theatre. On a good note, food quality has definitely increased.

Food is barely mediocre. Service is worse. Only good thing is it’s near the movies. It has gotten better since they started table service, but they is still a lot of room for improvement.

I have tried for the third and final time. The Marketplace needs a pizza place that can actually serve customers. We have waited, just to be greeted at the table, longer than most would wait to actually get food. Someone who knows how to run a pizzeria should hurry up and buy them out. They can’t be making much money.

This place does not even deserve one star. The most tasteless pizza I’ve ever had. Could have saved on some calories by just eating a piece of soggy bread. The soda was also tasteless. Just not good at all.

Well, I should have known better after seeing all of the one stars. Just because there is a crowd doesn’t mean it is good. Pizza was bland and they were skimpy on the toppings. My husband was going to take the pizza home and I told him the dog wouldn’t eat it. The only thing saving this restaurant is the movie theater next door. Will not be coming back.

We sat down then checked the reviews. 8 of us were a bit nervous however they were great. I’m not sure why all the poor reviews but it seems like they have gotten it together. 8 happy people here.

I would give this place a 4-​star only because they got tables-​for-​two that are so big, that you literally need to yell across the table, but I had to give it a 5 star for the amazing, delicious, way above average, huge slice of pizza — for a great price!
What made it for me was the DOUGH, airy yet crunchy, with a thick layer of cheese on a solid flavorful sauce. Awesome! And the price is right. Totally coming back for more.

This is literally THE most tasteless pizza I have ever had. Paper has more flavor. I swear to you I was puzzled at the fact that I was eating something but I tasted absolutely nothing. I mean not the sauce, the toppings, the crust, I couldn’t even taste the cheese. Though the people working were nice, it was pretty slow service. Not to mention that I am pretty sure it is a health code violation that the guy making the pizza was wearing shorts. Someone dropped a salt shaker sending salt flying for a good 5 feet then I watched people just staring at it until the hostess finally picked it up, just closed the lid and put it back in place with the others. Didn’t clean it. Just pop the lid and in for some unsuspecting, unknowing customer to use at a later date.
Then came the even more entertaining yet gross part of watching one girl attempt to put a salad in a to-​go order into a Styrofoam container until she finally just gave up and dumped it back into small separate containers. The ultimate kicker?
The waitress was looking to put dressing on someone elses salad. I watched her take one of those ketchup bottle dispensers up to her nose, make a gross face then pour it on the salad. Only to then see the same girl who picked up the salt, refill the bottle with dressing from some gross jar that clearly had been in use for a while. Now I am no food expert but I am pretty sure you need to clean out a container before you put «new» sauces in. Or is it ok to just constantly stack new stuff over the old stuff?
I am sorry but despite the staff being somewhat friendly this place sucked a fat one. I’d rather starve during a movie before I eat this cardboard crap again.